Zohaib Akhtar MD MPH
Bit about me...
.
My friends call me "Z". I intersect healthcare, technology & strategy, to bring forward ideas that drive better health outcomes.
Founder of [OpenHealthWorks.org]
Outside that, I like cycling, occasionally practicing photography, and sometimes writing for public.






(Tap graph for Research and Publications)
Camera
& me
Some shots, Some times
Journal
& me
Some thoughts, Some times
Behind the Innovations
The problem, the impact.
At Cleveland Clinic’s Anesthesiology Institute, I worked to advance intraoperative care with a focus on improving clinical outcomes. There, I helped introduce hypothermia prevention protocols during surgery, which enhanced patient safety and recovery.
At Johns Hopkins Medicine, I helped implement a new clinical operations model for cancer treatment by facilitating a multidisciplinary clinic where multiple physicians evaluate patients simultaneously. This approach reduced diagnosis-to-treatment time from months to just days, critical to improve oncology care.
Later as we transitioned from 2024 to 2025, this multidisciplinary oncology approach saved my mother’s life.
What if we could tackle isolation while uncovering new links between social behavior and health? Dropby was a groundbreaking public health innovation built through a multidisciplinary collaboration at Johns Hopkins across medicine, public health, data science, business, and engineering. Combining proactive prevention strategies with cutting-edge technology, Dropby fostered real-world connections, prioritized privacy, and integrated health insights. This approach aimed to transform how we understand and address mental health and well-being.
CareFold is an innovative solution born from the Biomedical Design Fellowship, designed to address the critical challenge of unplanned extubations (UEs) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Developed through a multidisciplinary effort involving neonatologists, engineers, public health experts, and parents, CareFold enables safer transfers, reduces UEs, and empowers parents to engage in essential skin-to-skin bonding with their preterm infants.
I’ve been one of many professionals in the U.S. who faced uncertainty due to visa constraints. Like me, many don’t realize they can self-petition for a green card through pathways like EB-1, EB-2 (NIW), or O-1 — without employer sponsorship.
The process itself isn’t overly complicated, but you need to understand what your contribution is, why it matters, and then present it clearly and convincingly. I navigated this process on my own, and it was tough at times, especially without any solid examples to follow.
So I’m sharing my own application and hope it helps.
© 2024 Zohaib Akhtar. All Rights Reserved.