
#437: The clinical trial system is broken and here’s why with Dr Elsa Zekeng from SökerData
From The Healthtech Podcast by Dr. James Somauroo
March 11, 2026 · 1h 6m
About this episode
Dr. Elsa Zekeng discusses the issues with biased clinical trial data and her journey in healthcare.
This week, James is joined by Dr. Elsa Zekeng, founder of SökerData who shares the story behind building a company tackling one of healthcare’s most persistent blind spots: biased and underrepresented clinical trial data. She discusses her journey from infectious disease research and frontline outbreak response during Ebola, to advising on COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and ultimately founding SökerData to aggregate more inclusive health datasets. Connect with Elsa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-elsa-zekeng-sokerdata/ Learn more about SökerData: https://www.soker-data.com/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.
People in this episode
Host: Dr. James Somauroo
Guest: Dr. Elsa Zekeng
Topics covered
- clinical trials
- healthcare data
- inclusive health
- Ebola
- COVID-19
- biased data
Keywords
- clinical trial system
- health datasets
- infectious disease
- COVID-19 vaccine
- healthcare bias
Sponsors
SomX
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: SökerData
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