Building an AI Healthcare Startup as Johns Hopkins Carey MBA Students

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From Bedside Insight to AI-Enabled Patient Safety: How Two Full-time MBA Students at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Are Building CareCue

For students in the Full-time MBA program at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, entrepreneurship is not a side pursuit, it is embedded directly into the academic experience. With access to one of the world’s leading academic medical centers and a deeply interdisciplinary university, students can move quickly from idea to execution.

That dynamic is evident in CareCue, a startup founded by Full-time MBA student Andy Charlorin and developed alongside classmate Vijay Menon. The venture focuses on improving early detection of patient risk in hospitals using thermal imaging and artificial intelligence.

CareCue was inspired by Charlorin’s prior experience as a nurse, where he saw firsthand how hospital-acquired conditions, such as pressure injuries, can develop subtly and become difficult to treat if not identified early. These conditions are not only costly but are often preventable with earlier intervention.

At Carey, Charlorin began refining that insight into a scalable solution. What started as a narrow concept evolved into a broader platform to detect early signs of compromised tissue perfusion, providing clinicians with more objective, real-time data to support decision-making.

The structure of Carey’s Full-time MBA program played a key role in CareCue’s evolution. Through coursework in areas such as entrepreneurial finance and healthcare operations, Charlorin developed the business fundamentals behind the idea—testing assumptions around pricing, market demand, and scalability. Faculty including Professors Tinglong Dai, Mark Foster, and Nicholas Durr provided guidance that connected clinical need with operational and technical feasibility.

Carey’s full-time format also creates space for deeper engagement outside the classroom. Charlorin and his team have participated in programs such as NSF I-Corps, PAVA Center Spark, FUEL, and Hexcite. These programs include both federal- and Johns Hopkins-led initiatives that provide structured support for innovation, commercialization, and venture development, while working closely with Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) to shape their commercialization strategy.

The venture reflects the collaborative nature of the Full-time MBA experience at Carey. In addition to Charlorin and Menon, the team includes fellow students and collaborators from across Johns Hopkins, from disciples including engineering, informatics, and computer science. This kind of cross-disciplinary access allows Full-time MBA students to build teams with the technical and clinical expertise required for healthcare innovation.

Menon, who joined CareCue during the MBA program, brings a venture capital perspective to the team. After working with Charlorin in the Venture Capital Investment Competition, he was drawn to both the scale of the problem and Charlorin’s ability to execute and build relationships across the Hopkins ecosystem.

Within the Full-time MBA environment, Menon has applied an investor lens to the venture’s development—helping the team refine its market positioning, test assumptions, and strengthen its overall strategy before seeking external funding. That combination of academic training and hands-on application is a defining feature of the program.

CareCue is initially focused on addressing pressure injuries and related conditions, with the potential to expand into adjacent areas such as wound care and vascular health. Its approach—integrating into existing clinical workflows rather than requiring major system changes—positions it within a large and evolving market shaped by value-based care and quality metrics.

For prospective students considering Carey’s Full-time MBA, CareCue illustrates how the program’s structure and setting can support entrepreneurial ambition. The proximity to Johns Hopkins Hospital, access to commercialization resources, and the ability to collaborate across disciplines provide a foundation for students looking to build ventures in healthcare and beyond.

As CareCue moves toward clinical validation, its progress highlights a broader takeaway: In Carey’s Full-time MBA program, entrepreneurship is not theoretical. For students like Charlorin and Menon, it is an active, immersive process, supported by a university ecosystem designed to help translate ideas into real-world impact.