This interview has been transcribed and edited for clarity. It was conducted in December 2024.
HTR: Could you tell us about what you have done, yourself and/or your interests?
Laura: My name is Laura Wegner, I’m a senior in the Class of 2025, and I study Economics with a Secondary in Computer Science. I’m originally from Germany, and I’m really interested in Electronic Health Record systems and healthcare technology in general. I founded a startup called Mii, a healthcare passport that stores and analyzes a patient’s medical documents to provide a complete medical history of the patient.
HTR: Could you tell us more about what inspired your startup or your motivation goals in your field?
Laura: I almost wouldn’t call it inspiration and instead more of a need. Several years ago, I dislocated my kneecap twice, and after the second time, I needed surgery on the knee. My doctors didn’t have my full medical history, and I also didn’t know every single detail about it. Due to this, they missed a critical detail of my medical history and performed the wrong surgical method, which led to me not being able to pursue competitive swimming anymore. This huge part of my life was ripped out of me, and it ended up working out in a good way, because now I have new interests, but it was life-changing at that moment. It was really frustrating because you would think the data is out there.
The medical data is so scattered across different healthcare providers and it’s not with you or in one place. This experience inspired my first research into this field, but I actually started pursuing it more seriously in my freshman year after I dislocated my shoulder. It was my first time being in an American hospital and I had to fill out a patient intake form and tell them everything I knew about my medical history. I don’t think patients are supposed to know every single detail of their medical history, especially when they get older. There’s so much to know. At the moment, I just felt hopeless because I was in so much pain. It felt so wrong to know that the data was somewhere, but not with me. That’s when I started pursuing this in a more entrepreneurial way.
HTR: Based on your personal connection with it, how are you hoping that it will help others in the future or even right now?
Laura: Over the past few years, I’ve been doing interviews with patients, doctors, and healthcare administrators, which has helped me collect feedback from a wide range of perspectives. What’s become really clear is that everyone is extremely frustrated with the current system.
In the U.S. especially, it’s a large-scale problem. Doctors often have to manually request patient data, which takes a lot of time and isn’t always successful—especially in emergency situations. It slows down care and makes it harder for them to do their jobs. Ideally, a doctor should have access to a complete medical history so they can make informed decisions.
On the patient side, I’ve seen both perspectives. Some patients don’t want all their data in one place because they’re concerned about privacy and security. But then there are others, such as patients with chronic conditions, who end up carrying huge binders of information from doctor to doctor. Even then, the doctors may not have time to go through it all.
So, hearing these frustrations across the board has made me realize how important it is to work toward a solution. People are eager to share their thoughts because they care about fixing this. That energy and openness has been really motivating—it shows that this isn’t just a tech problem, it’s something deeply human that affects care on every level.
HTR: Thank you. Could you share some key stories, challenges, or successes from your project, and what you have learned from these?
One of the biggest challenges has been learning not to get too attached to a particular solution. You really have to be obsessed with the problem instead. Ideas and products will change, especially with technical ones. Nothing is permanent, and you have to be okay with that.
It can be difficult, especially when you’ve created something you personally like and believe in. But if you’re getting feedback from lots of people and they don’t find it useful, you have to be willing to let it go. That detachment becomes possible when you’re truly focused on solving the problem, not just preserving your idea.
That mindset shift was both a challenge and a success for us. In fact, we went through a pretty major pivot about a year ago. We originally started with a service that allowed doctors to share patient data with each other. Now, we’ve transitioned to building a “healthcare passport,” a mobile app where patients can carry their own data from doctor to doctor. That’s a massive shift. We went from a doctor-facing desktop platform to a patient-facing mobile app. But because our core problem stayed the same, the pivot actually felt natural. We knew this was the right direction, so we committed to it fully.
Another major learning moment was around building the team. For a long time, it was just my co-founder and I handling everything. It wasn’t until earlier this year, when we got into the detailed design of the app, that we realized we needed more help—especially in areas where we had no expertise, like UX/UI design.
We found ourselves spending way too much time debating things like, “Should this button be blue or more of a turquoise?”. Neither of us had formal design training, and it became clear we needed someone who did. So, the first team member we brought on was a UX/UI designer. That decision solved a lot, allowing each of us to focus on what we do best, and bringing in more people as new needs arose.
Another challenge is the temptation to over-invest in pitch competitions. They can be exciting, and sure, it’s good practice to pitch, get feedback, and possibly win funding. But there’s also a bit of a false sense of success that comes with them.
You can win a pitch competition with just a deck and no product, and people might say, “This is amazing!” But then you start building it and realize… maybe it’s not. It’s important to know when to move on from that phase. At a certain point, especially when you’re building and testing a real prototype, it’s more valuable to be surrounded by mentors with real expertise in your field, and people who are genuinely invested in your success. That’s something pitch competitions often don’t provide.
So overall, I’ve learned that it’s okay to change direction, necessary to build the right team, and crucial to shift your focus away from validation toward real development and meaningful feedback.
HTR: Thank you for sharing that. Could you tell us about the importance of the people in your life and how they have contributed to your success and your project?
Laura: Yeah, absolutely. I think I’ll start with this: being responsible for a team has changed my life, not just as an entrepreneur, but also as a person. It’s a unique experience. On one hand, you feel responsible for your team as their leader, but on the other, you also carry a sense of responsibility toward the patients and doctors you aim to serve. That dual responsibility is both a heavy weight and a really special privilege. It’s incredibly meaningful to be this young and still have the opportunity to inspire others, and help others.
In terms of mentorship, I’ve been lucky to have mentors from all kinds of fields. Honestly, a lot of my ideas and support have come from office hours with professors here. One thing I really appreciate about Harvard is that professors don’t just care about your academic performance, they genuinely want to get to know you as a person. And if your interests align with theirs, they’re more than happy to talk about your outside-of-class projects.
I’ve definitely bounced ideas off professors, especially in areas where I don’t have as much expertise. For example, when I’ve talked to CS professors, they’ve helped me better understand complex topics like privacy and AI, things that are critical for our work but that I’m still learning. That kind of guidance is invaluable.
Beyond professors, I’ve also had amazing friends from different backgrounds who have helped me grow personally as an entrepreneur. It’s not easy to balance academics and entrepreneurship here. That’s definitely not a typical college experience. It’s hard, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Places like the Harvard i-lab have also been really supportive. Being in a space where others are facing similar challenges, where you can share both your struggles and successes, and where you can be connected to others with expertise you might not have—it all plays a huge role in making progress and staying grounded.
HTR: Could you provide some advice to someone younger who might want to dive into this area of entrepreneurship and innovation?
Laura: I think the best piece of advice I can give is this: what you’re doing right now probably won’t be what you’re doing three months from now, a year from now, or even for the rest of your life. Even if it feels like you’ve got everything perfectly planned, things will shift and that’s okay.
Especially as a freshman, it’s so important to stay open to new ideas, new people, and new fields. Sometimes it might feel like you’re straying from your path, but that detour could be exactly what leads you somewhere better.
For example, when I came to Harvard, I was planning to become a human rights lawyer. I wanted to work at the International Court of Justice and go to law school, but things changed. I gradually found myself drawn to healthcare technology. And yeah, it’s definitely not typical for a 22-year-old to be obsessed with Electronic Health Record systems but here I am. So don’t worry about sticking to the original plan. Be open to surprise, and let curiosity pull you into unexpected places. That’s often where the most exciting innovation happens.
HTR: Going into the future, what are your plans?
Laura: I’ll definitely keep working on Mii. I’m really excited about continuing to develop it. In the near future, I’ll be at Oxford for at least two years. During the summer between those two years, I’m hoping to work at a later-stage healthcare startup to get a feel for what that environment is like. Mii is still in a really early stage, so I’d love to gain experience at a company that’s further along.
After that, I’d like to stay in Europe and continue building out Mii there. My focus will still be on solving the problem of fragmented patient data. I do believe that this issue will eventually be solved, hopefully in the next 10 to 15 years. Once that foundation is in place, I’d be really excited to move into precision medicine.
For example, using genomic data to personalize treatments for patients really interests me. But to do that effectively, you need access to a complete and well-organized medical history. That’s why I see Mii as laying the groundwork for these more advanced healthcare innovations.
Eventually, I’d love to explore how we can use AI to develop more effective treatments or even predict and prevent diseases before they happen. But again, all of that depends on having reliable, comprehensive patient data. So for the next several years, my plan is to focus on building that infrastructure and then branch into more innovative, data-driven areas of healthcare.
HTR: Anything else that you would like to mention?
Laura: Yes, one story that really stuck with me happened during a pitch competition in Australia this past June where my co-founder and I had crafted a presentation around a medical error story that had happened to someone else. We brought out a huge stack of that person’s medical files and showed the small portion that doctors had actually known about. The rest of the stack represented all the information they didn’t have access to.
We laid the whole thing on a table next to the stage, and because it was so heavy, it made a really loud sound when it hit the table, like someone had just slammed something down. The entire room went still. People were visibly shocked, and that moment really landed with the audience.
It turned out to be a powerful way to convey our message. We ended up winning the People’s Choice Award at that event, and I think it’s because we made the topic deeply emotional and personal. By telling that story, and making the lack of accessible patient data so visual, we helped people feel the issue, not just understand it.
After the pitch, several people came up to us, especially those around our parents’ age, and shared their own experiences. One person told us about a loved one who had passed away because of an allergic reaction to a medication the doctors didn’t know they were allergic to. Another shared a story about a surgical error that, while not fatal, left lasting impacts on their loved one’s life. Hearing stories like these really brings home why this work matters. It reminds us that what we’re building can actually help prevent these kinds of tragedies.
