Dr. Jeelani wasted no time gaining reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) exposure, cold-calling fertility offices and even convincing pioneers at the Reproductive Genetics Institute (RGI), like Dr. Yury Verlinsky, to let her shadow their work. She pursued the physician-scientist path to ultimately advance translational innovation, completing medical school at Ross University while helping lead clinical trials with RGI and even modeling for the title of Miss India to put herself through the program. She continued on to Wayne State for residency and fellowship to work with REI trailblazer Dr. Michael Diamond, forming a research interest in the impact of chemotherapy and oxidative stress on fertility.

Prudently, Dr. Jeelani realized in her first year as an attending that academic medicine was not the best path for her to work with as many patients as possible and drive innovation forward, so she departed and joined Vios and later Kindbody in Chicago.

It was during this period Dr. Jeelani experienced her second round as a patient. On the path to having her first child, Dr. Jeelani realized how inherently reactive fertility care was. Patients were not educated nor communicated with properly, and, once in the pipeline, they faced a shockingly manual system. Determined to address these issues, Dr. Jeelani built an incredible online following with over 1 million followers across platforms where she engages and educates eager patients and at her own clinic, she has simplified the journey from consultation to treatment to minimize anxiety inducing intervals.

After spending years improving how care is taught and delivered, she’s now energized by the possibility of scaling that impact through innovative care models and technology.

In this conversation, Dr. Jeelani reflects on the future of fertility care — the patient pain points that matter most, the innovations that will define the next decade, what truly defines a promising startup, and what it will take for the field to scale responsibly.

The key to a successful future in fertility rests in our ability to advance preventative care. At the current moment, patients are often learning about the IVF process from unverified sources, frequently delaying care because of false promises for easy journeys regardless of age. We must get ahead of these falsehoods and meet hopeful parents where they are, online and in primary care physician offices. We must take a two-pronged approach to support our patients. Education efforts must first be made alongside our primary care and pediatric colleagues. The first step in many patients' journeys revolves around these providers. What they tell patients at this stage influences the remainder of the path, either positively or negatively. Ensuring accurate information is disseminated from family doctors and pediatricians is not purely their responsibility, it is that of reproductive endocrinologists everywhere. Work with your colleagues and share key information so the first step in any future mother’s journey is a positive and informative one.

Patients are also scouring the internet looking for support and accurate information. The physician's aversion to social media must be combatted. Patients deserve access to our expertise wherever and whenever they seek it. Avoiding online distribution does not protect them or you, it leaves space for fallacies to spread further without resistance. Get out, get ahead, and teach.

Each year, we graduate only 50-60 reproductive endocrinologists to support the millions of patients looking to explore IVF. It is wonderful to hope that programs expand and graduates multiply, but that is at the soonest years away. We must innovate to handle this shortage.

At an operational level, we must make greater use of our OB/GYN and mid-level provider colleagues to expand access. These clinicians can be adequately trained to take on the tasks required to bring care to more who need it — we must advocate for such change. On a technological scale, automation is a necessary step to alleviate the employee shortage and fix the labor intensity of IVF. Automating sperm-processing is a promising endeavor being tackled by incredibly capable founders across the country. Enabling more intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a clear method to multiply our efforts, but only if we reduce the manpower needed to prepare and process sperm. In the egg/embryo arena, AI-enabled assessment tools are a key tool in this battle we wage to give more families the services they deserve. Imaging platforms to assess quality of pre-blastocysts should be supported by all stakeholders, ultimately permitting rapid decision making rather than the delayed timeline it demands now. The holy grail would be automated fertilization and incubation, reducing the hands required across the journey, speeding up each stage, improving access to care options, and delivering more pregnancies to those who have waited for far too long.

In fertility, like in any life science entrepreneurial endeavor, the issue one tackles must be one experienced regularly by patients. We as physicians have seen countless teams take on issues that are not serious pain points for the hopeful parents, but small bothers that founders anchor to.

To deliver the greatest care to my patients, I look for founders who can truly demonstrate that they have met the patients where they are and heard them out to hone in on the most pressing issues. Credibility does not need to come purely from being a patient yourself or a physician with experience, but the backing and feedback from such parties are certainly key features I expect when deciding on who has the best chance of delivering the care we all dream of. Don’t fixate on the “nice-to-haves” — focus on working with patients to uncover what is truly clinically transformative. Above all, I’m drawn to teams who show the humility to keep learning from patients even after launch, treating continuous listening as part of their clinical responsibility rather than a one-time box to check.

With the right people, you can achieve almost anything. In medicine, those people need to come from a variety of backgrounds to have the impact we all want for the number of patients we hope for. Physician insight and patient feedback can shape a truly promising idea, but scaling in healthcare also requires embracing the right capital partners — we can’t shy away from the financial backing needed to bring meaningful solutions to the patients who need them most.

For founders, seek capital partners who are visionaries in their field with long-term perspectives. Spotting an idea’s potential is often not obvious and certainly must be nurtured. When paired with a team that prioritizes nurturing growth rather than extracting value, a healthcare startup can move forward with real confidence that its future is in capable hands. Because when mission, expertise, and aligned capital all move in the same direction, the result isn’t just a successful company — it’s better care delivered at a scale that truly changes lives.

I have searched far and wide for a capital partner with that visionary leadership and value alignment. When I finally came across Artis, I knew that they were offering what I was looking for. They understood my goals and supported them immediately. They offered much deeper clinical and scientific expertise, pairing seamlessly with my physician experience. Their entire team is driven by a deep respect for the human condition, committed to supporting the full journey of saving lives rather than pressuring founders for premature results. For me, the mission has always been clear: advance women’s health, expand access, and extend reproductive longevity. With Artis, I’ve finally found the team that empowers me to do that at the highest level. I could not be more excited to help them back the most promising innovators in fertility.