About Us
Our story
It all started one day in 2017 when Danielle, our CEO, was out on a hiking trip and she met a couple on the trail. She took a photo for them and they got to chatting.
Danielle has spent her career working on tech problems in healthcare, and mentioned off-hand to the couple that she was currently working on PD-L1s (a novel type of cancer treatment). She was surprised when the man became excited and said he was very familiar with PD-L1s. He was not a physician, but actually a Stage 4 lung cancer survivor who had benefited from one of the first CAR-T trials after being told he had less than a year to live.
Danielle was amazed to be speaking to someone who had obviously made a great recovery from a serious disease, and asked how he had found his way to the trial. The man replied that he managed to enroll because his “wife’s cousin’s aunt’s nephew’s friend” was working at a hospital involved in the clinical trial and managed to connect him to the right contacts. Having access to the novel treatment had saved his life. He was fit enough to enjoy hiking again, but making sure to stay informed about new treatments (like PD-L1s) just in case.
This story made an impression on Danielle, who believes that all patients should have access to innovative medicines regardless of luck, personal relationships or their ability to navigate the healthcare system. Realizing that patients like the man she met hiking are interested in knowing all of their treatment options, and are trying anything they can to increase their chance for recovery, she started designing Ancora.
Our Vision and Values
We use technology and a patient-first approach to democratize clinical trial access, so that every patient has the best chances of recovery and leading a healthy life.
- We provide unbiased clinical trial information by collecting information from public registries so that patients, their healthcare professionals, and their loved ones can evaluate all potential treatment options. We believe it is important that every patient has a full overview of their options, separate from financial interests in the industry. Ancora does NOT recommend particular trials and does NOT limit results because we have a commercial deal with a sponsor.
- Empowering patients is important to us. Ancora helps patients and their doctors and caregivers make the best personal decisions for their treatment plan. Ancora is free to use for all patients. We believe that clinical trials are an amazing way for patients to access the latest advances in medicine, and we are dedicated to helping raise awareness about clinical trials as an option to be considered.
- Clinical research has a diversity problem. For example, currently, 86% of participants in US clinical trials are white. This has resulted in some serious problems, as if only one kind of person participates in clinical trials then the findings are not always generalizable in other populations. We can develop better, safer, more effective treatments if clinical trials are more reflective of diverse populations (e.g, all ages, genders, races and ethnicities). Ancora allows ALL patients to search for and learn about clinical trials directly, without any education, insurance or physician-related barriers, making clinical trials more diverse.
Meet our Founder
Danielle Ralic founded the company as she had seen both personally and professionally the challenges people have in accessing healthcare information, especially clinical trials, and how that can impact someone's health. She is a firm believer that technology can help bridge the information gap and help make information more accessible so people can make the best choices for their care.
Danielle Ralic
Danielle is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Ancora.ai and has more than 15 years of experience in healthcare analytics. Danielle worked previously at Deloitte and ZS Associates, implementing business intelligence solutions for healthcare clients in North America, Europe, and Asia. Danielle graduated from Boston College with a degree in Information Systems with a focus on Healthcare Information Technology. She is also an accomplished panelist and speaker sharing insights on advanced analytics in healthcare.