September 22, 2014

An organization founded by Duke medical student and entrepreneurRajvi Mehta is the Grand Finale winner of theDuke Start-Up Challenge. The organization Let's Be Well Red (LBWR), which combatsanemiain India, won the $50,000 grand prize in addition to $5,000 for winning the audience and alumni choice awards.

LBWR is working to make high-protein nutritional bars more accessible in India. In 2012, she led efforts to develop a simple and delicious solution to anemia called the GudNeSs bar. The bars are made from local ingredients and contain the World Health Organization daily recommended dose of iron. Rajvi and the team, which now includes more than a dozen other Duke medical students, have produced tens of thousands of bars and are making them available in retail stores, NGOs and schools across three states ofIndia.Learn more about Mehta's workthroughLBWR.

Re-posted from Duke Start-Up Challenge

Tell us about yourself:

Born and raised in Mumbai (India), I completed my undergraduate studies at Brown University (RI, USA) where I majored in Biochemistry. I am passionate about global health, public health and research. My interest in global health led me to launch Let's be Well RED (LBWR) a social venture that aims to combat the widespread prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in India through the manufacture of iron-rich nutritional bars. Through my work on LBWR, I realized my passion for medicine and decided to pursue my medical education at Duke University School of Medicine (DukeMed).

Tell us about your time at Duke, what were you involved in?

I am a second year medical student at Duke.

What's your major/program and when will you be graduating? Tell us something about your educational experience at Duke.

MD candidate Duke School of Medicine. The additional knowledge I gained about anemia and iron deficiency anemia as a medical student helped me believe in LBWR's work and solution even more.

Read the original:
Social Venture of Duke Med Student Wins Duke Start-Up Challenge