This interview is part of the Impact Interview series, featuring founders building technology for positive impact across People, Health, and Planet.
Ethnic minorities make up 18% of the UK population but only 6% of clinical trial participants. The problem isn’t willingness. It’s that recruitment systems were never designed to reach them.
PROBr is a health-tech platform making clinical research more accessible and representative. Their matching engine prioritises underrepresented groups, uses plain language and mobile-first design, and puts participants in control of their own data.
Dr. Meghana Nadella is PROBr’s COO and Co-founder. We spoke about why inclusion needs to be built into the code, not added as an afterthought.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your role?
I’m Dr. Meghana Nadella, COO and Co-founder of PROBr, a health-tech platform dedicated to making clinical research more accessible, inclusive, and representative. Envestors endorse me for the UK Innovator Founder Visa. My background spans pharmacy, psychology, NHS clinical practice, and entrepreneurship, giving me a unique perspective on healthcare from both the patient care and clinical research ecosystems. I am passionate about improving access to research opportunities and building technology that helps create more equitable and evidence-driven healthcare.
At PROBr, I lead operations, partnerships, growth strategy and stakeholder engagement, working with universities, NHS organisations, research teams and community partners to improve how studies reach and recruit participants. A major part of my role is turning our mission into practical systems: building partnerships, improving participant pathways and ensuring inclusion is embedded from the beginning rather than added at the end.
What excites me most is seeing technology help someone who may never have heard about a research opportunity before become an informed and valued participant using PROBr.
How did your company come about and what was the motivation behind it?
The idea for PROBr started with a patient. During the pandemic, I was working as a COVID‑19 research coordinator in the NHS. A patient from an underserved community told me: ‘Research feels like it’s done to us, not with us.’ That moment stayed with me. As an Indian clinician who has worked in both India and the UK, I’ve seen the same systemic failure everywhere, trials that don’t reflect the people they’re meant to serve.
But I wasn’t alone. My co‑founder, Dr. Giovannie Jean‑Louis, a Caribbean‑American neuro‑disability physiotherapist, had experienced the exact same barriers in the US. She saw how Black, Brown, and women participants were excluded not by bad intent, but by broken infrastructure. We met through the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme and realised that our shared lived experience, hers from the Caribbean‑American community, mine from the Indian diaspora, gave us a unique lens. We decided to build the platform we both wished existed: a trust‑first, community‑driven system that makes research feel like it’s with people, not done to them.
That’s how PROBr was born. Two clinicians, two continents, one problem and a shared belief that inclusion should be built into the code, not added as an afterthought.
Can you describe your company’s mission and values?
Our mission is simple but ambitious: to make clinical research accessible, representative, and trusted by all communities. We want to build the operating system for inclusive, on‑time trials; a platform where no one is left out because of their background, location, or how much they trust the system.
Our values are baked into every line of code and every partnership we form. These values empower us to maintain:
Inclusion isn’t as an add‑on; it’s our starting point. We design for Black, Brown, women, and underserved communities first, because if you build for those most often excluded, you build for everyone.
Accessibility for us means plain language, neurodivergent‑friendly design, and mobile‑first access, because research should not require a degree or a desktop computer.
Trust we have earned through transparency. Our matching engine explains why a participant was matched to a study, and we put participants in control of their own data through our consent‑aware architecture.
And community co‑creation (PPIE) not as a feature; it’s how we work. From our partnership with Health Innovation East to our grassroots networks in Haiti and Uganda, we are building with communities, not just for them.
These make PROBr. Research with people, not on people.
What are some of the most pressing social issues that your company is working to address through its technology?
The most pressing social issues PROBr is tackling are systemic underrepresentation in clinical research and the deep mistrust that keeps underserved communities away from life‑saving trials.
In the UK, ethnic minorities make up 18% of the population but only 6% of clinical trial participants. Women and people from Black, Brown, and low‑income backgrounds face the same exclusion, not because they are unwilling, but because recruitment systems were never designed for them. This leads to biased medical evidence and worsens health inequalities.
PROBr’s technology addresses this by embedding inclusion into its core architecture. Our intelligent matching engine actively prioritises underrepresented groups while remaining open to everyone. We use plain language, neurodivergent‑friendly design, and mobile‑first access to lower barriers to entry. Our consent‑aware model puts participants in control of their data, building trust through transparency.
At the same time, we tackle the economic and operational crisis of recruitment failures; 80% of trials miss enrolment deadlines and the industry loses billions each year. By making research more representative and efficient, we help ensure that the next generation of treatments works for everyone, not just a privileged few.
How does your company measure the impact of its work in creating positive change?
We measure impact through a mix of hard metrics and real human stories.
Quantitatively: We track three core metrics. Recruitment time reduction: our pilot study cut enrolment time by 75%. Diversity increase: we saw a >10 percentage point rise in ethnic minority participation.
Retention rates: we monitor how many participants stay through study completion, because recruitment is useless if people drop out.
Qualitatively: We collect participant feedback. One person told us: “For the first time, research felt like it was for me.” That single sentence matters as much as any percentage.
Our framework: We embed PPIE (Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement) into our platform. That means community groups help design studies, review materials, and give feedback. Their input shapes our product roadmap. We also align with the April 2026 MHRA diversity mandates, so our impact is measured against regulatory standards.
Ultimately, we know we’re succeeding when researchers tell us they met their diversity targets and when participants tell us they finally felt welcomed, not just counted.
In your opinion, what impact will technology have in creating a better future?
In my opinion, technology’s greatest impact will be in making essential systems, especially healthcare, truly inclusive and human‑centred. We’ve seen technology accelerate everything from communication to drug discovery, but the real leap forward will happen when we use it to rebuild trust, not just speed.
For clinical research, that means moving from one‑size‑fits‑all recruitment to intelligent, consent‑aware platforms that actively include people who have historically been left out. Technology can automate the tedious parts of screening and outreach, but it can also be transparent, explaining why someone was matched to a study, giving them control over their data, and creating feedback loops that make participants feel heard. When technology is designed with empathy, trust, plain language, accessibility, community co‑creation, it stops being a cold tool and becomes a bridge. A better future is one where no one is excluded from research because of their background, and where technology quietly removes the friction that currently breaks trust. That’s the future I’m building for.
What advice do you have for other companies looking to use technology for good and create a positive impact in the world?
My advice is simple: start with the people you’re trying to help, not with the technology.
Too often, companies build a clever tool and then search for a problem to fit it. Real impact comes the other way around. Spend time listening to the communities who are most excluded not through surveys, but through genuine conversation. In our case, that meant sitting with patients who said “research feels done to us, not with us.” That one line shaped everything we built.
Second, embed inclusion into your core architecture, not as an add‑on. If you design for the people who are hardest to reach: plain language, mobile access, trust‑based consent, you’ll end up serving everyone better.
Third, measure what matters. Metrics like “hours saved” are fine, but also track who is still left out, and whether your users feel respected. And finally, be honest about your failures. Impact isn’t a marketing slide; it’s a continuous, humbling process of learning from the people you aim to serve. That’s how technology becomes a force for good and create a positive impact to people.
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You can find out more about PROBr at probr.co
Probr will be pitching at the Manchester Health Series powered by Empact Ventures in partnership with Bruntwood SciTech and iNVEST Manchester, supported by Global Good
