Growing up, Lubaina Maimoon always knew she wanted to pursue the business side of healthcare. Her mother is a doctor and frequently brought Lubaina along on patient visits. Her father, a successful entrepreneur, is always giving back to society. Influenced significantly by both, Lubaina was determined from a young age to make a difference in the lives of people.

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DiabeticLink was started at the University of Arizona under the direction of Regents’ Professor and Thomas R. Brown Chair of Management and Technology Hsinchun Chen. It caters to Type-1, Type-2, and pre-Diabetics with the goal of better health through self-management. Lubaina played a large role in the launch of its website which focuses on four key areas: health resources, tracking, risk engine, and community.In 2013, Lubaina entered the Full-Time Eller MBA Program and fueled her innovative spirit by also joining the McGuire Entrepreneurship Program. However, she found her true calling during the summer of 2014 when she interned at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. It was there that she was first introduced to DiabeticLink—a start-up that combines health care and technology with accessibility and affordability in an effort to empower those afflicted with diabetes.

“In my internship, I’ve been able to directly apply skills learned in the classroom to my work,” says Lubaina. “The market research class was incredibly helpful in designing our user study and helped make the website what it is today.”

Lubaina’s hard work and determination paid off. Her internship grew into a part-time graduate assistant role and eventually led to a job offer upon her graduation this past May. Her next project under the direction of Dr. Chen is SilverLink, a home health monitoring service for senior citizens. Asked for parting words of advice, she says, “Try to learn as much as you can and also enjoy yourself and the experience.”

Header photo courtesy of Pixabay.