Putting me back in medicine
As caregivers ourselves, we set out to help simplify the complexities of the medical world for parents and caregivers. Regardless of your child’s age or medical situation, keeping track of everything is hard. We built mejo to help keep your child’s medical and care information beautifully organized, tailored to your needs and easy to share. Our mission is our tag line - 'putting me back in medicine'.
Our founders
In 2018, after 15+ years in business development, marketing and fundraising Ryan paused his career to become a stay-at-home dad/caregiver for his twin sons. One of his sons has an ultra-rare genetic disorder called Costello Syndrome. He has experienced many situations in the healthcare arena. Managed countless specialists, coordinated surgeries, administered hourly medications, looked for answers and has heard "tell me about what’s going on with your son?” too many times to count.
He started the concept of mejo a couple years ago via a power point while sitting in the NICU over 103 days. Over the years he's spoken with many caregivers. They all identify a need for a single tool to help them organize their loved ones' journeys in a visual way. Most information is scattered across multiple medical record platforms that don’t speak to the caregiver in a way that makes sense.
A lot of healthcare is missing the human element. mejo is not just about medications, surgeries, height and weight. It also helps keep track of the things that make your loved one unique. Knowing that he loves high-fives and the baby shark song or that he only eats through a g-tube is just as important as his medications or his blood type.
Ryan created mejo to be simple, high level and go beyond the chart. Whether you have one medically complex kid or multiple loved ones you're trying to keep organized, mejo is for you! Ryan is a dad, rare disease caregiver and the Founder of mejo. He lives in Bentonville, AR with his wife and theree sons.
Ryan Sheedy, Co-Founder
Our advisors
Effie Parks
Patient Advocacy
Effie Parks has become a guiding light in the rare disease community following her son Ford's diagnosis with CTNNB1 syndrome. She transformed her family's journey into a crusade for advocacy, support, and empowerment for families navigating similar challenges. As the host of the "Once Upon a Gene" podcast, Effie has been recognized for several awards including WEGO Health and Podcast Magazine for her impactful storytelling and resource-sharing in the realm of rare genetic disorders.
Diana McDaniel
Healthcare Relations
Diana McDaniel, MPA, FACMPE, is board-certified as a Fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives and member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She served as the inaugural executive over operations for the opening of Arkansas Children’s Northwest in 2017. She founded Prosper Med, a consulting company focused on scaling up medical practices, physician recruitment, and health tech growth where she serves as CEO and consultant. Her passion is community service to fill gaps in health and healthcare delivery which is why she is so passionate about the future growth trajectory of mejo.
Rob Lyle, MD
Clinical Care
Robert E. Lyle, M.D., is a Board-Certified Neonatologist, Pediatrician and a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology. Recognizing the need to take this level of “care system redesign” to the outpatient care of an ever-growing population of complex NICU graduates, Dr. Lyle was honored in 2006 to found and develop the ACH Medical Home Program for Special Needs Children with Dr. Patrick Casey, Professor of Pediatrics/ Developmental Pediatrics. As one of the nation’s first “pediatric complex care” programs, this innovative multidisciplinary model of care has led to multiple publications and numerous awards. Dr. Lyle has been married to Dr. Carlene Lyle for over 37 years and he is a devoted and most proud father of three daughters and three grandchildren.
Mark Sorrentino, MD
Industry
Mark has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and currently leads Icon’s global pediatric center of excellence. In addition, he founded and oversaw the Center for Vaccines and Emerging Infectious Diseases before the PRA/Icon merger. Prior to joining ICON, Dr Sorrentino spent 5 years as the global chair and founder of the pediatric practice area at a leading CRO, overseeing all aspects of strategy and pediatric clinical development, as well as the global therapeutic head of critical care and the interim head of infectious diseases. In addition to working at CROs, Dr Sorrentino has served as the global chief medical officer at ADMA Biologics, where he oversaw all clinical development operations.
Healthcare was always central to Bret's career. He spent over 20+ years working in healthcare technology. During that time, he visited hospitals, working with doctors, nurses, and administrators as part of his previous executive role at Cerner (now Oracle Cerner), a large healthcare IT company.
While his background was immensely helpful in understanding healthcare, it didn't fully prepare his family for everything they needed to know when both of his sons were impacted by sudden, acute, and severe rare diseases. Experiencing healthcare from the viewpoint of the caregiver rather than the provider or patient was eye opening. There was a lot to do and very little guidance on how to really do it. There had to be a better way!
That is why he joined Ryan on his mission. Together, they created mejo, a purpose-built tech solution for anyone managing rare and complex disease. Its innovative technology allows users to organize, share, and rack important health + care details. Bret is a dad, rare disease caregiver and Co-Founder. He lives in Kansas City, KS with his wife and three kids.
Bret Koncak, Co-Founder
