Cutting through the noise on care and coverage

The Signal is a monthly column from Goodpath’s clinical team on the emerging research, clinical data, and broader learnings and trends shaping the future of obesity and cardiometabolic treatment.

Each column aims to bring an evidence-first perspective to the coverage decisions benefits leaders, brokers, and consultants are navigating right now.

Meet the clinical brain behind The Signal

Nishu Uppal, MD, MBA is a practicing internal medicine physician and healthcare policy researcher trained at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He has published in leading journals including NEJM, JAMA, and Health Affairs, and his research has informed federal healthcare legislation. As Principal Physician, Population Health at Goodpath, Dr. Uppal is focused on scaling value through whole-person clinical delivery models that reduce hard-dollar medical spend while improving outcomes.

He brings expertise at the intersection of clinical medicine, health technology and economics, and policy to The Signal – a combination that positions him to identify the clinical and commercial levers that make digital health work for patients, providers, and employers. Nishu holds an MD from Harvard Medical School (Presidential Scholar) and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Read the Latest Columns

Eating disorders & GLP-1s: What employers need to know

How common is GLP-1 use and misuse by individuals with eating disorders in the United States? In this article, Dr. Nishu Uppal and Dr. James Lyda unpack the latest research, what benefits leaders need to know, and share guidance for weight management benefits design to avoid misuse and clinical safety issues.

Genetic predictors of GLP-1 response: Promising, but not there yet

One of the clinical realities of GLP-1 medications is that treatment responses vary widely from person to person. In the first issue of The Signal, Dr. Nishu Uppal and Dr. Akl Fahed unpack what a 28,000-person genetics study can and can't tell us about who responds to GLP-1s, and why it matters.

Meet the Contributors

Akl Fahed, MD, MPH

Dr. Akl Fahed is a leading physician-scientist in the prevention of cardiometabolic disease and practicing interventional cardiologist at Mass General Brigham. As author of more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, his work has advanced the understanding of obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases. As Co-Founder and Senior Advisor at Goodpath, he advises on clinical and scientific strategy. Dr. Fahed is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and directs the Fahed Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard – an NIH-funded research group that uses genomics, data science, and artificial intelligence to advance the prevention of cardiometabolic disease. Triple-board certified, Dr. Fahed holds an MD and MPH, and completed his residency, cardiology fellowships, and postdoctoral genetics training at Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School.