Julia Shestak
Patient Engagement · Healthcare Innovation · Partnership Strategy

Healthcare innovation,
built around people

I help healthcare innovation teams translate patient insight and stakeholder complexity into clear practical strategies for product development, partnerships and market access.

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Julia Shestak
Barcelona · Spain
Julia Shestak, healthcare innovation consultant
WHAT I BELIEVE

Where human insight meets strategy

I believe that any innovation starts with people — their needs, motivations and everyday realities.

My strength is connecting this human understanding with a clear business approach.

I help healthcare teams align patients, clinicians, partners and other stakeholders around a shared direction - so innovation projects work not only on paper, but in real life.

Services

How I can help

These are the main areas of my work. The best way to understand what is most relevant for your project is an introductory call.

01

Patient Engagement & Patient Evidence Strategy

For healthcare projects that need to actually understand their patients - not as a checkbox, but as a strategic input. I help turn real patient experience into something you can use: in product decisions, in partner conversations, in how you tell your story to investors or the market. This strengthens your positioning and makes your project easier to explain, trust and support as a patient-centred solution

What you get
  • Patient journey map
  • Patient organisations mapping and engagement strategy
  • Patient evidence plan (interview and deep analysis)
  • Recommendations for product, pitch or market access use
Book a call →
02

Business Development & Partnership Strategy

Healthcare teams often know what they've built - but not always who needs to hear about it, or in what order. I help you map the patients, clinicians, hospitals, payers and partners that actually matter for your project, then turn that map into real next steps: who to approach first, what to say to them, and what a realistic path to adoption looks like.

What you get
  • Stakeholder & partner map
  • Value proposition per audience
  • Outreach messaging
  • Partnership roadmap
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03

Healthcare Innovation Advisory Package

Sometimes the most useful thing before a big step - fundraising, a pilot, a new partnership - is an honest outside view. I review your project end-to-end: the logic, the positioning, the stakeholder map, the pitch - and tell you clearly what's working, what's missing, and what to do next.

What you get
  • Strategic project review
  • Clear strengths & gaps
  • Refined positioning
  • Next-step roadmap
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04

Individual Consultation

Sometimes you just need one focused conversation - about a pitch, a tricky stakeholder, a partnership next step, or where to take your healthcare project from here. This is a structured session built around your specific situation, not a generic coaching call.

What you get
  • Structured feedback on your idea, pitch or next step
  • Clear, practical takeaways from a single focused session
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USE CASES

Where this work adds value

01

You are building a healthcare product and need to understand the patient journey before moving further.

02

You need to bring patient perspective into product, communication, market access or investor materials.

03

You need to identify relevant patient organisations, KOLs, clinics, partners or strategic stakeholders.

04

You need a clearer partnership and business development roadmap.

05

You need to prepare for strategic meetings with healthcare, pharma, hospital or innovation stakeholders.

06

You need an external strategic view before launching, fundraising, piloting or scaling.

Who I work with

Healthcare teams building innovative solutions

Healthtech startups
Medtech and digital health companies
Biotech and pharma-related projects
Healthcare innovation units
Patient engagement initiatives
Founders, healthcare professionals and project leaders
About

About me

I'm based in Barcelona, in the heart of one of Europe's most active healthcare and innovation ecosystems.

I have been a patient navigating a complex medical journey myself, and I have also developed patient navigation projects that made referral pathways clearer for people who needed answers, direction and support in their patient journeys.

This shaped how I see healthcare: not only as an industry, but as a system real people have to understand, trust and move through.

Over the past 10+ years, I have worked for different projects across healthcare, including serving as clients global pharma and MedTech organisations such as Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, AstraZeneca and Bayer. I have led conversations with senior decision-makers, built stakeholder maps and supported business development across Europe and Asia.  This is the perspective I bring to every project: I understand the patient side, the stakeholder side and the business side - and I help healthcare teams make sense of all three.

Julia Shestak in Barcelona
My approach

How I approach healthcare projects

01

Start with the real need

Every engagement begins with a clear understanding of where your project is now and what your major needs are

02

Understand stakeholder incentives

Patients, patient organisations, clinicians, payers, hospitals and corporate partners each have their own logic. Strategy has to respect it.

03

Translate complexity into clear strategy

Healthcare contexts are layered. The work is to turn that complexity into decisions teams can actually act on.

04

Build practical outputs

Every project ends with materials your team can use in product, partnership, investor or market access conversations.

Let's talk

Need a clearer path for your healthcare project?

If you are developing a healthcare product, patient engagement programme or partnership strategy, an introductory call is the best place to clarify the challenge, the context and the right scope of support.

Book a call
Contact

Get in touch

Boutique healthcare innovation and patient engagement consulting, based in Barcelona. Available for selected projects across Europe and beyond.

Location
Barcelona, Spain