Nan Gu fights for health equity

As part of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, ZS is dedicated to delivering healthy, fair and sustainable outcomes. We collaborate with clients and communities to address social drivers of health, manage climate impact, ensure data security and privacy, and govern our firm with diverse, equitable and inclusive practices.

One such initiative is our Patient Health and Equity Accelerator, where associate principal Nan Gu channels his passion for systems thinking into exploring the connection between social inequities and health outcomes.

Where passion changes lives

Nan joined ZS as an associate consultant after earning a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. He now uses that background to predict how the healthcare ecosystem may evolve over the next three to five years—and helps integrate those insights into client work to keep ZS at the forefront of innovation.

“My work focuses on unstructured, unsolved problems that have a basis in reality,” Nan explains. “Our team builds models with predictive power. Once you understand how a system works, you can take action to improve outcomes.”

As Nan and his team explored challenges within the healthcare system, one major unmet need became clear: entire populations continue to experience worse health outcomes—including higher rates of illness and premature death—due to one or more social drivers of health. The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted these disparities, bringing health equity to the forefront for clients and healthcare professionals alike.

“Suddenly, everybody wanted to talk about health equity—ZSers, clients, everyone,” Nan says. “I was fortunate to partner with Judith Kulich, one of our senior principals, who brought an external partnership perspective. Together, we developed what is now the Patient Health and Equity Accelerator.”

While Judith leads the accelerator’s strategic partnerships, Nan helps lead ZS’s firmwide health equity initiatives. He describes ZS’s approach through three key pillars:

1. ZS Cares, our pro bono program that pairs ZSers with nonprofit partners to address health disparities using the same skills and offerings we bring to clients
2. Client partnerships focused on integrating health equity into strategy, insights and execution
3. Collaborative ecosystems, where we cocreate solutions alongside healthcare clients, researchers and nonprofit partners to improve population health

“I’m a theoretical person studying health equity, but that alone isn’t enough,” Nan says. “To truly make a difference, I want to work alongside organizations that are on the frontlines—doing the last-mile work to reach the people we aim to serve.”

Nan is currently leading two standout projects:

The first is a ZS Cares partnership with 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic, a nonprofit in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood that supports youth aged 12-24. Nan’s team is helping the organization streamline its approach to funding so it can focus more time and resources on healthcare, education and employment support for local residents.

The second project is a collaboration with Dr. Daniel Fein at Montefiore Medical Center, investigating how unconscious bias influences asthma treatment in Black communities. These biases—also called implicit or hidden biases—can unknowingly shape clinical decisions and contribute to poorer outcomes for underserved populations.

“We found that even when you equalize everything except for the doctor-patient interaction, you still see different outcomes,” Nan says. “That difference often stems from unconscious bias.”

While this study is ongoing, Nan is optimistic that the findings will drive improvements in asthma care and clinical equity for marginalized communities. His work—along with that of many ZSers—is a testament to the power of pairing analytics with purpose.

Partnering with nonprofits and clients to improve population health is just one of the ways ZS is championing health equity around the world.

To learn more about how ZS drives impact through client and community partnerships, follow us on social media.

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