Former City of Compton Mayor Aja Brown Joins Nudj Health as Strategic Advisor to Help Close Gap on Health Inequities and Disparities in America

PASADENA, Calif. (April 18, 2023) – Nudj Health, a tech-enabled health service that partners with providers nationwide to deliver telehealth mental health and lifestyle interventions to patients using the collaborative care model, today announced that Aja Brown, former mayor of the City of Compton (2013-2021) and co-founder of Compton Community Development Corporation, has joined the company as a strategic advisor. In her role, Brown will help establish Nudj as a trusted health equity leader in the Los Angeles area and beyond by advising on operations including how Nudj deploys its services in communities struggling with access, communications and marketing initiatives as well as aiding policy strategies to help close the gap on health inequities and disparities.

“Aja shares our passion to eradicate health inequalities and establish Nudj as a key player in the fight against health disparities so that our services are more accessible and affordable to low-income patients,” stated Yuri Sudhakar, founder and chief executive officer of Nudj Health. “With her boots on the ground expertise and deep rooted community relationships in Compton and other underserved cities, we will tap Aja to help us translate and humanize health, increase aptitude and identify and break down cultural barriers to build better health more broadly.”

In the U.S., 29% of adults with a medical condition also have some type of mental health disorder and close to 70% of behavioral health patients have a medical co-morbidity.1 Each year over $3.4 trillion of U.S. healthcare expenditures - approximately 90% of total costs - are spent on patients with both chronic disease and behavioral health issues.2 This problem is exacerbated by the lack of integrated behavioral health services in primary and specialty care settings.

Nudj Health uses the collaborative care model and thus far its services have demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of moderate to severe depression, anxiety, and insomnia with scores decreasing by 42-52% within 12 weeks. Patients also experienced a reduction or maintenance of blood pressure and weight, improved mobility, improved medication adherence and improved connections with family, community and Nudj Health support systems. See Nudj Health’s latest clinical update here.

“Quality healthcare in the United States, particularly in historically underserved communities, remains inaccessible and unaffordable,” expressed Brown. “I am dedicated to identifying transformative solutions to bridge the health inequity divide, which is why I am joining the Nudj team as a strategic advisor. Together, with their leadership, we’ll champion healthcare diversity and inclusivity, paving the way for premier healthcare to be accessible to all Americans.”

“According to the Social Progress Index, the U.S. ranks 88 out of 169 countries in providing equal access to quality healthcare to its citizens. This is unacceptable and Nudj Health is on a mission to change this. This is our purpose and I thank Aja for joining our team,” stated Sudhakar.

Currently, Nudj is focused on growing its clinical, technology and commercial teams to rapidly scale its turnkey evidence-based behavioral health services in primary care, cardiology, oncology and women’s health settings nationwide.