Meet Our Founder
Fidji Simo
Co-founder & President, CODA
CEO, Instacart
Despite a 15+ year career in business and technology, my determination to transform healthcare began not in a boardroom, but in a hospital room. I was diagnosed with a complex chronic condition called POTS in 2019, and had to go through 20+ doctors to find a diagnosis and treatment plans. I was told there was no cure.
But I believed that patients deserved better, and that they should be part of coming up with solutions. That’s why I founded CODA.
The Complex Disorders Alliance (CODA) is a groundbreaking nonprofit born from both personal experience and a deep commitment to transforming how we understand and treat chronic illnesses. I know there are millions of others around the world feeling the burden of these illnesses in their lives, too. The chronic illness community is a powerful one. If given the resources, platform, and right team of experts, I know that together, we can change outcomes.
Throughout this journey, I asked every possible leader in biotech and pharma why they weren’t prioritizing drugs for these conditions, despite the enormous market. They told me that in order for them to do that, they needed much more, better and richer patient data to understand the true biology behind these conditions. So I set out to create the richest dataset for these conditions, and the foundational research needed to de-risk biotech and pharma investment into this space.
But I also knew I couldn’t do it alone, because silos don’t benefit patients; collaboration does. Answers are out there, but we must create a system from which they can emerge. Much like the labs in which these discoveries thrive, it will take an ideal environment with just the right data, minds, and urgency to foster them. Our mission is to unite scientists, doctors, patients, and advocates to accelerate research, improve diagnostics, and develop effective treatments for conditions like ME/CFS, POTS, Long COVID, and others that have long been neglected.
We believe in a future where personalized medicine is the norm and where every patient receives care tailored to their unique biology and experiences. By harnessing the power of collaboration and innovation, we aim to bring hope and healing to millions.
I invite you to join us in this movement.
With gratitude,
Fidji Simo