Catching Cancer Early: Susan Tousi's Quest to Save Lives with a Simple Blood Test

"I come from a long line of medical doctors... but I myself was driven by things that move fast in terms of technology."

From a family of physicians, Susan Tousi chose a different path—one that would eventually revolutionize how we detect cancer. After decades building multi-hundred million dollar businesses at HP and Kodak, digitizing how the world captures and shares memories, she made a leap that surprised many: trading the consumer tech world for the promise of genomic medicine.

"Healthcare was moving fairly slowly in terms of technology adoption," Susan recalls. But when Illumina came calling, she saw her chance to change that. As Chief Product Development Officer and later Chief Commercial Officer, she helped drive the cost of human genome sequencing from over $100,000 down to just $100—making the technology accessible in 155 countries worldwide.

Now, as CEO of DELFI Diagnostics, Susan is tackling one of healthcare's deadliest challenges: lung cancer kills more people annually than breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers combined—yet 94% of those who should be screened never get tested. Her solution? A simple blood draw that can detect cancer at stage one, powered by AI and whole genome sequencing, at a cost of just a few hundred dollars.

"If you can get blood drawn, you can get our test," Susan explains. "These tests should be in the few hundreds of dollars, easily covered by the healthcare system, available to patients without copay. Everyone's cancer should be caught early. It should be an annual process."

In this powerful episode of Inspiring Women with Laurie McGraw, Susan also reveals:

✔ What happens when you reduce genome sequencing costs from $100,000 to $100 and why it matters for every patient
✔ Why blood-based testing will make cancer detection as routine as annual physicals—no radiation, no invasive procedures
✔ The surprising ways AI and machine learning are uncovering cancer signals in blood
✔ How to build diverse leadership teams naturally
✔ What really changes (and doesn't) when you become a biotech CEO:
✔ Why the hardest CEO decisions are about people and focus, not technology

From engineering at HP to revolutionizing digital photography at Kodak to detecting cancer at its earliest stages, Susan's journey proves that the fastest-moving technology innovations can transform the slowest-moving healthcare challenges—when you're willing to take the leap.

"There's no greater mission than advancing the improvement of people's healthy lifespan," Susan reflects. "We need women at the table. These are long-term investments. We need to make sure that the diverse population of patients and clinicians who are going to use our tests are represented in the people who develop the tests. That diversity makes us better."

A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Susan Tousi is reshaping how we think about cancer detection—making it accessible, affordable, and available anywhere you can have blood drawn. This is the future of healthcare, and it's happening now.

Chapters

02:13 - From Engineering to Healthcare Leadership
05:31 - Digital Innovation to Genomic Revolution
09:05 - Transforming Lung Cancer Detection
13:39 - Women Leading in Biotech
16:54 - The Reality of Being CEO
20:05 - Advice for Aspiring Women Leaders

GUEST & HOST LINKS

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Connect with Susan Tousi on LinkedIn   / susan-tousi  

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