History · 2019 → today
From a NYC dinner to a national community.
The origin
How four medical students started a national community.
In 2019, Sherman Leung (then a medical student at Mount Sinai with a Stanford CS background) started organizing informal meetups in New York City for medical students who didn't fit the traditional clinical-research mold. People interested in tech, business, biotech, policy. People who wanted more.
On October 2, 2019, the first MDplus meetup happened in NYC. About 20–30 people showed up. All four co-founders were in the room: Sherman Leung, Sarah Zweifach (NYU MD/MBA), Omar Njie (Mount Sinai), and Walter Hsiang (Yale MD/MBA).
In May 2020, MDplus (then called MD++) launched publicly with ten founding members and a single Slack workspace. Six years and four leadership generations later, that Slack has grown into a community of about 5,000 medical students, residents, and physicians from 120+ medical schools across the country, with eight active verticals, 14 regional chapters, and a Datathon model that's been published in peer-reviewed research.
Timeline
The milestones, in order.
2019–2020
Founding
Four medical students in New York start informal meetups and a Slack. By the time MDplus goes public in May 2020, it's a community of ten founding members.
Aug 27, 2019
Slack workspace created
Sherman Leung sets up the original MD++ Slack: the workspace that's still the gravitational center of the community five years later.
Oct 2, 2019
First meetup in NYC
About 20–30 non-traditional medical students gather in New York for the first in-person MDplus event. Co-founders Sherman Leung, Sarah Zweifach, Omar Njie, and Walter Hsiang are all there.
May 2020
Public launch
MD++ launches publicly with 10 founding members. Sherman publishes "Introducing MD++" on Medium, framing the community as the bridge between clinical medicine and tech, business, and policy.
2021–2022
Early growth
The community grows from a few hundred to 1,400+ members in a year. The first formal exec team forms; the first competitions launch.
June 2021
First Innovation Challenge
50+ medical students compete across digital health, data, and devices tracks. The first event with industry partners (AlleyCorp).
Oct–Nov 2021
Roivant Sciences Innovation Challenge
70+ participants. Winners (Annovate, Food Farmacy, EyeWonder) get follow-up partnerships with Roivant.
January 2022
Inaugural Datathon
200+ medical students compete on the National Inpatient Sample dataset. The Datathon (now MDplus's flagship event) is born under data-science director Lathan Liou and AI director Katie Link.
2022
Rebrand to MD+ and website launch
MD++ becomes MD+. mdplus.community goes live. The first executive team grows to 29 members.
2023–2024
Maturation
Membership crosses 4,000. The Podcast launches. The Datathon model gets peer-reviewed. Leadership transitions twice, from founder era to institutional era.
June 2023
MD+ Podcast launches
Hosted by Geoff Bocobo, MD. Three formats: Founder Stories, Fireside Chats, and Trainee Decision Points. Available on Spotify.
Oct–Nov 2023
2nd Annual Datathon
Theme: Value-Based Care. 28 teams using MIMIC-IV. Solidifies the Datathon as the org's signature program.
March 2024
Leadership transitions
Clara Sun + Steve Stephen become co-chairs, succeeding Lathan + Clara. Lathan moves to VP of Finance. The first non-founder leadership generation is fully in place.
Oct 24, 2024
Let's Talk Digital 2024
First MDplus national conference. In-person, focused on digital health, healthcare innovation, and policy.
Nov 2024
3rd Annual Datathon
First Datathon with multiple competition tracks. Pitch competition held November 18.
2025–2026
Current era
Academic recognition, ~5,000 members, eight active verticals, 14 regional chapters. The org enters institutional maturity.
March 2025
Datathon model published in JMIR Medical Education
"Leveraging Datathons to Teach AI in Undergraduate Medical Education" lands in a peer-reviewed journal: formal academic validation of the Datathon as a model for medical education.
April 2025
Match Panel with Thalamus
100+ participants. The first major event under the new Steve + Arvind co-chair pairing.
Oct–Nov 2025
4th Annual Datathon
Theme: "Empowering Patients Through AI." 31 teams, ~300 participants from multiple countries. Gold sponsors: Doximity, Inflo Health. Largest and most internationally represented Datathon to date.
February 2026
2026–27 leadership recruitment opens
First systematic, application-based exec team recruitment process. Marks the formalization of succession planning that earlier transitions handled informally.
Leadership generations
Five generations of co-chairs.
Sherman Leung handed off to Lathan Liou. Lathan handed off to Clara Sun. Clara to Steve Stephen. Steve to Arvind Rajan. Each transition kept enough institutional memory to make the next one possible.
| Year | Co-chairs | Team size | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–2022 | Sherman Leung (sole chair) | 15 | Founding executive team formed |
| 2022–2023 | Sherman Leung + Lathan Liou | 29 | Major expansion; team nearly doubles |
| 2023–2024 | Lathan Liou + Clara Sun | 23 | Right-sizing; Sherman steps back |
| 2024–2025 | Clara Sun + Steve Stephen | 24 | Third generation of leadership |
| 2025–2026 | Steve Stephen + Arvind Rajan | 27 | Operations and Alumni roles added |
By the numbers
Six years of growth.
2019
20–50
Pre-launch meetups
2021
1,400+
Explosive growth year
2022
2,500
Geographic expansion begins
2023
4,200+
Podcast + regional footprint
2025
~5,000
International reach
Membership grew exponentially through 2023 and has since stabilized in the 4,000–5,000 range as the organization has shifted focus from raw growth to programming quality and international reach.
You can be part of the next chapter.
Every leadership generation has been built from active members first. If that path interests you, joining the Slack is the starting line.