Andrew Trister, MD, PhD, has left his post in the special projects division of Apple's health team to join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he confirmed to CNBC.
At the charitable foundation, Dr. Trister will reportedly lead a new team tasked with investing in globally minded digital health companies. As deputy director of digital health innovation, he told CNBC, he will help entrepreneurs and companies bring their healthcare technology to the developing world, and will partner with ventures already working in under-resourced regions.
Dr. Trister joined Apple in 2016, and is a co-author of research published this week by Apple and Eli Lilly that studied whether consumer devices such as smartwatches can help spot early signs of dementia. Though he did not confirm whether he will be continuing this research, Dr. Trister told CNBC he plans on paying close attention in his new role to companies utilizing portable, smartphone-based technology to improve healthcare.