Kateryna Mishina
I’ve been passionate about digital health since the age of 18, and I’ve built my career around learning different approaches and gaining relevant skills, to solving global health issues. I’m dedicated to innovation in the healthcare industry and hope to be a driving force in this field throughout my life. In my free time, I love exploring new things and adventures abroad or just curling up with a good book or a painting kit and a glass of wine.
"I feel honored to study with such a bright and motivated cohort of amazing people whom I am proud now to call my friends."
Exploring the legal frontier of a new sector
Equipped with a Bachelor in Business Administration, three years of Medical School and several years of professional experience, Kateryna wanted to earn a master’s degree that would expose her to subjects and knowledge beyond the thorough foundation she had already laid for herself. She was keen to place herself in the best-possible position to thrive in the international market.
Already acquainted with law through a previous consultancy position where she focused on negotiations and a position in Mergers and Acquisitions, she was curious to flesh this awareness out on an academic level. The prestigious Executive LL.M. joint degree offered by IE Law School in partnership with Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law was a golden opportunity to gain this legal knowledge. Critically, it also allows Kateryna to continue developing her career.
This was crucial for Kateryna because, alongside her studies, she works full-time at Cara Care, a digital therapeutics company, dedicated to helping patients manage gut health. They’re disrupting the traditional healthcare industry by offering a personalized platform that is easily accessible and supports the patient in the management of disease symptoms. Kateryna’s role lies in managing strategic partnerships for the startup.
While juggling both work and university has been tricky at times, she credits her colleagues and her employers’ purpose—as well as her inspiring peers at IE University—as her greatest source of motivation. The program’s blended format has been carefully designed to meet the needs of full-time professionals, but there was still a learning curve in terms of teaching styles and cultural differences to legal approaches that were completely new to her.
Indeed, the mix of students in Kateryna’s classes has enriched her experience, prompting her to think more critically about law and the different possibilities for legal systems. Adjusting to this and the rigor of the coursework, Kateryna found the first in-person period and exams especially intense. However, she ultimately has adapted to the program’s rhythm and can’t wait to see her colleagues again in Chicago.
When considering the challenges that her career and sector may face, Kateryna underlines the newness of digital therapeutics. As a sector that did not even exist in this form only a few years ago, there are still numerous legal gray areas to be explored and translated into solid legal standards and frameworks.
The constant change means that every day raises new questions to resolve and new developments to consider. Through the training of the Executive LL.M., Kateryna is excited to continue growing at Cara Care and feels confident that she’ll be able to leverage her new skills in future commercial and legal negotiations, particularly as they expand into international markets. Kateryna finds the challenges, flexibility and innovation of this sector invigorating, and she is eager to be part of the vanguard driving its evolution.
Visit her LinkedIn Profile.
