Tara Viswanathan is the co-founder and CEO of Rupa Health, a health startup focused on expanding access to root cause medicine and modernizing the process of ordering specialty lab tests. Tara talked to us about what exactly is root cause medicine and why is it central to Rupa Health’s mission. We discuss how the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry has evolved and what are the current challenges for healthcare practitioners. Tara shares her thoughts regarding chronic illnesses and talks about why they are currently the biggest danger to our health. We also discuss Americans’ nutrition and dietary habits, gut biome issues, novel treatments, and why taking a lot of prescription drugs can have adverse effects on people’s health.Tara also shares her personal story behind the decision to start Rupa Health, speaks on finding the first key hires, equity splits, and role distribution between her and her co-founders, and shares how she found her product-market fit.