Meet Thanh Nguyen, Co-founder and CTO @ University Medical Devices / Co-founder, CTO and Interim CEO @ HemaGlobal

University Medical Devices and HemaGlobal are medtech startups based in Nebraska and prompted out of UNeMed, the tech transfer office of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. 

UMD’s flagship product is the MicroWash, a device for collecting nasal specimens and improving upon a procedure typically completed through a nasal swab. HemaGlobal’s flagship product is the RapidSmear, a simple-to-use, portable device for collecting blood smears.

Nguyen is a professor in the UNMC Department of Emergency Medicine. He has received recognition for his inventions and entrepreneurship at UNeMed’s 2025 Innovation Research Awards. 

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur or support other entrepreneurs?

The primary driving force behind my desire to be an entrepreneur is to ensure lifesaving and life-improving academic technologies are brought to market so they can be utilized by health professionals and patients. 

I strongly believe in equitable access to health care for all, and this feeds my passion to decentralize medicine. 

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you were just starting out?

I would tell my younger and naive self to be bold and worry less about failure. I’ve spent many years carefully planning my execution plans, only to watch them crash and burn. 

In my recent endeavors, I’ve found much more success in allowing myself to fail and pivot. 

How do you stay motivated when things feel overwhelming — or stagnant?

I believe a true barometer for eventual success is the people in your inner circle. Needless to say, entrepreneurship is an endurance race with many obstacles, twists and turns. 

Many setbacks are discouraging, but I’ve discovered a strong team always finds a way to correct the course.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome and how did you overcome it?

Our focus has always been on the patients. We design our technologies to seamlessly incorporate into the patients’ lives while ensuring the maximum benefits.

With this being said, designing a technology that works for all walks of life is extremely difficult. When facing a design challenge, I sometimes have to remind myself to stop “hearing” patients’ frustrations and truly “listen” to their needs.

The solution is oftentimes hidden in plain sight when we’re willing to listen.

How can the Nebraska community support you?

Nebraska is an ecosystem of extreme talent. I have come to learn this truth over the past decade of living here.

I only wished there were more streamline avenues where I could access these resources.