about us
“The greatest need we have today in the human cancer problem, except for a universal cure, is a method for detecting cancer before there are any clinical signs or symptoms.”
Sidney Farber, M.D.
Father of modern chemotherapy
November 1962
pioneering the detection of early cancer
Harbinger Health is pioneering the detection of early cancer and enabling foundationally new approaches to cancer screening, diagnosis and management. Incubated within Flagship Pioneering for three years before launching in 2021, Harbinger combines advances in artificial intelligence with proprietary insights into the biology of the beginnings of cancer to identify cancer before it is visible or symptomatic with the aim of developing a low-cost, multi-cancer blood test.
A harbinger is a “forerunner, that which precedes and gives notice of the coming of another.” We not only are working to identify the harbinger – the biological programs present in the earliest forms of cancer – but seek to be the harbinger, to be the forerunner which will usher in the future of healthcare.
At Harbinger, we intend to lead in shaping this future – creating a proactive paradigm so that people can live cancer-free for longer, adding years to life and life to years. We envision a future where, instead of keeping cancer from spreading, it could be kept from forming, making a cancer diagnosis a routine health problem to be addressed rather than a life-altering event to be feared with profound implications for people, healthcare systems and societies.
Our answer to the problem of late cancer detection and unacceptable patient prognoses starts with our proprietary solutions for the future of cancer pre-emption. Beginning with blood-based tests, we will enable cancer detection before it is visible. By identifying biological programs rooted in cancer's origins, we can enable identification of early stage and pre-disease. Through this new pathway for cancer diagnosis and early therapeutic interventions, Harbinger Health has the potential to fundamentally change cancer care, for everyone.
Leila Gjika
Leila Gjika serves as the SVP, Head of Human Resources for Harbinger Health, and leads the organization in implementing human resources best practices, initiatives, and driving the strategic direction and expertise for the full scope of the people function, structure, policies, and culture of Harbinger Health.
Leila has shaped and driven all aspects of human resources throughout her over 20-year career, providing thought-partner leadership regarding coaching, employee relations, diversity-equity-inclusion, total rewards, talent acquisition, engagement, culture, organizational design, change, performance management, successful communication campaigns, and learning and development within the life sciences industry.
Prior to joining Harbinger, Leila championed a culture of high performance and led teams in aligning human resources goals directly relating to the corporate values for Ultivue, a global innovative late-stage biotechnology organization that provides researchers and scientists with multiplex biomarker assays for tissue phenotyping and digital pathology. Prior to that, Leila was the site Head of Human Resources for Munters, a global environmental organization and Dutch Ophthalmic Research Center, a global ophthalmic medical device multi-location manufacturing facility. Earlier in her career, Leila was the founder of a successful human resources consulting business driving human resources in healthcare specialty providers, legal practices, defense manufacturing facilities, and businesses within the biotechnology industries.
Leila earned her Bachelor of Science (BS) in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and Organizational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University and is a SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Senior Certified Professional in Human Resources.
