Michelle Monique Marshall is the founder and chief executive officer of Neowe Research and Development, a medical device developer established in 2018. Ms. Marshall has spent more than 15 years in the healthcare industry specializing in wound care, and she brings her experience and an uncompromising dedication to quality to her work in device manufacturing. Neowe Research and Development’s premier product is the Ouipan, a smart bedpan designed to use blockchain technology and Internet of Things infrastructure to deliver accurate real-time data to clinicians and care teams.
Ms. Marshall was inspired to begin developing the Ouipan after filling in for a nurse at a long-term care facility. While working with another provider to change a 90-year-old patient’s wound dressings, she noticed complications from a large pressure sore caused by the patient’s bedpan. Shocked by the severity of the infection and the frequency with which the nurses at the facility saw patients with similar injuries, she was driven to improve on existing bedpan designs, many of which have remained unchanged for more than a century. Working with friends from the medical industry, Ms. Marshall developed the Ouipan, which uses pressure sensors and an anatomically-informed ergonomic design to improve patient outcomes and alert care teams to potential irritation before it develops.
Ms. Marshall holds seven domestic patents for the Ouipan device, has three international patents pending, and continues to work on research and development of additional medical devices. She cites her ongoing frustration with the apathy and inflexibility that she saw throughout the medical industry, including clinician complaints about preventable patient complications, poor documentation, and resistance to change, as major drivers in her pivot to device manufacturing. Outside her work with Neowe Research & Development, Inc., Ms. Marshall has been the owner of Neucare Health Services, a comprehensive health care center offering South Florida patients wound care and other specialty dermatology services, since 2014.
Ms. Marshall is originally from the Bahamas and is a graduate of Miami International University, holding a bachelor’s degree in accounting with a minor in English and a master’s degree in film. She has been presented with numerous awards in recognition of her many accomplishments as an entrepreneur, innovator, and healthcare professional. In 2019, she was named an ICABA Woman of Impact and a Top 100 Registry Woman of the Year, and in 2015, she was honored by the National Association of Professional Women. In addition to her many Marquis Who’s Who accolades, Ms. Marshall has also been featured as a Pinnacle Professional by Continental Who’s Who. In 2021, Neowe Research and Development was included on the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School’s annual list of Most Fundable Companies, and Ms. Marshall’s work continues to attract attention from clinicians and investors.
Ms. Marshall is proud to have risen to the top in a traditionally male-dominated field and attributes her success to her tenacity, determination and future-focused attitude. She remains motivated to grow in the medical device industry by the knowledge that there are many more patients who could benefit from her work. Ms. Marshall advises others to never give up in the pursuit of their goals and lives by the personal credo that “if your heart can conceive and your mind can believe, you can achieve.” She hopes to become a role model and trailblazer for youth from underserved communities to study science and excel in STEM fields, especially medical research. In her personal life, Ms. Marshall enjoys reading and is an avid runner.