Stage Zero Health selected for the Roux Institute Founder Residency
Stage Zero Health is one of 10 startups selected for the next cohort of the Founder Residency at Northeastern University's Roux Institute in Portland, Maine.
BOSTON — August 27, 2026 — Stage Zero Health has been selected as one of 10 companies in the next cohort of the Founder Residency at Northeastern University's Roux Institute in Portland, Maine. The residency is a three-month program for early-stage technology companies, run at no cost and with no equity taken. According to the institute, 45 startups have completed the program since 2021; more than 87% are still operating or have been acquired, and alumni have raised over $136 million. The cohort begins September 17, 2026.
Stage Zero Health exists to find cancer at the earliest stages, when it costs less to treat and is more survivable. The company uses employer claims data and validated clinical risk models to identify the employees at highest risk; a navigator then helps each one complete the right guideline-recommended screening through the health plan and doctors they already have. As Mainebiz put it in its coverage of the cohort: Stage Zero Health "catches cancer before symptoms strike."
"The company is named for the goal — stage zero, the earliest point cancer can be found. Late-stage cancers keep showing up in people who were never told which screening they needed. Someone has to be responsible for making sure the right people get the right screening at the right time. That's the company we're building."
Where this fits
Stage Zero Health was founded in 2024. Its first risk models grew out of clinical decision-making work at MIT CSAIL, and the company developed as a venture at Harvard Innovation Labs. This year it began bringing its screening program to self-insured employers and the benefits consultants who advise them; the residency adds mentorship, business services, and legal counsel during that push.
About Stage Zero Health
Stage Zero Health is a public benefit company based in Boston, MA, founded in 2024 by Jonathan Roman. It provides cancer risk stratification and screening navigation for self-insured employers and the benefits consultants who advise them: validated clinical risk models identify who needs which cancer screening, and navigators help each member complete it through the health plan and doctors they already have. Learn more at stagezerohealth.com.
Press inquiries: hello@stage0.ai