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Tiecon 2025: Home of Hope to bring 1 million free EKGs to rural India
Led by Dr. Nilima Sabharwal, HOH is one of the many companies that attended Tiecon 2025 in Santa Clara.
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Ritu Marwah - Sat, 03, May 2025
- 01:51 EDT
- 157
Dr. Nilima Sabharwal. / Ritu Marwah
In a striking convergence of medical innovation and grassroots compassion, Home of Hope (HOH), a California based nonprofit led by retired physician Dr. Nilima Sabharwal, has announced a major new partnership to deliver one million preventive electrocardiograms (EKGs) across underserved communities in India.
In collaboration with HAIF- Artificial Intelligence in Heart Failure, a company helmed by inventor and cardiologist Dr. Abhijit Ray, the initiative also supports what is believed to be the world’s first completely free medical college, located in rural Bengaluru.
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Speaking on the sidelines of TiEcon 2025 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, where HOH’s booth offered on-site EKG screenings, Dr. Sabharwal spoke about the vision behind the project: “This event (Tiecon 2025) is—I would say—compassion meeting innovation.”
Founded in 2000, HOH has long focused on empowering disadvantaged children through education, vocational training, and mental health initiatives. “Very proud to say that in a span of 25 years, HOH has partnered with over 20 projects all over India, including two in California, and we've empowered at least 200,000 disadvantaged children,” Dr. Sabharwal said. “When I say disadvantaged, it covers every kind of disadvantage—physically crippled, mentally challenged, deaf, speech impaired, blinds, child prostitutes, victims of sex trafficking… we've walked with them, we've empowered them.”
But 2025 marks a significant shift, as HOH launches its first formal medical chapter. “This year is very exciting for us and I'll tell you why. Because this year we are launching our medical chapter,” Sabharwal explained. The nonprofit has begun sponsoring students at a medical college in Muddenahalli, Bengaluru, which blends a traditional medical curriculum with teachings in spirituality and yogic philosophy.
The medical college, though only two years old, has already seen remarkable results. All its students passed the national qualifying exam with distinction. Among them is a young Muslim girl from a village, once at risk of being sold into child marriage, who went on to top the exam nationally with a score of 88 percent.
With annual sponsorships costing $10,000 for a medical student, $5,000 for a nurse, and $3,000 for paramedics, HOH has already secured initial donors and plans to expand support through mentorship and telemedicine.
The partnership with Dr. Ray’s HAIF further deepens HOH’s medical reach. “This company has a device that takes your EKG and predicts your propensity for heart failure. Their mission is to do a million EKGs, preventive EKGs in rural India. So they have partnered with us.”
Dr. Sabharwal is quick to point out the organization’s core principle: radical transparency and pure volunteerism. “We symbolize pure volunteerism. We have no admin staff. Everybody's a volunteer. Everybody's also a donor. We have no office—the trunk of my car—and admin overhead is bare bones minimum and every cent is accounted for.”
From mental health legislation to heart diagnostics in remote villages, HOH continues to operate at the intersection of policy, care, and community—amplifying voices and transforming lives across borders.
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