Women’s Day 2025 – Meet Einat Sitbon

Matching medications for ADHD through an algorithm

Dr. Einat Sitbon is the CTO and co-founder of iFocus Health, a company that develops a tool to check the effectiveness of ADHD medications. They’ve developed an objective measure, unlike anything previously available, that allows users to see from their home computer how well medication works based on the subject’s eye movements. They currently have over 700 daily users in the US and Israel.

Einat comes from a data science background and is responsible for the algorithm in the venture. She established the project with her sister after identifying a need with her nephew, as they felt there weren’t enough tools to help children with ADHD.

Their system helps people determine whether changes in medication are needed and adapts recommendations to the user. As our bodies and lifestyles change, so do our medication needs.

Embarking on a new path
When launching the venture, Einat transitioned from being an employee to being self-employed. “I felt I was coming to this transition very mature, having seen many things and understanding how the world and this industry work. The most challenging part of the job is that my team is in the US while I’m in Israel, which can sometimes be lonely.”

A startup that is a family business
Starting a family business is challenging but also rewarding. Between Einat and her sister, there’s an age difference of just a year and a half. They grew up together and have a strong relationship. Living on opposite sides of the world, working together strengthens their connection even more.

Einat knows that regardless of what happens, their relationship remains stronger than everything else. “When you know from the start that everyone approaches things positively, that’s a good foundation.”

Knowing how to ask the right question – a new superpower
During her master’s degree at the Weizmann Institute, Einat worked in an informatics lab. She discovered her fascination with this field and particularly appreciated that when something goes wrong in code, you can simply identify and fix the problem.

During this period, Einat began working on a pioneering data project in biology. “It was amazing to witness firsthand how you can suddenly analyze data with thousands of variables. I recognized the power in data and deep learning, which both attracted and intrigued me. It also enhanced my computational abilities, which have always been a strength of mine. One of the key insights I gained is that when you want to extract useful information, you need to know how to ask the right questions.”

Finding inspiration across disciplines
When discussing inspiration, Einat mentioned her favorite author, Ursula Le Guin—a writer who imagined things that didn’t exist to create goals to aim for. Similarly, Einat’s venture applies concepts from technology to the fields of psychology and ADHD treatment.

There are always obstacles, you need to fall and rise.
If she had to choose one trait essential for female entrepreneurs, Einat would choose persistence. “There are always obstacles, for both men and women, perhaps somewhat more for women. You need to fall, rise, fall, and rise again. If persistence doesn’t come naturally to you, find partners who have that quality.”

Her second recommendation for beginning entrepreneurs is to learn from others’ mistakes and join a community. “There are many communities for female entrepreneurs and women in technology that provide tremendous support. Being part of such communities helps you avoid repeating mistakes others have made. You might make new mistakes, but there’s so much to learn from other women and men.”

Finally, she emphasizes the importance of networking. “In the entrepreneurial world, connections are crucial. Entrepreneurship can be risky—there are times in life when taking such risks is more advisable than others. Gather information and build your network so that when you reach the right stage to launch your venture, you’ll have all the necessary knowledge.”

On women in entrepreneurship
Einat adds: “I’ll say something that might challenge conventional thinking—I don’t think we need to encourage women, we need to recruit women! If they are recruited, they will be there. There are unconscious biases at play. There’s serious research in this country by gender experts, and I recommend consulting with them on how to approach this correctly. We need to be aware of our biases and the discrimination we perpetuate, because as humans we naturally classify people, and we need to be mindful of that.”

“We should remember that while motherhood is very important, the period during which we’re intensively needed as mothers is shorter than our time in the job market. The data shows that women entrepreneurs face greater challenges in raising capital, but ventures led by women are typically more profitable and generate higher returns.”

Where to Meet?
When we asked Einat if her company had an upcoming conference, she said no, but that she wanted to talk to us about another event. A Women in Data Science conference that will take place in May (link at the end of the article).

“The conference is impressive, with many important women, and the proceeds from ticket sales go to charity – I highly recommend it.”

Einat’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/einat-sitbon

iFoucus LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifocus-test/

Women in Data Science conference – https://widstlv.com/