From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with returning guest Lina Song, founder of Doogooda.
The startup company, which has a decision-making platform for healthcare organizations, is now fully established in Madison after originally getting its footing in South Korea. It aims to help hospitals, health systems and other groups navigate changes in healthcare services.
Song provides an update on the company’s efforts over the last six months, including participating in Harvard Innovation Lab’s Launch Lab X cohort. The Boston program selects ventures from Harvard alumni for the hybrid experience, which involves virtual portions taking place over the coming months.
“We’re building in Madison while we get the support from Harvard, so that’s great,” Song said.
Meanwhile, the company recently completed a qualification to apply for the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps entrepreneurial training program. And it recently started publishing its research results, in a shift from its previous approach.
“Instead of only doing private analysis, we’re also putting the public research out where anyone can use it,” she said.
The conversation also explores a research project Song has joined with scientists at the UW-Madison School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. The effort is targeting improvements for her platform’s core function, supporting decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.
Doogooda is currently working with the UW researchers on a proposal for a related grant, which Song says will benefit both the company and the university.
She also touches on conversations she’s been having with local venture capital investors as the company seeks further investment support.
“I feel like I was able to connect with almost all of the Wisconsin VCs basically, like investing in the seed route at least,” Song said. “So we’re forming good relationships with the VCs and working on the rounds.”
Listen to the podcast here and see the full list of WisBusiness podcasts.
Check out an earlier conversation with Song.
— While the share of K-12 students in Wisconsin meeting minimum immunization requirements rose slightly in the last school year, a report says the “long-term downward trend” in vaccination is likely to continue.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum published its latest issue brief yesterday, the same day state health officials reported Wisconsin’s first measles death since 1990. WPF found the statewide rate for K-12 students meeting minimum vaccination requirements ticked up to 87.4% in the 2025-2026 school year, noting that’s “much lower” than what’s needed for broad protection against outbreaks. The prior year’s rate was 86.4%.
On a historical basis, the share of students meeting these requirements has fallen by more than 10 percentage points from 97.1% in 1986. Authors note this has coincided with expanding immunization requirements, from five diseases in 1975 to 10 diseases five decades later.
Over that span of time, Wisconsin has had five years in which the immunization rate fell by two percentage points or more. In four of those years, new vaccinations were being added to the state’s requirements, the report notes. Those same years, Wisconsin saw greater shares of students behind schedule on vaccinations.
“This correlation suggests that the drops may have been connected to the administration of new guidelines,” authors wrote.
The fifth year with at least a 2% decline, 2022, did not have any changes to vaccination requirements but it did coincide with the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, authors note data collection issues may have skewed that year’s results.
Meanwhile, the report found changing attitudes around vaccination are the other main cause for the accelerating decline in vaccination. The share of students opting out of one or more vaccines has more than tripled from the 1990s, from below 2% to 6.5% this year.
The report also highlights Wisconsin’s greater susceptibility to outbreaks statewide. It comes as the state’s total measles case number has hit 477 for this year, and officials say their tally is likely an underestimate.
While most of this year’s measles outbreak has occurred in southwestern Lafayette, Iowa and Grant counties, school districts in those counties don’t have the lowest vaccination rates in the state.
Their rates for the 2025-2026 school year were 88.4%, 89.8% and 86.7%, respectively. By comparison, the lowest with 78% is Burnett County.
“The cases are illustrative of the increased risk of outbreak in any area within a state given the low rates,” authors wrote, stressing the greater risk for those who aren’t vaccinated.
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