On September 15, 2026, the Master of Business and Science (MBS) degree program hosted a virtual soft launch party for Nutriswell’s new app, Healessa. The event welcomed more than 100 students and faculty members to celebrate the launch of the integrative health and nutrition app, developed with support from MBS externs.
Healessa is Nutriswell’s personalized enhancement app. Nutriswell, which was founded by Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) Dr. Marcia Brown, Ph.D., is a nutrition and wellness company focused on personalized nutrition, prevention, and helping people build healthier lives. Dr. Brown earned her doctorate in Mind-Body Medicine with a specialization in Integrative and Functional Nutrition and has spent much of her career advancing women’s health and wellness. She connected with the Rutgers MBS Externship Program for support in bringing her vision to life.
The virtual launch party opened with remarks from Lori Dars, Senior Advisor for Externships, and Abbe Rosenthal, MA, PCC, Assistant Director of Corporate Engagement, Certified Executive Coach, and DYL Coach, from the MBS Externship team, who welcomed attendees and set the stage for an engaging celebration. Dr. Brown offered a general overview of Healessa, after which Roshaan Chaudhry, a developer on the Nutriswell team, took attendees through a live demonstration of the app.
About Healessa
Healessa was born out of a gap Dr. Brown observed in her work: a disconnect between having access to health information and knowing what to do with it.
“There is an enormous amount of health and nutrition information available online, but women are still struggling to determine what actually applies to their unique bodies, life stages, health concerns, and goals,” said Dr. Brown. She recognized this challenge as particularly important for women navigating midlife and menopause, when health risks and nutritional needs can change.
Healessa was created to help close that gap between information and action. The platform is built around three principles: tracking, understanding, and optimizing. Users can track nutrition, lifestyle factors, symptoms, body metrics, and selected health information; understand how those factors relate to their individual needs; and receive practical guidance to help them make informed decisions about their health.
Healessa can generate meal recommendations based on individual nutritional needs. In addition, it creates opportunities for people to connect, share experiences, encourage one another, and build healthier habits together.
“My goal is not for Healessa to replace medical care,” said Dr. Brown. “It is to give people better tools to understand their health, ask better questions, make healthier everyday choices, and know when to seek professional care.”
Although women’s health was an important inspiration for Healessa, the platform has evolved to support people at different life stages and on different health journeys.
To find out more about Healessa and its features, visit its page on the App Store or Google Play.
The Externship Connection
Dr. Brown first learned about the Rutgers MBS Externship Program while participating in an I-Corps meeting. During a conversation, she explained some of the technical support she needed to continue developing Healessa, and Lori Dars introduced her to the program.
The Rutgers Externship Program, offered through the Master of Business and Science (MBS) degree, provides students the opportunity to gain real-world work experience by completing semester-long projects sponsored by leading companies, organizations, and non-profits. The program bridges academics and industry to give students a competitive career edge while providing companies with fresh insights and innovative solutions.
“It immediately seemed like a valuable opportunity,” she said. “Healessa gave students the chance to work on a real-world digital health product, while Nutriswell benefits from the perspectives and technical expertise of emerging professionals.”
Two students contributed to the project: MBS student Brendan Law worked on user research and development, while Mahmood Asaghiri, a Computer Science student, engineered user-facing features for the app and website. The team contributed to the development of the Healessa app and its accompanying website by providing input on best practices and conducting beta testing.
“One of the greatest benefits was having people from different disciplines look at the product from perspectives beyond my own,” said Dr. Brown. “I bring the nutrition science, health vision, and understanding of the problem we are trying to solve; the Rutgers collaboration brought additional technology, research, and business perspectives to the table.”
What's Next
For Dr. Brown, the Rutgers collaboration has grown into something larger than app development.
“The collaboration between Rutgers and Nutriswell has become more than assistance with building an app. It has helped me begin developing an interdisciplinary ecosystem around Healessa,” she said.
As the platform grows, the vision requires nutrition science, technology, food science, culinary expertise, research, and business strategy to work together.
“Rutgers has helped demonstrate how an academic institution and a small business can collaborate in a way that gives students meaningful real-world experience while helping an emerging company move an innovative idea forward,” said Dr. Brown.
During the virtual launch party, Dr. Brown expressed her gratitude for the student contributions and invited attendees to become founding members of Healessa, helping shape the app’s journey while unlocking exclusive member benefits and early access to new features.
This project will continue in the fall semester with support from a new team of externs. The collaboration exemplifies what the MBS Externship Program is designed to do: connect students with meaningful work while helping innovators like Dr. Brown advance their ideas.
To learn more about externship projects or enroll in one, visit the MBS Externship Program.