Nap Hosang: Public Health Entrepreneur Continues Fight for Women’s Health
Nap (Robert) Hosang, MD, MPH, MPA, has worn many hats in the public health realm: doctor, international consultant, business entrepreneur and teacher. He has played the retirement card multiple times, but each time he takes off one hat, he picks up another.

Hosang is a long-time public health advocate. Formerly a doctor and teacher at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, today he brings the fight to maternal health disparities through his company, Cadence Health.
“I think he’s retired four times now,” Jaspal Sandhu, managing partner of Gobee Group and faculty at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health laughed. “Nap approaches retirement like our business students approach business school… to make some kind of big switch.”
Hosang brought his personality to his teaching, one of Hosang’s students, Jillian Kadota, reflected. She said that Hosang melded both his quirky nature with his passion and intelligence. “I am immensely impressed by how he can pass as silly, intelligent and deeply passionate all at once,” she finished.
Hosang has shifted his efforts to his position as CEO of Cadence Health. He is on a mission to bring over-the-counter birth control to the United States. One hundred and two countries offer the pill over-the-counter or after a simple screening, according to Oral Contraceptives (OCs) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Working Group’s data . The United States is one of 45 countries that still requires prescription pills.
Cadence’s pill is called Kate, in honor of Katharine McCormick, the woman who funded the pill’s development in 1950. Hosang believes his pill, Kate, can help battle maternal health disparities. According to the CDC, almost 50% of all pregnancies are unintended. Hosang hopes Kate will give women, especially uninsured and vulnerable women, the option to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Hosang’s visions often rub people the wrong way, Sandhu explained. Much in the way that Hosang’s birth control pill will work contentiously against some politicians, religious leaders and big pharmaceutical companies. Hosang is willing to advocate for the underdog. “It’s like he flips a switch, and people either ignore it or get really rattled up at first,” Sandhu said.
“He’s not afraid of bucking the status quo,” said Lisa Peterson, new media education specialist at Berkeley’s School of Public Health who worked with Hosang since 2012, “which is the direction we need to go to really make a difference.”
With Kate, his fight for the underdog continues. Hosang explained the “real crime” that he sees behind the scenes of making the pill: Kate must face down stakeholders like doctors, Planned Parenthood, and pharmacists, who each receive cuts of money when drug companies sell prescription pills at inflated prices.

Hosang’s relationships play constant roles in his life journey. A friend originally convinced him to first start medical school — a decision that sparked his ongoing mission to tackle public health disparities.
Beyond hard work, Hosang spends time connecting with people. A friend convinced him to first start medical school -- a decision that sparked his continuing mission to tackle public health disparities.
Per a request from the founder of the program, Hosang agreed to pilot the first medical residency program in the Bahamas after finishing school in Jamaica, . “I went there and I thought to myself: This place is a real dump, but it don’t matter to me. I’m pretty smart, so I’ll manage,” he said.
He planned to spend two years there, but six months later he found himself at Boston City Hospital filling an emergency position — this time, with a little help from a connection to a Kennedy.
Eventually, Hosang decided to change hats and get a Public Health degree. He ended up at UC Berkeley, where he reunited with an acquaintance from 1970. That friend became his wife and they eventually settled in Alameda. It was while at UC Berkeley that Hosang connected with Dr. Malcolm Potts and pursued the Cadence Health initiative.
Nowadays, Nap Hosang does enjoy typical retirement activities like fishing and gardening, bringing his lemons and wisdom to share with old students, and traveling frequently back to his home in Jamaica with his wife. But when he is not busy being retired, Hosang pushes his over-the-counter birth control pill, Kate, into the US market. Hosang hopes to see her, barring any drastic complication, by March 2020.
When she arrives, Nap Hosang will be waiting, lemons and a smile at the ready.
