Leading with purpose
As Chicagoans prepared for an early season snowstorm, John Fortunato ’24 MBA awoke in the desert.
It was Thanksgiving 2025. Fortunato would soon learn that a U.S. Air Force medical technician had sustained a serious head injury. He would be part of the team tasked with retrieving, stabilizing and transporting them to a military hospital facility in Iraq.
“I was deployed to the Middle East with the 304th Pararescue Squadron whose mission is search and rescue,” says Fortunato. “I was the flight surgeon responsible for approximately 30 pararescue jumpers and 40 to 50 aircrew, including pilots and loadmasters along with maintenance and intelligence staff.”
His efforts to save the technician’s life, in addition to 103 combat hours across 16 successful missions, earned Fortunato the Air Medal. The decoration is earned for sustained aerial flight and was awarded for exceptional airmanship, courage and dedication while conducting personal recovery missions in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Returning home
A clinician at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and director of the Pediatric Motility program, he is also a full-time professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Fortunato’s interests span many roles, from being a clinical researcher, entrepreneur, husband and father to four sons.His investigations on conditions that effect the movement — motility — of the stomach and intestine led him to consider new ways to help.
“It was an interesting challenge to learn all I could from the Zell Fellowship while being a full-time professor and an attending physician, but I was able to shift my responsibilities and excel within the Evening & Weekend MBA Program.”
“I have a particular interest in children and adolescents with complex gastrointestinal disorders called disorders of gut-brain interaction. One in particular, known as POTS, has a profound impact on gut function and quality of life,” he says. “This patient population is vulnerable to having longstanding symptoms with prolonged time to diagnose and treatment due to poor recognition of the condition and dismissive behavior by some physicians.”
Returning to school
Years before his most recent deployment, Fortunato started a company in the digital health space to explore solutions for identified gaps in patient care. A business partner’s unexpected death led to a realization.
“I needed to further my knowledge and experience in business along with identifying potential partners and collaborators,” he recalls. “At the age of 52, I decided I still had the energy and desire to become a student again.”
At Kellogg, Fortunato explored how to scale access to specialists like himself and decided telemedicine was the most effective way to do so. Having completed the New Venture course series (Discovery, Development and Launch), he applied and was accepted into the Zell Fellows Program for entrepreneurs.
“It was an interesting challenge to learn all I could from the fellowship while being a full-time professor and an attending physician, but I was able to shift my responsibilities and excel within the Evening & Weekend MBA Program.”
Return on investment
As a Zell Fellow, Fortunato further developed and launched Health Vista, a company aimed at treating pediatric and young adult patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction and POTS.
“My business school journey gave me the tools and foundation I needed in healthcare strategy and technology innovation,” he says. “It’s my goal to combine these skills and training to develop the highest level, interactive digital applications that focus on both patient and doctor.
“The experiences I had at Kellogg have been invaluable, and the alumni network forms forever bonds. I am extremely grateful for the connections I established and continue to develop since graduation.”
John Fortunato is a professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Feinberg and Director of the Neurointestinal and Motility Program at Lurie Children's Hospital. He has served in the United States military for nearly 25 years as a U.S. Navy Reservist, an operational military physician with the U.S. Marines, a flight surgeon, Chief of Medical Staff, Chief of Aerospace Medicine and has been recently selected Commander of the 445th Aerospace Medicine Squadron.
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