Samir Hooker’s path to higher education was anything but easy. He grew up in a neighborhood surrounded by instability and violence, and at just nine years old, he lost his father to gun violence. Not long after, his mother began a years-long struggle with chronic illness. Despite his hardships, however, Samir’s perseverance and dedication to his family drove him to keep working towards his goals.
Now, as he prepares to graduate from UC Berkeley next week with a degree in political economy, Samir is rewriting his future. Motivated by the health challenges his mother faced and the courage she modeled for him, he co-founded Vitify Health, a startup focused on creating systemic change in healthcare.
He recently spoke to Berkeley Social Sciences about his academic achievements, entrepreneurial work and desire to inspire others from backgrounds like his to overcome adversity and pursue their dreams.
Tell us about your background and how you ended up at UC Berkeley?
Samir Hooker: I’m a native San Franciscan who spent part of my childhood in Oakland, so UC Berkeley felt like home long before I ever set foot on campus. After graduating from Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco, Berkeley was the obvious choice. It offered a world-class education just minutes from my family, blending academic excellence with the Bay Area community I love.
Tell us about the challenges you faced growing up?
Samir Hooker: I grew up in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood, specifically in the Westside Courts public housing projects. From an early age, I was exposed to things most people will never experience, including drugs, violence and frequent police raids. In 2012, my father was murdered in our neighborhood.
Around the same time, and continuing to this day, my mother has been battling chronic illnesses, including lupus, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis. Those challenges were events that shaped my work and personality, but also the kind of person I strive to be for myself, my community and my family.
How did you manage to balance schoolwork and family responsibilities?
Samir Hooker: My family is the backbone of my journey and the source of my success. Our “village” is just my mother, sister and me, but their unwavering support has been the catalyst for my growth and the driving force behind everything I’ve pursued. Throughout my time at Berkeley, my mother faced relentless health scares, leading me to spend countless nights by her side in the emergency room while my heart pounded with worry for her and my little sister.
Balancing demanding coursework, family responsibilities and the anxiety brought by her treatments was never easy. But witnessing my mom’s courage and her refusal to yield in the face of chronic illness taught me a vital truth: no challenge, no matter how personal or profound, can derail your purpose. Instead, our struggles should propel us to rewrite our families’ stories and chart a new, brighter trajectory for us all.
What does graduating from UC Berkeley mean to you?
Samir Hooker: It means living my father’s dream, honoring my mother’s sacrifices, setting a standard and becoming a smarter, more intelligent and well-rounded man in order to guide and teach my younger sister. Graduation is proof to people with backgrounds like mine that getting an education is possible. It’s proof that changing your life and your family’s life is possible. Setbacks don’t have to hold you back; they can be the very force that catapults you toward the best version of yourself. I hope my journey inspires others to do the same.
What are your plans after graduation?
Samir Hooker: Inspired by my mother’s resilience and shaped by what I’ve learned at Berkeley, I co-founded Vitify Health with friends from Berkeley and Stanford. Watching my mom endure one health scare after another inspired our mission: to harness AI to revolutionize critical drug trials. Our goal is to eliminate the recruitment and retention barriers that keep life-saving treatments from the people who need them most. Right now, we’re raising our pre-seed round and looking to pilot with contract research organizations, site networks, patient providers and pharmaceutical companies. We want our work to honor my mother’s fight – and that of millions of others affected by chronic illness.
Those that wish to learn more about Samir’s startup can contact him at samir@vitifyhealth.com.