UCLA Biodesign Leadership on Redesigning Healthcare Amidst a Pandemic
Lisa Carmel, Vice President of Strategy at Ximedica, interviews UCLA Biodesign leadership on the program expansion and the mission of re-imagining a healthcare ecosystem better equipped to support patients and other key stakeholders during a pandemic.
What is the genesis of the UCLA Biodesign program?
DHG [Desert is on the executive leadership team at UCLA Health and is Senior Director, UCLA Health Research & Innovation]. I joined UCLA four years ago and report to the CEO of the UCLA Hospital System. I help bridge academia and the healthcare system; my customer is the patient. Where I like to focus is on seeding solutions and I want to continuously launch new programs to foster innovation and impact patient lives. One of the things I wanted to initiate was a cross-collaborative partnership with UCLA, the life science community and the government. I was introduced to Jennifer, who has a complementary background in engineering and medtech; I was impressed by her vision to recreate the success of the Stanford Biodesign program here in Southern California. We sought a broader institutional integration and decided to anchor our program within the healthcare system. Launched in September 2019, we were able to get equal funding for the first year from four partners: the UCLA Health System, Anderson School of Management, David Geffen School of Medicine, and philanthropists committed to healthcare innovation; it is a first of its kind collaboration at UCLA.
JM [Jennifer is an Assistant Director of the UCLA Clinicial and Translational Science Institute and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Anderson School of Management and leading expert in disruptive technology and entrepreneurship in healthcare]. I joined UCLA seven years ago and serve on the faculty of both the business and medical schools. Silicon Beach is establishing Los Angeles as an emerging health tech hub. While Silicon Valley and the greater Boston area have continued to serve as bi-coastal anchors, we felt that there was an untapped opportunity to build out this health tech community in Los Angeles by leveraging the clinical strength of UCLA Health, ranked No. 1 in California and No. 4 in the nation. In 2018, many of the key elements instrumental to making this happen all came together. Finding a partner in Desert at the health system was a turning point. Investment in and commitment to innovation at the leadership level across UCLA, both top down and bottom up, was and is 100%. There is a mission to create a culture change. In 2019, we secured a federal grant to build this medtech ecosystem and all the invested partners continue to accelerate the momentum.