Innovators

Donde Plowman was appointed Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2019, having previously served on the faculty of business, and as Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She earned her doctorate in strategic management from the University of Texas at Austin, a master's in education from the University of North Texas, and a b...

Hermann Haller, MD President, Professor, MDI Biological Laboratory; Professor, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Hannover Medical School Haller received his medical degree from the Free University of Berlin and completed his postdoctoral work at Yale University. He has published more than 700 peer-reviewed articles, holds six world-wide patents and has founded four biotech companies. He h...

Federal and state governments play significant roles in both public and private universities. The federal role in research is, at once, old enough to now span three-plus generations and yet recent enough that many people—ironically, those who rely on it most—are unaware of its origins. Recent actions by the federal government to cut billions of dollars from previously-approved research grants to u...

Dr. Daniel Linzer retired as President Emeritus of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement in July of this year after eight years of leadership. He joined RCSA from Northwestern University where he was on the faculty as professor of molecular biosciences and served as Provost for a decade following stints as dean and associate dean of arts and sciences. Dr. Linzer earned his doctorate fro...

Kevin Byrne is the President & CEO of TUFF, recognized for his innovative solutions to capital challenges faced by institutions. He specializes in non-traditional public-private partnerships and real estate financing for university research parks and innovation districts. Kevin holds an MBA with honors from the Wharton School and graduated with honors from Furman University, where he now serves as...

Dr. Claire Pomeroy is a distinguished physician, educator, and advocate for healthcare reform. With an undergraduate and medical degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Kentucky, Dr. Pomeroy has served on the medical faculties of the University of Kentucky, the University of Minnesota, and UC Davis, where she became the dean of the School of Medicine and is now pro...

In this episode of INNOVATORS, Dr. Jennifer Potter's talk offers an in-depth analysis of the enduring and deadly opioid crisis in America, exploring the factors that have sustained this epidemic for decades and assessing recent developments in overdose trends to understand their implications for the future. Originally from Canada, Dr. Potter earned her undergraduate degree from Queen's University,...

In recent years, a number of new medical schools – both allopathic and osteopathic – have launched and still more are in preparation.   In 2017 Kaiser Permanente announced the appointment of Dr. Mark A. Schuster of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital as the founding dean of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. A renowned figure in pediatric, adolescent, and...

Christopher Gaiteri, Ph. D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Empire Innovation Scholar at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Dr. Gaiteri earned his undergraduate degree from Washington & Lee University and his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined Rush University as assistant professor of neurological sciences and computational neuroscientist after ser...

Dr. Philip Bourne, founding Stephenson Dean of the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia, established in 2019 with a gift of $120 million. Dr. Bourne's career encompasses work at Columbia University, the University of California at San Diego, and the National Institutes of Health and includes motorcycle jaunts throughout western Virginia and beyond. We spoke with him at his office i...

Over the past year, several  INNOVATORS  were devoted to learning more about the state of pediatric research. In this podcast, we learn about a breakthrough in the development of tissue from silk for use in the treatment of children born with spinal bifida.  Dr. Carlos Estrada holds appointments at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and was instrumental in the development and us...

Dr. Talitha Washington  is Professor of Mathematics and the Director of the Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative.   On leave to the National Science Foundation, she received the NSF Director's Award for Superior Accomplishment in 2020 "for exceptional stewardship in establishing the first NSF Hispanic-serving Institution program." She is a graduate of Spelman College and earned her Ph...

David Kaplan is Distinguished Professor and Stern Family Professor of Engineering and Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University and was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering.   Research is achieving major breakthroughs in tissue growth, cellular agriculture, medical implants, new ways to store electricity and deal with plastic waste. The time is right for a brief conver...

While the dispute over the causes and sources of climate change continues, few doubt the need for action to deal with the consequences of climate change. And action can best be guided by findings from solid scientific research.  James Arnott, Ph. D. makes the case that science can contribute to not only policy but action. But for that to occur, science will need to be more transparent and inclusiv...

Hard work, family support, and education are often cited as key elements in the success of most of the immigrants to the United States. These hold true for many Hispanics and Dr. Rivera-Mills of Ball State and her experiences and success exemplify that formula. Her success affords evidence to suggest just how Hispanics can achieve similar results. We spoke with Dr. Rivera-Mills and asked her to dr...

Even as the COVID pandemic continues to plague the world, assessments of the effects of the virus and its variants are in order. Healthcare systems have borne some of the brunt of the effects and those associated with the preparation of health professionals have had to adapt "on the fly" to what are sometimes profound changes to the ways they deliver care and conduct education and training. Brian...

In an extended and extensive interview, Dr. Perakslis drew on his experience in industry, regulatory agencies, and academia as well as his book co-authored with Martin Stanley, Digital Health: Understanding the Benefit-Risk Patient-Provider Framework, to address the following questions: How do we tackle the challenges of the unintended (and undesired) effects of healthcare inventions and innovatio...

Dr. Raymond Bergan, Deputy Director at the University of Nebraska Medical Center Fred and Pamela Buffet Cancer Center and Professor in both UNMC's Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and the Division of Oncology and Hematology in the Department of Internal Medicine, joins Innovators to share his assessment of the state of cancer research and what may be reasonably expected within the near futu...

Jack Kufahl, Chief Information Security Officer at Michigan Medicine, joins Innovators to talk about the world of information security as it relates to healthcare. Jack Kufahl is responsible for planning, developing, implementing, and maintaining the Michigan Medicine information assurance program. He directs all information assurance activity across the academic medical center to ensure the confi...

Fred H. Cate – vice president for research, Distinguished Professor, C. Ben Dutton Professor of Law and adjunct professor of informatics and computing at Indiana University – joins Innovators to talk about the state of cybersecurity and how policies in the cybersecurity world impact people around the globe. Professor Cate specializes in information security and privacy law, and he appears regularl...

Dr. David Allison – Dean of the School of Public Health at Indiana University Bloomington – joins Innovators to talk about what perceptions and trust are like today in fields like research, public health, and public safety, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Allison became Dean and Provost Professor at the Indiana University-Bloomington School of Public Health in 2017. Prior to assuming his...

Very soon, the likelihood is that one or more of the COVID-19 vaccines will be approved for use with children under age 12 and for the first time in the pandemic, children will be afforded the protection provided adults.    Listen to a special Innovators podcast of excerpts from three guests — leaders in pediatric research — Dr. Tina Cheng (Chief Medical Officer at Cincinnati Children's Hospital M...

Dr. Tina Cheng, Chief Medical Officer at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, joins Innovators to talk about the state of pediatric research, what came before, and what comes next for the field.  Dr. Tina Cheng is the BK Rachford Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati; Director of Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation; and Chief Medical Officer of Cincinnat...

Dr. Sarah Stone, Executive Director of the eScience Institute at the University of Washington, and Dr. Jing Liu, Managing Director of the Michigan Institute for Data Science at the University of Michigan, join Innovators to discuss the Burgeoning and Expanding Field of Data Science. Dr. Sarah Stone is the Executive Director of the eScience Institute. Stone handles eScience operations and planning,...

Mark Wietecha, CEO of Children's Hospital Association, joins Innovators to talk about the progress made in pediatric research and what he expects from his organization and children's hospitals around the country in the coming years. From the Children's Hospital's website: Mark is CEO of Children's Hospital Association (CHA), representing over 200 children's hospitals and major pediatric programs w...