Innovators

Dr. Mark Batshaw - Executive Vice President and Physician-in-Chief at Children's National Medical Center – joins Innovators to talk about the next innovations and breakthroughs in the field of pediatric research. Mark L. Batshaw, M.D., is executive vice president, physician-in-chief, and chief academic officer at Children's National Hospital, and also serves as director of Children's National Rese...

Dr. Jennifer Christner MD, Dean of the School of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, joins Innovators to talk about how to build medical schools and healthcare systems around a more diverse generation of physicians and healthcare professionals. With her creativity in approaching the learning process balanced with her understanding of the requirements of documenting the quality of our programs,...

Dr. Duane Ireland, Acting Dean of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, joins Innovators to talk about the mission and goals of A&M's student-centered business program, how he measures success, and more. On top of being named Acting Dean of the school in January, Dr. Ireland has served as Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship at Mays Business School since September 1, 2020. Previ...

Dr. Cristina Gonzalez, Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, joins Innovators to talk about implicit bias in education and how schools can combat it when selecting and elevating students. In 2011, Dr. Gonzalez's leadership was recognized nationally through the Unified Leadership Training in Diversity Award from the Association of Chiefs and Leaders in General Internal M...

Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, President of Howard University, joins Innovators to talk about how his institution continues to deliver excellence in many fields, and how Howard is innovating to cope with the ongoing pandemic. Dr. Frederick was named Howard president in 2014, and also serves as the distinguished Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery. Dr. Frederick received his B.S and M.D. from Howard Un...

Dr. Elsa Murano, the former president of Texas A&M and current director of the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, joins Innovators to talk about the world's food production system and how it has been disrupted during the pandemic. Dr. Murano was appointed Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety in the United States Department of Agriculture in 2001 and served until 2005, which...

Klara Jelinkova, Vice President for International Operations and IT at Rice University, joins Innovators to talk about how technology influences and can enhance international education at universities of higher education. Jelinkova holds a Master's in Education from Boston University and a Bachelor's in Economics and Slavic Languages from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Innovators is a podcas...

Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), joins Innovators to assess the long-term impact of 2020's high-profile protests against systemic racism in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and other unarmed Black Americans. Dr. Lomax also talks about the ongoing pandemic that has claimed the lives of Black Americans at some of the highest rates in the country –...

Dr. Caroline Buckee, Associate Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard University, joins Innovators to talk about championing the fight against infectious diseases and what challenges still lie ahead for the world of public health in a post-COVID-19 world. After completing her undergraduate studies, Buckee earned a master's degree in bioinformatics at the University of...

Dr. Allison Brashear, Dean of the University of California-Davis School of Medicine, joins Innovators to talk about her program's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how the pandemic has helped her West Coast medical school expand translational research, topple organizational silos, and embrace a curricular shift to lifelong learning. Dr. Brashear has been the Dean of the UC Davis School of Medi...

Donde Plowman, PhD, Chancellor of the University of Tennessee's flagship Knoxville campus, discusses her institution's COVID-19 response in the latest installment of Innovators. Chancellor Plowman earned her doctorate in strategic management from the University of Texas at Austin, an undergraduate degree with a major in English from Southern Methodist University, and an MEd in higher education adm...

Bernadette M. Melnyk, PhD, chief wellness officer at The Ohio State University, analyzes the U.S. healthcare system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the latest installment of Innovators. The outbreak was destined to be a global crisis, Melnyk said. However, in her estimation, it was made far worse by our less-than-ideal response to it. Melnyk blames, among other things, a lack of coordinatio...

Robert Hinson (USAF, Lt. General (Ret), Executive Director of The National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska, joins Innovators to talk about how he leads NSRI and how UARCs function to protect the nation from a myriad of growing global threats. Hinson joined the University of Nebraska on August 1, 2012, following a nine-year foray into the private sector — as a vice...

Santa J. Ono, PhD, a biomedical researcher and president of the University of British Columbia, assesses COVID-19's impact on higher education —and society as a whole —in the latest edition of the higher education podcast Innovators. Just as COVID-19 has taken a disproportionate toll on the health and wellbeing of some population groups (e.g., senior citizens, people of color, and individuals with...

Dr. Ajit Yoganathan – The Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering & Regents' Professor at The Georgia Institute of Technology – joins Innovators to talk about his history in biomedical engineering and the background on the field as a field of higher education. Dr. Yoganathan and host Dr. Rick Skinner also conclude their conversation talking about how biomedical eng...

Dr. Donna Petersen joins Innovators to talk about how the coronavirus has shown a spotlight on the good and the bad of America's public health system. In the early stages of America's battle with COVID-19, Dr. Petersen talks about the public's knowledge and understanding of the country's health system and how state and federal lawmakers and healthcare professionals are dealing with the crisis. Dr....

Dr. Adrianna Kezar, Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California, joins Innovators to examine the state of higher education when viewed against harsh criticism, external factors, and the facts around enrollment, faculty, and the changing workforce. Dr. Kezar and Innovators host Rick Skinner also talk about an aging faculty, tenure-track professors, a...

Dr. Mónica Bugallo, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stonybrook University, joins Innovators to talk about  STEM and efforts to improve science and technological learnings. Innovators is a podcast production of Harris Search Associates. The show is produced by Grant Burkhardt.  *The views and opinions shared by the guests on Innovators do not necessarily reflect the views of the...

Dr. Jacqueline Travisano – Executive Vice President for Business and Finance and Chief Operating Officer of the University of Miami (FL) – joins Innovators to talk about being an operational and strategic leader at the institution from her position as COO. She also talks about working with and implementing the strategic plans of the university president and the rest of the executive level. Dr. Tra...

Lesa Roe, Chancellor of the University of North Texas System, joins Innovators to talk about how she manages and operates UNT System, its facilities and its strategies across many different institutions. Roe also is the CEO of the UNT System, and joined the university system after 33 years in various leadership positions at NASA, including Acting Deputy Administrator, a role similar to a COO. She...

Dr. James Dean, President of the University of New Hampshire, joins Innovators to talk about the state of his university, its in-state tuition rates, its status as a research institution, and how it will evolve in the future. Dr. Dean and Innovators host Rick Skinner also discuss questions around the public's trust in higher education and likewise in many other types of major institutions. Dr. Dea...

The leadership of Northern Illinois University – President Lisa Freeman, Executive Vice President and Provost Beth Ingram, and Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer Sarah McGill – joins Innovators to talk about how they manage to affect change at a large university and what it means to be part of a largely female leadership team at NIU. Dr. Freeman was appointed...

Dr. David Nash, Dean Emeritus and Founding Dean Emeritus and the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy at the Jefferson College of Population Health, joins Innovators to talk about the definition of population health as opposed to public health, and how to tackle the specific challenges that come with 21st century healthcare.  Dr. Nash earned his MD from the University of...

Dr. Klemen Zupancic, CEO of Scinote, joins Innovators to talk about how his company and others are building technological solutions to complex scientific problems. Dr. Zupancic and Rick Skinner talk about how these software evolutions can help build a digital mindset for the future of science. Dr. Zupancic earned his Ph. D. at the University of Ljubijana in Slovenia, and is also the co-founder of...

Dr. Jeffrey Joyce, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs at Florida State University, joins Innovators to talk about the role of research in the clinical healthcare enterprise, community health, and how to meet the needs of all kinds of communities. Dr. Joyce is also a professor of biomedical sciences at FSU and earned his Ph. D. in psychology (with a concentration in Physiologi...