Progress in Pediatric Research and the View from Children’s Hospitals (with Mark Wietecha, CEO of Children's Hospital Association)
Release Date: 07/19/2021
The Successful Start of a New Medical School: A Conversation with Mark A. Schuster, MD, PhD (Founding Dean and CEO; Professor, Health Systems Science at Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine)
Innovators
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 family health; family leave; obesity prevention; sexual and gender minority health; bullying; and quality of health care, Schuster pledged to build the new school “from the ground up”...
info_outline
Data Science and the Study of Alzheimer’s (with Christopher Gaiteri, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Empire Innovation Scholar, SUNY Upstate Medical University)
Innovators
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 serving as Research Scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and Senior Scientist at Sage Bionetworks. In today’s podcast, Dr. Gaiteri responds to the following questions: ...
info_outline
The Development and Evolution of Data Science: Potential and Leadership (with Philip E. Bourne, Ph.D., Founding Stephenson Dean, School of Data Science and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia)
Innovators
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 in Charlottesville about the following (abridged version of) questions: 1. Why a separate school of data science? 2. What gives data science its coherence as a professional...
info_outline
Pushing the Boundaries of What's Possible in Children's Health: Breakthroughs & Beyond (with Carlos R. Estrada Jr., MD)
Innovators
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 use of a new type of tissue. He earned his undergraduate degree from College of the Holy Cross and the MD from Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. He...
info_outline
Data Science: Academia's Newest and Fastest-Growing Field (with Dr. Talitha Washington, Professor of Mathematics and the Director of the Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative)
Innovators
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.D. from the University of Connecticut, then completed a research post-doctorate at Duke University. The Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative is a unique...
info_outline
Fertile Times in Materials Science: A Conversation with Dr. David Kaplan
Innovators
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 conversation with a leading researcher in materials science, so we asked Dr. Kaplan: What have been the primary accelerators of discovery, innovation, and invention in materials science...
info_outline
Climate Change & Actionable Scientific Research: A Conversation with Dr. James Arnott, Executive Director of the Aspen Global Change Institute
Innovators
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 inclusive to meet the challenge of coping with the effects of climate change. Dr. Arnott earned his doctorate in Environment and Sustainability from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in Political...
info_outline
Lessons of a Salvadoran Refugee’s Path of Success in American Higher Education (with Susana Rivera-Mills, Ph.D., Provost & Executive Vice President, Ball State University)
Innovators
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 draw on her journey as a first-time Hispanic college attendee as well as her academic and administrative achievements to respond to the following questions: The term “Hispanic” is...
info_outline
A CFO Assesses Impact of Pandemic on an Academic Medical Center (with Brian Burnett, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham)
Innovators
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 Burnett shared his experience and perspective on how COVID impacted the University of Alabama and its healthcare system in answering the following questions: What are the ways by which...
info_outline
Digital Health – Technological & Scientific Invention & Innovation in Healthcare (with Dr. Eric Perakslis, Chief Science & Digital Officer, Duke Clinical Research Institute
Innovators
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 innovations for patients? How do the perspectives of leaders of inventors/innovators/developers, regulators, and researchers in healthcare vary from one another in evaluating the importance of the work...
info_outlineMark 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 with a mission to improve child health through innovation in care, education, and research. CHA advances these aims by leading and supporting national collaboration in public policy and pediatric practice improving the access, quality, and costs of care for children.
Prior to joining CHA, Mark was a management consultant with Kurt Salmon Associates, where he served as the firm’s executive chairman, responsible for over 2,000 professionals working across five continents in six languages. His professional work in both adult academic and pediatric medicine has been recognized as among the best in the country, and he has advised most of the U.S. News & World Report “Best” medical centers and children's hospitals. Mark has been named among the nation’s “Most Influential Consultants” by Consulting Magazine and as one of the "5 Healthcare Leaders to Know" by Becker's Review. He is a regular presenter on the future of health care and cited in such media as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Politico, and National Public Radio.
Mark currently serves on the boards of the Children’s Hospital Association, the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems of the AAMC, the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect, OpenNotes, an organization advancing greater patient engagement in their own care, and Virtual PICU Systems, where he is past chairman of the board. He serves on the advisory boards of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative at the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan’s CMS national quality initiative, and the New York University Sala Institute, with a mission to integrate pediatric care across a large academic teaching hospital. Mark is a former trustee and past chairman of the board of overseers of the UCLA Health System, a former director and past deputy chairman of the board of Management Consulting Group, a public London-listed company, and a former director and past chairman of the board of Kurt Salmon Associates.
Mark's academic training includes a Master of Science in pharmacology from The Ohio State University and a Master of Business Administration from Indiana University. He is based in Washington, D.C.
Innovators is a podcast production of Harris Search.
*The views and opinions shared by the guests on Innovators do not necessarily reflect the views of the interviewee's institution or organization.*