This is Laura D with the Becker Healthcare
care podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Kip
the, Vice President of Innovation and product. Strategy
at University Hospitals,
Brian Ko, Vice President of the Cancer Institute
of Metro health and Joe Reich, senior new
director of Cleveland Clinic innovations.
Today, we'll be talking about the Cleveland Innovation
district and some of the fascinating things that
the
members on the line, I have here today,
are I've been doing on the Cleveland Innovation
district as well as what's ahead. So,
without further
a do. I wanted to jump in this
conversation because we have a lot of ground
to cover, and I'm excited to learn. First
and foremost, I was wondering, Kip, could you
tell us a little bit about some of
the themes of focus for the Cleveland Innovation
district, What's top of mind for you right
now?
Yeah. Thank you, Laura. We're very excited to
feature some of the things we've been working
on.
Life sciences focused on gene and cell therapy
is certainly 1 of the themes and
appropriate for the northeast to ohio region as
that's 1 of our strengths.
Product innovation, when it comes to healthcare as
3 of the 5 institutions
that make up the Cleveland innovation district are
health systems.
And there's tremendous amount of product
innovation that occurs
in through and with,
our various health systems as well as the
academic to academic institutions as well,
I would say
data sharing and, ways to potentially commercial
how we use data as the the new
gold in some ways, that is so
important for the region. And other things I
might include our
thinking about the collective as a living laboratory
as we have many things to offer if
we're united.
And
doing some c design
across our institutions as well as some of
the things that we're looking to do aren't
quite in the world yet And how do
we shape things together
through our collective
collaboration?
That's fascinating to hear. And, you know, really
truly, it seems like an amazing partnership that
you've been able to have and come together
in order to,
really make a difference in Cleveland.
I was wondering, how do we know that
things will succeed under the banner of Cleveland
Innovation district?
The Cleveland
innovation district has already demonstrated significant success by
surpassing many of the initial targets that we
set for the anchor institutions.
Today, we've documented that over 2600 jobs have
have been created
nearly 1200000000.0
dollars has already been invested in research and
innovation
in the district.
And I think we've advanced more than 7300
degrees in certificates.
I have all awarded throughout the Northeastern Ohio
region.
I think these use accomplishments indicate a robust
foundation for continued growth in the innovation district.
Furthermore, I think the strong collaboration amongst the
district's districts anchor partners,
combined with all the backing that we have
from the anchor institutions.
And we really have a clear strategic vision
that that positions Cleveland an innovation district ongoing
success.
I think some of the areas that we
are working to advance our workforce development,
especially around enhancing stem education
and training to meet the needs of the
life science industry,
lots of collaboration amongst our our anchor partners
as well as bringing in new partners into
the
animation district,
both enhancing what we have in our academic
institutions as well as our healthcare care providers
and then really bringing in those industry leaders
to
to say how do we grow the innovation
district,
which really leads to the ultimate economic growth
and and how we create jobs and foster
economic development in Northeast Ohio. I think we
have lots of really great ways that we
are succeeding and continue to
succeed as the cleveland Innovation district.
Well, that's great to hear. You know, and
definitely impressive to see some of the results
that have come out of the innovation district
already.
Now I was wondering,
Joe, the publicly available outcomes report is impressive,
but we wanna hear a little bit more
about the process.
How has all of this been made possible?
Have there been any challenges?
Thank you, Laura. And this is really
an exciting opportunity for the Cleveland
institutions that are the the founding members innovation
district to come together and to work together
because 1 might think that, you know, as
as we have 3 health systems involved in
innovation district that that we're competitive and while,
maybe we compete for patients on 1 hand,
in the areas of
research and
economic development
and innovation.
We're not competitors. We're we're really partners. We
you have a vested success in the growth
and success of our region. And it's been
really exciting working together with kip and Brian
and others from all the institutions
on opportunities where we can collaborate,
whether that be
as we've mentioned already,
the training programs through either
degrees or certificates
that are creating the workforce of today or
and tomorrow, and and really, even getting ready
for those job that we don't know about
yet that we're going to need
as technology and innovation continues. And this is
really
positioning Cleveland to be
the forefront fronts
and continue our our leadership as as a
health
innovation engine.
Yeah. The
what's been
challenging at times is to
be a a bit bolder and have the
permission
that we, kinda give to each other as
well as working with Jobs Ohio in the
State of Ohio
to use this,
platform,
this construct is an opportunity to really be
audacious and also
vulnerable
as we,
in many ways, you know, come into a
room together,
and admit where there might be gaps in,
our
capabilities,
but the idea of complementing each other,
so that we're not all claiming to have
the same strengths.
But together,
where, you know, if there might be gaps
at University hospitals that can be filled
with,
metro health
strengths or the Cleveland clinics
capabilities, while we can then go together as
a United front to
other companies, other places to say come work
with us and
making 1 plus 1 equal, you know, 3
or more
has been kind of the mantra of the
group
so that we can
present ourselves as as 1,
1 entity
in reaching out and also doing things locally.
That's a really cool model to have an
ne know impressive to see how you've over
comes from of those challenges and in spaces
where
each system competes to come together and have
that
idea of research and innovation be front and
center with patient access and outcomes, Of course,
you you know, something to align around Now
kip Was wondering if you could talk about
as well. What are some of the goals
outside of these accomplishments today?
I think it's a lot of a and
I'm curious to hear from Brian and Joe
as well. We've got the things that we
articulated
upfront saying these are our objectives and goals
in terms of job creation
in terms of different business development opportunities. We're
hoping some of the cultural
soft elements of working together can also
be a product or byproduct of this effort,
for example, to
really highlight Cleveland as a
place making
region so that not only our company interested
in coming, to work with us to Dom
here, but move their families
and 1 to really take root here. I
think that would be the ultimate
when
that is complementary
to the the hard kind of metrics that
we've set out for ourselves. So
you know, we've got in Cleveland, for example,
the cultural gardens that celebrate a diversity of
different ethnic backgrounds as you're driving
down
that road you can see just the different
representations of different
populations, cultures.
How might we think about that as a
model
for Cleveland innovation district,
so that even beyond the 5 institutions that
were formally
awarded in 20 21,
but the state of Ohio to really catalyze
innovation. How might we begin to pull other
institutions,
other strengths that we have in the region
so that
it's beyond even just the 5
starter
institutions, and it can grow into something more.
I agree a lot with what Kip said.
I think a lot of what the innovation
district hopes to achieve is to really foster
integral a lot of collaboration within the innovation
district. Right? We mentioned the 5 anchor institutions,
but we know that the innovation district is
only going to be successful if we scale
and expand well beyond the 5 anchor institutions,
right? The 5 anchor institutions are here to
kind of be the foothold
But our
real objective and real aim is to aspire
to be an engine for the region that
can really propel
and attract global talent,
attract
new novel research, expand our capabilities and research
and development
support startups ups of all, shapes sizes and
scales, right? Bb that engine for diversity
and startups and then really
look at how we impact the the community
overall from from community health, I. E. We
have the 3 health, anchor institutions on here
to
academics and education.
And really how we foster very innovative, healthy
community partnership model.
That's amazing to hear. And definitely, it just
really cool to
think about all the possibilities and the potential
when you're working together,
in pooling all of your resources.
Now
I think the next thing I wanna know,
Brian, are there things that you've done specifically
in order to advance innovation in Northeast Ohio?
How is the in Cleveland innovation district really
made an impact on innovation
overall?
Yes. And I'll speak to some of Metro
health accomplishments and investments and I'll invite Kip
and Joe to speak to their respective organizations
as well.
But 1 thing here at Metro health that
we've been laser focused on and been working
on for a couple of years now is
we launched the region's first vector production facility,
really focused on leading innovations in cellular immunotherapy
manufacturing.
This is a novel type
good manufacturing practice facility.
That is laser focused on how do we
advance new drug development in research, specifically in
the cellular immunotherapy space, which just geared a
lot towards cancer,
but has many applications beyond cancer.
We see this this investment both in the
facility as well as the research team that
we have grown around it as being
for advancing some of our key initiatives within
innovation district,
but we also see it as a lin
pen
for attracting additional talent.
Allowing for ancillary investments around it
and saying, how do we grow the overall
ecosystem. Right? We have 1 facility that is
very now unique to to Cleveland and in
our region.
But we know that that that isn't the
the means to end. That is just a
building block.
Part of the foundation of what we hope
to be
a greater ecosystem around
cell gene therapy and regenerative medicine.
And really how we partner with the other
institutions to continue to grow that and find
investments in that space. And I know Kip
and Joe will have a lot that they
can add on that. So I'll invite them
to add in their third pieces.
Thanks, Brian. Cleveland clinic
focus of the innovation district has really been
the launch and growth of our global center
for pathogen
and human health research. And and really that
encompasses
put all research in in the health care
area,
and we've already
created 45000
square feet of modern laboratory space
that
encompasses our new center for computational life sciences,
center for immunotherapy and precision I oncology center.
And the center for Therapeutics discovery.
And then we are in the process
of building 2 new research buildings that will
have
over 300000
square feet and recruiting the new Pis to
fill those spaces,
hit in areas that are
you know, on the front edge of health
care research. We've also added a a bios
safety level 3 laboratory,
and a bio repository.
And I think 1 of the other things
that is is really exciting is we
continue to build this innovation district
is is helping to
transform the the landscape of the area
So we've had the opportunity to partner
in an investment to create a
grocery store.
And apartment complex
that has helped fill a food desert need
for our area
but also really transformed the the the neighborhood
to be more accessible,
more walk,
and there's there's a lot more foot traffic,
and an excitement going on
in the area. So it's great to see
all those
transformations really in the the E very early
years of our efforts together.
These are great. Let me add another dimension.
In fact, it ties back. I think the
opening question that you had for us, Laura,
around what are the themes and I think
you're seeing, in very concrete ways. Those themes
being highlighted.
Terms of cell and gene therapy, the life
sciences,
I'll share 1
tied to data,
and artificial intelligence in as that's incredibly exciting
for
our region and in particular in health care,
we were able to at university hospitals,
stand up something called
the Radiology, Ai and diagnostic
innovation collaborative.
We're calling it Rad K. The K is
for Cleveland.
And it's really an Ai hub
as we're seeing other
cities and regions across the United States,
also
building towards something like this, but it's still,
you know, early on
for all of us,
and we set this up
at U, but with the hope that this
could be an anchor point for the region.
For all of us involved at least the
5
institutions. And then
beyond that,
an outcome of this exciting effort has been
a French based
startup company
reaching out to us saying, hey, can we
work with your diagnostic
experts to train
their fracture
detection software.
And our approach has also been let's embrace
opportunities as opposed to
Shu
opportunities tied it to Ai.
And
given, it gives us our caregivers a tremendous
way to
not only
share data and share know how, but also
to be directly involved
so that they have agency in the effort
around Ai
model training and Gen Ai in particular. This
company was able to get Us Fda clearance
through the work that we
did with them, which is
a nice bonus to the effort. And how
do we do more of these kind of
plays as we think about the next company
that might be knocking on our door or
that we might pursue together to say, we've
got data, not just within 1 health system.
But you know, maybe all 3 of us
and representing different
populations
that could,
really
make the training of Ai models,
which is a really hot topic, more sophisticated
as well as more representative
of
actual
people in our communities
and also to involve us as opposed to
this kind of work being a blunt box.
So that,
we're involved and there's that c design
aspect that was mentioned earlier, and to really
prop up the region as a living laboratory
where it's not something that companies
smaller, large do to us in terms of
taking advantage of what we have to offer
collectively, but to really work with us in
us offering the scene.
That's great to hear. It sounds like a
really smart strategy.
I I appreciate you all diving 1 bit
deeper there into looking at innovation, how you
know, you're really making difference.
Before We I wrap up, I have 1
more question and, and Joe, I wanted to
start off with you here. What is yet
to be done?
There's a lot of exciting things coming, Laura,
and I think taking a quick step back
as a native Cleveland. I I... It's really
citing to see what we've done so far.
Kip pointed out the cultural gardens that we
have in Cleveland.
1 of the exciting things about Cleveland is
it has a rich history. It really was
the Silicon valley of America in the early
twentieth century. When you look at the standard
oil company,
launching here and and all that that has
happened. And so that's
led to a history of a really great
culture that we have in this area. We
have a wonderful lake front. We have the
largest theater district outside New York City. We've
got the best orchestra in the world to
name a few.
But what what that means is we have
an an excellent opportunity for a place where
people want to
move to and stay and grow,
raise their families. And over the past 10
plus years, I've had the opportunity to be
focused on creating,
launching, investing and growing startup companies along with
venture capital funds. And we've done really
great effort in doing that so far.
1 of the keys though to attracting and
retaining talent, especially in that area is not
so much what job they're person has today,
but what are the next job opportunities
as as technology changes and the market changes
and people wanting to see
to know they have a secure opportunity that
they can spend a career even though that
career might span multiple companies.
And so 1 of the things that we're
continuing to work on is more
corporate
opportunities and partnerships
that will continue to bring more people to
Cleveland to be part of this ecosystem that
we're building. Some recent wins are are if
examples are the the Ibm quantum computer
that we have at Cleveland clinic. It's the
first quantum computer focused on healthcare care research.
We recently announced a,
research partnership with Canon Medical. And I think
it's been wonderful working with Kip and Brian
in our counterparts, and I... Our collective efforts
together
will should result in a lot more of
those opportunities to come that are gonna
be nice anchors
around our innovation district opportunities.
And from the clinic perspective, 1 of our
main goals was to grow research funding
at the
launch of the innovation district,
opportunity. We had about 300000000 dollars in annual
research expenditures at Cleveland Clinic.
Our goal was to grow that to 500000000
within 10 years and a couple years into
the this effort we're already over 430000000
dollars in annual funding. So so that type
of invest as an example,
will continue to allow
the the the cat
the attraction
and interaction with with companies that want to
be part of all the great things.
That the clinic and Metro and Are doing.
And and also, we've not focused on, but
but the great
universities that we have in the region that
are helping to fill the talent needs
of those opportunities, and and they've been wonderful
cloud creators as we've built the programs,
as Brian's noted, the the graduates that we've
had within the last couple years focused on
the the opportunities that the hospital systems need
to fill.
And I completely agree, Joe, I think, leveraging
in Cleveland deep cultural history
is still a device that our disposal to
how do we grow the Cleveland Innovation district.
Selfish officially 1 of the things I'd love
to see it done over the next year,
a few years.
Is really broadening our impact. Metro health is
Cleveland safety at hospital where we take care
of patients from all walks of lives.
And really what I love to see the
Cleveland Innovation district
do is also expand on our initiatives to
reach more of the underserved communities and address
social economic disparities. And I think we've already
laid a lot of really great groundwork
for how we do that, including some of
our education and certificate programs that we've partnered
with our academic institutions on
as well as job creation. We... As Joe
mentioned, the the next generation of jobs is
gonna look different than what it looks like
today. How do we start to position our
communities for
success
and really grow towards those next generation jobs
I think Cleveland can be at the forefront
of defining and shaping what those jobs look
like. And Cleveland Innovation district and the anchor
institutions will be the defining model what that
looks like for years to come?
I'll add something
I'd love
Brian and Joe's,
grand
portrait of what we're trying to accomplish here,
maybe
some smaller items from my end, Laura,
including, we've got a website in the works.
And
you know, what we've done, I think quite
well is
these actions behind the scenes. And now it's
time to
know,
bring this to life and make it more
visible, and we're we've got a website that's
in the works. A lot of our efforts
given that this was launched during the side
of the pandemic,
where,
these things happen virtually. And now we have
an opportunity to
house all these great activities and programs within
more visible
buildings or more visible,
places. We talk about place making before just
to make it even more tangible
or our community as well as the outside
world
and
there's
great opportunities
to build on that front. There someone
within Cleveland who
has also said this about us. We could
also have a bit more swag.
So, I guess, add that to the visibility
element. How do we tell our story
and we've got some great
wins
within the first
3.5 years of the 10 year
program here. Or Cleveland innovation district. How do
we also really bring the
the Oo when it comes to the narrative
of this, socializing it getting people to celebrate
with us in terms of place making.
And do that with a a bit of
swag. So stay tuned as we're also working
on our website,
where we wanna tell these stories
for many more years to come and through
this incredible platform that we have.
That's amazing to hear. I'm really looking forward
to seeing all this come to light in
supporting all the things that you're doing in
Cleveland in the Cleveland Innovation district.
Kip Brian Joe. Thank you so much for
being here today. This has been a fascinating
discussion and very inspiring as well. I look
forward to connecting with you all again soon.
Thank you. Thank you, Laura.
We appreciate the opportunity.