The Beat

Latest Episodes:

Executive Series: Revolutionizing Disease Advancement Through Science and Tech with Mike Montello Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

About Mike Montello:

Mike Montello serves as the Senior Vice President, R&D Digital and Tech at GSK, a pharmaceutical company that ranks among the top ten globally and generates over $36 billion in revenue. Oncology, immunology, respiratory disorders, HIV, and infectious illnesses are its strong therapeutic domains. Mike is a sponsor of multiple aspects of GSK's overall digital transformation, including the company's transition to a product-centric structure, its strategic alliances with IT firms, and its digital training initiatives. Building diverse teams and encouraging inclusive leaders are two things that particularly inspire and excite him personally. He gets his energy from speeding innovation through culture. His other main concern is giving GSK's AI machine learning engineers the best quality data in the safest manner possible.

Over his career, Mike has worked to improve healthcare via the use of digital, data, and analytics technologies. Mike held the position of CIO at Quintiles prior to the company's 2018 rebranding as IQVIA. He was in charge of the technological platforms that allowed clinical trials to take place in over 100 nations. Along with leading the product teams that developed the next generation of clinical development data and analytics capabilities, decentralized trial platforms, and supported multiple tech acquisitions, Mike also directed the company's R&D technology strategy following the merger with IMS and Quintiles. In addition to spending several years in IT leadership positions at Shire Pharmaceuticals, Mike spent twelve years working as a management consultant at Accenture, where he developed his basic understanding of biopharmaceuticals and technology.

Mike has a mechanical engineering degree and graduated from London Business School with an executive MBA.

Things You’ll Learn:

Every pharmaceutical company needs transformation and acceleration.
GSK is using AI to identify patients who are most likely to respond favorably to medicines and vaccines by leveraging appropriate data.
In the pharma sector, there is a constant need to accelerate clinical trials, drug discovery, and the commercialization process.
Large language models and AI will help us a lot with mundane activities.
We have to balance the benefits of AI with making sure we're doing things extremely responsibly.
It's less about the technology and more about serving people with that technology.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Mike Montello on LinkedIn.
Follow GSK on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: The Heart of Pharma: Building Connections for Effective Marketing —Featuring Craig Douglass Dec 15, 2023

Show notes

About Craig Douglass:

Craig Douglass is the Chief Growth Officer at Digitas Health, a leading global agency specializing in connected health. With over 25 years in the field, he's developed expertise in crafting impactful campaigns and content that improve health results in various areas like cancer, respiratory issues, diabetes, vaccines, immunology, infectious disease, and mental health. His commitment to blending creativity, media, and technology has placed him at the forefront of the healthcare communications industry's digital transformation. Working at Digitas Health, the pioneering connected health agency, Douglass helps health brands navigate the complexities of an ever-changing media landscape.

Things You’ll Learn:

Marketing plays a crucial role in improving health outcomes.
Better engagement in healthcare leads to improved results for individuals.
The ever-changing landscape demands responsiveness over speed and adaptation to new circumstances.
The heart of pharmaceutical marketing lies in the connection between physicians and patients.
Rather than seeking an omnichannel agency, prioritize finding one that can effectively build your brand and drive results across multiple channels.
Simplicity is essential, and distinguishing the signal from the noise is crucial to effective marketing.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Craig Douglass on LinkedIn.
Follow Digitas Health on LinkedIn.
Visit Digitas Health on their Website.

Live at HLTH: The Future of Patient-Centric Care: Insights from the Healthcare Technology Frontier —Featuring Geoff Mccleary Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

About Geoff McCleary:

Geoff McCleary is the VP of Global Connected Health Lead at Capgemini, an organization partnering with companies to transform their businesses with the aid of technology. Geoff has over 25 years of experience in leading digital innovation, strategy, and marketing for global clients across the health ecosystem, from pharma and biotech to providers and payers. He specifically helps healthcare and life sciences leaders turn their connected health efforts into value-driving enterprises.

Geoff, drawing on his personal experience and his son’s case, is also a member of the Board of Directors at the TOPP Foundation, aiming to bring Type One Diabetes families together while increasing public awareness of the disease.

Things You’ll Learn:

Put patients first and make sure healthcare plans have a clear goal so they make a difference in patients' lives.
Healthcare is not just about new ideas; it's about making patients' experiences good. Think more about what matters, not just being innovative for no reason.
In the past, there were about 100,000 healthcare apps, but most of them weren’t reliable and effective enough.
Create solutions that help, think about the users, and keep patient information private.
At the end of the day, what the patient wants is the key.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Geoff on LinkedIn.
Follow Capgemini on LinkedIn.
Visit the Capgemini website here.

HLTH Executive Series: The Future of Funding for Healthcare Startups with Megan Scheffel Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

About Megan Scheffel:

Megan Scheffel is a highly collaborative executive with deep experience in finance, venture capital, and technology who enjoys tackling complex organizational challenges, creative problem-solving, and communicating crisply and authentically. Based in DC, she is responsible for the investment and credit decisions for the focus on delivering venture debt, investment management, treasury and payment solutions for all stages of healthcare companies. SVB's mission is to be the premier financial services firm for innovation executives, and their investors.

She began her career at Silicon Valley Bank’s Silicon Valley headquarters, where she was responsible for handling credit functions and compliance and providing analyst support for lenders in the Northern California and Northwest regions. In 2002, she moved to the East Coast to join her husband and to focus on the growth of technology and venture firms in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In 2015-2016, Megan was selected to help with the launch of SVB's JV bank in Shanghai, China. From October through January, she moved to China and spent time in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai doing business development with technology, life science clients and investment firms and helped build out and organize the teams at the JV.

Scheffel is active in supporting and speaking on behalf and with the entrepreneurial organizations and events throughout the Washington D.C. Scheffel earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, specializing in finance, from the University of Colorado in Boulder. When not at work, you can find her cheering on her kids at a variety of sport complexes around DC and running on the trails.

Things You’ll Learn:

SVB's acquisition by First Citizens Bank in March hasn't changed its focus on the innovation economy. They continue to acquire and service clients in the same way as before.
SVB's value proposition lies in its extensive expertise in the life science and healthcare sectors.
SVB specializes in lending to pre-profit and cash-burning companies, offering unique financial services to startups.
Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, there is still funding available for healthcare startups. M&A activity is expected to increase, and SVB is actively monitoring trends and providing valuable insights to their clients.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Megan Scheffel on LinkedIn.
Follow SVB on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: Empowering Patients with Human-Centered Healthcare — featuring Dr. Sunita Mishra & Dr. Andrew Diamond Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

In February, Amazon Health announced its acquisition of One Medical.

What inspired the collaboration? And what does integration look like between the two organizations?

Dr. Sunita Mishra is Chief Medical Officer at Amazon Health, which aims to make it dramatically easier to engage with the services, products and professionals needed to get and stay healthy.

Dr. Andrew Diamond is Chief Medical Officer at One Medical. He has been a driving force in developing the health system’s approach to care and maintaining its human-centered culture.

On this episode of The Beat, Dr. Mishra and Dr. Diamond join hosts Dr. Jessica Shepherd and Dr. Gautam Gulati to discuss what values Amazon Health and One Medical share.

Dr. Mishra describes Amazon’s vision for simplifying healthcare, and Dr. Diamond explains how the One Medical model gives its members more agency than the traditional system.

Listen in to understand how Amazon’s technological capabilities benefit healthcare delivery and learn how Dr. Mishra and Dr. Diamond are working together to promote patient-focused primary care.

Topics Covered

Dr. Mishra & Dr. Diamond’s roles at Amazon Health and One Medical
How Amazon is realizing its vision of making healthcare easier
The collaborative energy between Amazon Health and One Medical
How the healthcare system influences the way clinicians see their patients
What values Amazon Health and One Medical share (and how that makes integration easier)
How the One Medical model gives its members more agency
What changes members of One Medical can expect with the Amazon acquisition
One Medical’s ability to care for patients with chronic disease
How Amazon’s technological capabilities benefit healthcare delivery
How Amazon Health thinks about incorporating behavioral health

Connect with Dr. Sunita Mishra

Amazon Health

Dr. Mishra on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Andrew Diamond

One Medical

Dr. Diamond on LinkedIn

Connect with Dr. Jessica Shepherd & Dr. Gautam Gulati

HLTH

Dr. Shepherd on X

Dr. Shepherd on LinkedIn

Dr. Gulati on X

Dr. Gulati on LinkedIn

Resources

Amazon’s Acquisition of One Medical

One Medical Seniors

Executive Series: The Future of Funding for Healthcare Startups with Megan Scheffel Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

About Megan Scheffel:

Things You’ll Learn:

SVB's acquisition by First Citizens Bank in March hasn't changed its focus on the innovation economy. They continue to acquire and service clients in the same way as before.
SVB's value proposition lies in its extensive expertise in the life science and healthcare sectors.
SVB specializes in lending to pre-profit and cash-burning companies, offering unique financial services to startups.
Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, there is still funding available for healthcare startups. M&A activity is expected to increase, and SVB is actively monitoring trends and providing valuable insights to their clients.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Megan Scheffel on LinkedIn.
Follow SVB on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI in Healthcare —Featuring Kaveh Safavi Dec 08, 2023

Show notes

About Kaveh Safavi:

Kaveh helps organizations harness the promise of technology and human ingenuity to humanize healthcare. He works with providers, health insurers, and public and private health systems in the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific. A seasoned executive, Dr. Safavi brings more than three decades of leadership experience to Accenture Health. Prior to joining Accenture in 2011, Dr. Safavi led Cisco’s healthcare practice. Before that, he was chief medical officer of Thomson Reuters’ health business, vice president of medical affairs at United Healthcare, and had leadership roles at HealthSpring and Humana. Among his many accomplishments was establishing one of the Midwest’s first electronic-health-record-enabled primary care practices.

Dr. Safavi has published numerous papers and is often interviewed and quoted on his expert healthcare knowledge in various media publications, including The Wall Street Journal, the BBC, The New York Times, Consumer Reports, US News and World Report, Harvard Business Review, and The Economist. He earned an M.D. from Loyola University School of Medicine and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and completed a residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical Center. An adjunct lecturer of Health Enterprise Management at Kellogg School of Management-Northwestern University, Dr. Safavi also serves on the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences’ Board of Visitors–at Northwestern University, is a member of the Easterseals National Board of Directors and is a lifelong Chicagoan

Things You’ll Learn:

The power asymmetry between doctors and patients in healthcare needs to be balanced.
Empowering patients and harnessing technology can humanize healthcare and create a better care system.
Generative AI is a game-changer in healthcare. It can save hours of time by automating language-based tasks like reading, writing, and content creation. This frees up healthcare professionals to focus on higher-value work.
Generative AI has tremendous potential to address workforce challenges in healthcare. By augmenting or substituting certain tasks, it can help bridge the gap amidst a scarcity of healthcare professionals.
Responsible use of generative AI and clear guidance are crucial to avoid potential risks and ensure patient safety.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Kaveh Safavi on LinkedIn.
Follow Accenture on LinkedIn.
Visit the Accenture website here.

Live at HLTH: Exploring Partnerships in Healthcare —Featuring Judith Kulich Dec 06, 2023

Show notes

About Judith Kulich:

Judith serves as ZS’s lead for patient health and equity, focused on partnering with clients across the healthcare industry to drive meaningful progress in health equity. She is also an elected member of ZS’s Shareholders’ Council, serving as the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) program chair. Judith established and ran ZS’s pipeline and launch strategy practice area and led ZS’s firm-wide practice council. Internally, she led ZS’s San Francisco office and was one of the founders of Women@ZS and our philanthropic arm, ZS Cares, both of which she is still actively involved in today.

Judith has spent much of her 20-plus years in the healthcare industry focused on drug development and bringing medicines to market globally. In recent years, she has expanded her work into healthcare payers and providers, bringing sectors together around a common aim of addressing both disparities in care and global health inequities. She has led industry collaborations and ZS’s investments and actively contributed to global health equity partnerships.
Judith holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California, Berkeley.

Things You’ll Learn:

There is a growing appetite for collaboration in the healthcare industry, with a myriad of partners eager to expand the impact they can have on health equity.
Building trust, humility, and compliance considerations are essential components in forging effective health equity partnerships.
Despite challenges, organizations can navigate and overcome the barriers, leading to productive and impactful collaborations.
When it comes to successful initiatives, the focus should be on replicability rather than scaling.
By recognizing what works well in one partnership and employing a "lift and shift" approach, organizations can leverage proven strategies and experiences to reach diverse patient communities effectively.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Judith Kulich on LinkedIn.
Follow ZS on LinkedIn.
Visit the ZS website here.

HLTH Executive Series: Rethinking Valuations in Healthcare: The Next Horizon for VC Investor with Steve Kraus Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

About Steve Kraus:

Steve Kraus is a partner at Bessemer in the Cambridge office and a world-renowned healthcare investor. He is the author of Bessemer’s 10 Laws of Healthcare, Benchmarks for Growing Health tech Businesses, and is a co-host of A Healthy Dose podcast. Steve currently sits on the boards of Bright Health Group, Headspace Health, Groups, Qventus, AspenRx, HouseRx, Oshi Health, Folx Health, Mural Health, Alcresta and US Health Partners.

Prior to joining Bessemer, Steve worked for a growth-stage, private equity firm and as a management consultant at Bain & Company. He has also worked on several different political campaigns throughout his career.

He serves as an Observer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an advisor to Boston Children’s Hospital and the Harvard Business School’s Center for Entrepreneurship, and on the investment committees of BCBS Massachusetts and Rock Health.

Steve graduated from summa cum laude from Yale University and earned his MBA from Harvard, where he was a Baker Scholar.

Things You’ll Learn:

With a dedicated healthcare practice for over 40 years, Bessemer brings a unique advantage by integrating partners with diverse industry expertise and networks. This approach allows them to make strategic investments in various industries, including healthcare, software as a service, fintech, consumer, and crypto.
The Intersection of Healthcare and AI: One of the fascinating topics discussed is how Bessemer leverages the convergence of healthcare and AI.
By combining Bessemer’s healthcare team's knowledge with a deep AI team, they have built one of the most extensive portfolios in healthcare AI today. This focus on innovation and emerging technologies positions them to tap into the potential of AI to drive down costs, improve outcomes, and revolutionize the healthcare industry.
Navigating the Current Landscape: With recent economic challenges, including market downturns and valuation adjustments, the VC industry has faced some headwinds. However, Steve Krause highlights that the current valuation reset has created opportunities for investors.
Steve emphasizes that the healthcare sector, in particular, holds immense potential, and as the public markets open up, the next cohort of healthcare tech companies will emerge, propelling the industry forward.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Steve Kraus on LinkedIn.
Follow Bessemer on LinkedIn and visit their website.

Live at HLTH: Striking the Right Balance: Regulating AI in Healthcare —Featuring Shannon Klinger Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

About Shannon Klinger:

Shannon Thyme Klinger, the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Moderna is in charge of Moderna's legal and corporate compliance matters. Throughout her career, Shannon has been dedicated to improving long-term business performance, building trust with the public, ensuring access to medicine, and facilitating successful product launches. She is also a strong supporter of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, she served on the board of directors of the SIX Group in Switzerland from 2016 to 2020.

Shannon earned her Juris Doctorate with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the District of Columbia Bar.

Things You’ll Learn:

Many individuals choose healthcare as their career path due to their personal experiences.
Regarding AI and healthcare, balancing regulation and innovation is crucial.
Organizations should ethically use AI applications for the benefit of the public.
Excessive regulation can hinder the pace of innovation, potentially leading to fewer lives being protected.
Imagine the impossible and make it possible.
Moderna's goal is to ensure that people worldwide, regardless of their place of birth, have access to high-quality treatments.

Resources:

Connect with and follow Shannon Klinger on LinkedIn.
Follow Moderna on LinkedIn.
Discover the Moderna Website.
Check out the mRNA Access Website.
Visit Moderna’s Charitable Foundation Website.
Listen to Shannon's previous interview here.

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