Thayer Co-hosts Dartmouth's Inaugural Innovation in Medicine & Healthcare Summit

Dartmouth Engineering professors Kim Samkoe and Irene Georgakoudi participate in a panel on "Advances in Medical Diagnostics and Therapeutics" moderated by Austin Boesch Th'16.

The summit kicked off with a keynote conversation between Reed Jobs, founder of the venture fund Yosemite, and Errik Anderson '00 Th'06 Tu'07, CEO and founder of Alloy Therapeutics. The two were introduced by Steve Leach, MD, director of Dartmouth Cancer Center. In their conversation, Jobs emphasized his organization's mission to "ultimately make cancer non-lethal in our lifetimes" through a unique combination of philanthropic and venture capital approaches. "Being an investor made me a much better philanthropist," he said, explaining how both are critical to seeding innovation, catalyzing commercialization, and generating revenue.

Jobs and Anderson were then joined onstage by Neil Smiley '82, founder and CEO of Loopback Analytics and president of the Charles H. Hood Foundation, and John Connolly Gr'01 Med'01, chief scientific officer of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Together, the group delved into de-risking strategies, data-driven improvements in treatment access, and the value that philanthropy can bring to accelerating innovation. This discussion set the tone for the full day's exploration of innovation and its role in shaping the future of healthcare.

Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock spoke to summit attendees about what makes the Dartmouth environment so conducive to cross-discipline collaboration. And throughout the day, Jamie Coughlin, executive director of The Magnuson Center, repeatedly spoke to the significance of Dartmouth's unique "ecosystem" in driving its innovation accelerators and business development initiatives, emphasizing their vital role in bringing medical innovations to market.

The evening before the Summit featured a dinner and program for attendees and speakers at the Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center. (Photo by Kata Sasvari)

The summit also featured discussions on the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, with experts from Dartmouth and beyond exploring potential applications and ethical considerations of AI in medical diagnosis and treatment. Lisa Marsch, director of The Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Dartmouth, shared her excitement about the future of digital behavioral health therapeutics and AI-driven technologies to boost access to mental health resources and psychiatric treatment.

The summit concluded with several calls to action. A discussion between summit attendees and Coughlin, Marsch, Leach, and Estevan Garcia, MD, MPA, Dartmouth's chief health and wellness officer, focused on what could be done to more closely align research, entrepreneurship, and venture capital to ensure that the best ideas are supported and brought to market.