Innovation

Bayer has awarded a $1.5 million grant to BioSTL, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering growth in St. Louis' bioscience, innovation and technology community.

As innovation continues to be a primary focus for nearly every organization and industry, the most successful will be those who innovate across every aspect of their businesses: in the customer experience, the employee experience and their communities.

The American Lung Association announced on Aug. 5 an investment of more than $6 million in funding for dozens of innovative research projects, and opened applications for the next round of awards.

As the chief innovation officer of Boston-based Partners HealthCare System, Chris Coburn leads a team of more than 125 people who are tasked with the worldwide commercial application of the discoveries of Partners' 74,000 employees.

Rather than sticking to the traditional mission-driven model of healthcare, many digitally minded health organizations are instead restructuring first and foremost as tech companies — and are reaping the benefits.

Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health announced on Aug. 1 the creation of its Innovation Center for the development of life-saving technologies, services and initiatives.

Progknowse, a Tysons, Va.-based company developing predictive analytics software for precision medicine, has partnered with three health systems to further refine the technology.

Peter Kung has served as system vice president of innovation and virtual health at Broomfield, Colo.-based SCL Health for more than four years. 

Louisville, Ky.-based accelerator XLerateHealth selected nine startup companies to joint its 2019 Louisville accelerator cohort, according to a July 30 news release.

The American Hospital Association Center for Health Innovation selected three health systems as winners of its 2019 innovation challenge.