At the launch of the Diversity Innovation Hub: Dennis Charney, MD, center, and co-founders, from left, William Brown, Mary Sun, Ted Obi, Gary C. Butts, MD; Isaac Faith, Omar Njie, and Ann-Gel Palermo DrPH, MPH.
The Diversity Innovation Hub (DIH), a groundbreaking initiative of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was launched with a symposium on entrepreneurship on Monday, October 14, at Davis Auditorium. The aim of DIH is “to connect the dots between innovation work and diversity and inclusion,” said Gary C. Butts, MD, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy and Community Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“Our mission is, No. 1, to address the lack of inclusion of people of color and women in health care innovation,” said Dr. Butts, who developed DIH with a co-founding design team. “No. 2 is to figure out how best to use innovation and technology to address social determinants of health, especially in our surrounding community; and No. 3 is to accelerate our work in diversity and inclusion through innovation, through technology, and through design thinking.”
Dr. Butts thanked the founding team of DIH “for your curiosity, your creativity, and your boldness in all we intend to do.” They are Ann-Gel S. Palermo, DrPH, MPH, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in Biomedical Education, and Chief Program Officer, Office for Diversity and Inclusion; William Brown, Associate Director, Information Technology; Tanvir Islam, CEO and Co-Founder of the start-up Errunds; Icahn School of Medicine students Omar Njie, Ted Obi, and Mary Sun; Isaac Faith, a graduate student in Biomedical Science; and Kenechi G. Ejebe, MD, a 2019 graduate of the Icahn School of Medicine who is now Associate Medical Director of Wave Life Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Keynote speaker Dhaval Bhanusali, MD, told attendees that as physicians and scientists they were well-equipped to find new solutions in patient care, saying,”If it doesn’t exist, build it.”
The keynote speaker of the launch event, Dhaval Bhanusali, MD, exemplifies the goals of DIH. Even as he was completing his residency in dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine, Dr. Bhanusali was creating a digital health start-up. Later, as a clinician, he noticed that prices for some basic medications had skyrocketed and helped create Skin Medicinals, which allows physicians to prescribe personalized therapies at a low cost to patients. “If it doesn’t exist, build it. Sometimes there is no blueprint, so you must create it,” he told the nearly 200 attendees, who included faculty, staff and community members. He called their knowledge of science and medicine a “super-power” that they could use—if necessary with partners in business and technology—to have a great impact on patient health.
The event also featured women and minority entrepreneurs who discussed their solutions to health care disparities in a panel moderated by Mr. Brown. The panelists were:
- Gil Addo, MBA, Co-Founder and CEO of RubiconMD, a telemedicine platform that allows specialists to consult with primary care physicians in underserved areas.
- Ivelyse Andino, Founder and CEO of Radical Health, a local startup that helps patients in under-resourced communities negotiate the health care system.
- Clayton Banks, Co-Founder and CEO of Silicon Harlem, a hub for start-ups that has attracted $50 million in investment to Upper Manhattan.
- Tanvir Islam, Co-Founder and CEO of Errunds, a platform that addresses the issue of “food deserts” by using artificial intelligence to connect shoppers in under-resourced neighborhoods with brick-and-mortar businesses.
- Sarah Pesce, ANP-BC, MSHCDL, Chief Operation Officer of Mount Sinai Lab 100, a clinic and research laboratory that provides patients with personalized health data that empowers them in staying well.
In the first phase of its efforts, DIH is providing mentorship, training, and networking opportunities for students and staff. On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, it will hold its first Pitch Day, in which participants will be invited to develop solutions addressing social determinants of health. In the spring, DIH will launch a fellowship program in entrepreneurship and technology for Mount Sinai medical and graduate students who are women or in underrepresented minority groups. In a second phase, the most promising ideas developed by DIH members will come to fruition through pilot projects.
DIH is partnering with national leaders in innovation and technology, as well as business and entrepreneurial leaders in East and Central Harlem, including One Hundred Black Men, Inc. of New York and Silicon Harlem. “To close long-standing gaps in health care, we all need to innovate—and we need to engage local stakeholders in the process,” said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System.
From left, panelists Clayton Banks, Chief Executive Officer, Silicon Harlem; Sarah Pesce, ANP-BC, MSHCDL, Chief Operating Officer, Mount Sinai Lab 100; Tanvir Islam, Chief Executive Officer, Errunds; Ivelyse Andino, Chief Executive Officer, Radical Health; and Gil Addo, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, RubiconMD, and keynote speaker Dhaval Bhanusali, MD.
Ted Obi, right, a student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a co-founder of DIH, with Scott L. Friedman, MD, Dean for Therapeutic Discovery and Chief of the Division of Liver Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine, and leader of the SinaInnovations conference.
Mount Sinai faculty, staff, and, and students networked with local entrepreneurs and business leaders.
The mission of DIH is to “connect the dots” between innovation and diversity and inclusion, says Gary C. Butts, MD, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy, and Community Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine.