Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Advancing Pediatric Diagnostics Through Strategic Partnerships and Innovation

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Advancing Pediatric Diagnostics Through Strategic Partnerships and Innovation · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, everyone. This is Erica Spicer Mason with
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  Becker's Healthcare. Thank you so much for tuning
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  into the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.
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  Today, we're going to talk about a special
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  partnership between CHOP and LabCorp.
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  And joining me for this conversation, we have
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  with us three guests. We have doctor Steven
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  Master, vice chair for innovation, department of pathology
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  and laboratory medicine, and also the director of
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  CHOP's Center for Diagnostic Innovation.
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  We also have doctor Deborah Bowles, vice president
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  research and development at LabCorp,
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  and Doctor. Mindy Nye, vice president of LabCorp
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  diagnostics.
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  Stephen, Deborah, Mindy, so glad to have you
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  all with us. Thanks for being here today.
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  Thanks for having us. Thank you. Thank you.
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  Great. Well, I know I already shared a
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  little bit about your roles and and where
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  you're coming from, but I'd love to hear
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  a little bit from each of you just
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  a bit about your background, how you landed
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  in health care, and what you think is
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  important for listeners to know going into the
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  conversation.
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  Would you like to start, Mindy? Sure. Thanks
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  so much. I have a med tech background.
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  And after a post doc in an academic
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  academic medical center, I've spent the last twenty
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  one years at LabCorp, and I've had a
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  variety of technical and operational roles, and now
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  have more of a corporate strategic role with
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  the company. Wonderful. Thanks, Mindy.
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  Deborah. Thanks. Hello, everyone. My name is Debbie
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  Bowles. I'm vice president of
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  I'm vice president of r and d,
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  and have been with LabCorp for about fourteen
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  years.
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  Primarily, my role gets to,
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  focus on the design of new tests and
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  validation of those new tests in some of
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  our specialty testing business units,
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  as well as partnering with
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  external partners to think of new innovative ways
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  to bring that testing to our customers.
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  Wonderful. Thank you. Good to know. Thanks, Deborah.
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  Alright. And last but not least,
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  Ethan.
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  I'm Steve Master. My professional background is in
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  laboratory medicine, specifically in clinical chemistry for many
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  years.
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  And, prior to my current role, I was
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  the division chief for laboratory medicine at Children's
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  Hospital of Philadelphia.
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  Around six months ago, I took a new
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  role that you alluded to as a vice
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  chair for innovation
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  at CHOP and also as the director of
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  the Center for Diagnostic Innovation, which really reflects
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  CHOP's institutional interest in putting more resources into
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  biomarker development,
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  into, supporting
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  new translational research and clinical programs that require,
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  rapid diagnostic development. Oh, great. Well, thank you
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  for rounding us out with the interest, Steve.
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  It's great to learn about what's going on
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  at CHOP, your areas of focus, and I'm
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  excited to dig into the partnership a little
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  bit more. You know, we're seeing the landscape
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  for academic medical centers shifting so much, especially
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  in recent years. We're seeing constrained resources for
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  research
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  and evolving regulatory environment that is challenging to
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  keep up with and greater urgency to demonstrate
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  value and real world impact. So from where
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  each of you sits, how is that reality
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  reshaping
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  how institutions,
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  whether CHOP or what you're you both are
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  seeing at LabCorp,
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  think about the way that they can and
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  should try to accomplish
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  research on their own. You know, we're would
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  love to just get a sense of that
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  from from all three of you. But, Steven,
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  would you like to get us started? Absolutely.
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  As I said, CHOP has really recognized the
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  importance of innovation and diagnostics
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  to support many of our our internal programs,
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  cell and gene therapy and things like that.
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  But one of the things that we also
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  realized is that we as in as much
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  as our mission is to support child health
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  at a national and international level, we really
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  needed a partner. We needed someone who would
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  help us to translate
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  diagnostics that we developed into a much broader
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  audience and a partner that could help us
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  both in terms of the scope of getting,
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  samples in to make testing available
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  to individuals, children who live in perhaps underserved
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  areas, but also in terms of the assay
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  test, themselves, in terms of being able to
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  roll out assays at a larger scale than
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  we could do as a hospital.
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  So the need and scale is really what
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  drove Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. Really helpful to hear.
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  So, Deborah, Mindy, how does this compare to
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  what you're seeing across institutions?
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  Yeah. I think that the upside is there's
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  a lot to do, and the downside is
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  there's a lot to do. Yeah. So there's
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  the the old saying of, you know, if
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  you wanna go fast, go alone. If you
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  wanna go far, go together. And I think
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  that we've been able to identify the strengths
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  that our organizations
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  can bring together
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  to try to,
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  maybe
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  outbeat time just a little bit and try
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  to accelerate things because the the need is
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  so obvious and and acute. And I think
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  that we have a shared passion to try
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  to get to that delivery phase, you know,
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  and,
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  think about how
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  the diagnostic test can impact then patient care.
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  Yeah. Fantastic. What would you add, Debbie? Yeah.
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  Thank you. I think we
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  understand that each academic medical center is different,
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  and so we've really taken the time to
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  understand each other's strengths and think about where
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  each of those could bring synergy to both
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  of our institutions that are very aligned on
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  mission. Yeah. Great. And I I know that
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  all of you at one point have kind
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  of touched on this,
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  realization that in order to scale innovation and
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  research and development,
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  partnerships are very important. But we also know
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  that health systems are more
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  discerning than ever before about partnerships.
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  Do we really need a partner? Can we
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  do this internally? So is there a specific
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  pressure point that that you've identified across partners
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  or maybe even at CHOP that signals to
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  you, okay, this is time for partnership rather
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  than just internal adaptation?
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  Well, I think we've addressed scale already Yeah.
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  To a certain degree. I mean, I think
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  scale can mean different things. In some cases,
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  that means that there is testing for specialized
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  pediatric disease, pediatric cancer, rare disease, things like
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  that that CHOP can do. But as I
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  said before, where CHOP can't necessarily bring it
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  to the larger audiences efficiently.
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  In those cases, with it's a rare enough
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  disease, the CHOP lab can continue to handle
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  that. We'll we, utilize the scale of our
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  partners at LabCorp to think about getting samples
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  to CHOP. But in other cases, we know
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  that there are things that may have been
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  developed at CHOP that have a much broader
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  audience and where there's no way our internal
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  lab could possibly,
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  meet the demand that there will be nationally.
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  And in those cases, it makes sense to
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  have a partner where we, trust the reliability
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  of their quality systems, where we know the
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  the quality of the work that they do
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  and to, transfer an assay,
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  in that way. And then going to your
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  point about the the the pressures and why
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  we would consider this, I think there's a
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  third piece to that, which is the things
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  that we can do together that we could
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  not do alone. Those are the things where
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  we come together in a room and say,
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  what are the unmet needs in pediatric health
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  care? What are the things where we can
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  leverage the the strengths of each institution,
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  in order to do something that that is
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  special? And some of those things might be
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  who has access to what samples, who has
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  access to what technology, who has what experience,
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  with a specific kind of testing,
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  but all of that comes together to alleviate
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  that resource,
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  constraint.
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  And I think I would just add that
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  what LabCorp truly values about,
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  CHOP is the fact that the richness of
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  information that they have about the direct patient
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  care or the bedside that experience that they
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  have Mhmm. So that we are treating the
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  entire patient versus just looking at one particular
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  genetic disease or rare genetic disease test in
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  a transactional way. We're looking to support CHOP
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  in ways that it makes sense and the
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  patients by considering
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  them, the patient themselves, their family,
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  what care looks like six months after,
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  they've been involved maybe in in a direct
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  detection of of a diagnosis.
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  But,
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  the richness of experience that
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  CHOP has and how that translates to the
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  design of our test solutions
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  that, meet the absolute need for the patient.
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  Yeah. So interesting.
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  And I wanna go a little deeper here
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  on the collaboration between CHOP and LabCorp.
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  I know this was intentionally structured around very
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  specific and complimentary work streams,
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  pediatric diagnostic co development, genomics, and bidirectional
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  reference lab services.
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  What does it look like so far to
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  stand up a partnership around shared infrastructure and
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  shared goals rather than a more
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  transactional model? And why does that distinction matter?
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  I think it's critically important. As Debbie just
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  said,
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  we are not as interested in the merely
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  transactional. If those were merely transactional
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  partnership, I don't think that we would have
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  the level of trust that we have in
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  the room. We have two aligned organizations
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  who have shared values around pediatric health care,
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  who are trying to determine how to best
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  leverage
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  the the strengths of both of them in
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  order to achieve that ultimate goal. So I
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  think that it's really allowed us to have
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  very wide ranging discussions rather than sort of
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  one assay at a time kind of, bespoke,
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  interactions.
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  Yeah. I think it's an amazing,
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  coming together of matched
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  energy,
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  and interest and sort of hope to
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  not diagnose what might,
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  be a gap on either side, but actually
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  use the synergies,
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  in in a in a really productive way.
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  Yeah. Absolutely. And I can sense the the
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  synergies and the shared priorities of of both
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  organizations just from talking to the three of
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  you.
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  And, Steve, just a quick follow-up. You know,
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  as this partnership gets underway, what are you
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  most focused on achieving in the near term,
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  and what signals will tell you that you're
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  on the right path? Absolutely. I think that
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  deliverables are very important here. I think we're
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  very close to launching,
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  some testing
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  that will be done either at CHOP or
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  will be, moved to LabCorp. And I think
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  that very quickly, you're, certainly over the next
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  six to nine months, you're gonna see a
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  number of areas in which we actually are
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  bringing things to market to help the pediatric,
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  population. So I think that that's gonna really
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  be the proof that we've done this right,
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  that we built the right infrastructure, that we
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  can accomplish things together.
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  But beyond that, if you ask about the
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  signals in the long run that this is
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  going well, I would say that you will
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  that that I'm certainly looking forward to those
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  joint things that we identify together for co
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  development. The things that we don't know about
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  now, but which we're actively meeting in person
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  and virtually,
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  to try and identify. And I think I'm
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  I'm very excited by the conversations we've had
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  already. Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
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  And I I wanna stick with you just
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  for a little bit longer, Steve. For academic
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  medical center leaders who are weighing whether to
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  strategically partner
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  with an organization like LabCorp, whether when they're
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  assessing if it's the right path, what do
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  you recommend
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  that they look for? You know, what do
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  you wish someone had told you before you
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  got started?
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  I think it took me a while to
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  realize how intentional we have to be about
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  finding the right partner. Mhmm. We have to
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  find someone
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  anyone would have to find someone where there
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  is a set of aligned values, where there
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  are aligned,
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  commitments to quality,
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  commitments to patient care.
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  And then beyond that, a set of complimentary
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  strengths. So if we if I think back
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  to how this relationship evolved, it really started
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  a few years ago with some specific testing
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  we had that we thought might meet a
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  need for LabCorp. And that, that set in
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  motion a number of conversations
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  that over the years, made us realize more
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  and more just how aligned we were, and
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  that led to the the, the agreement that
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  that's just been announced.
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  So I think that that's really critical.
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  You have to have the right partner, and
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  not everyone is the right partner.
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  Sounds like curiosity led you and great communication
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  kind of led to those conversations in the
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  partnership.
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  So Mindy and Debbie, I'd love to hear
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  from you on this too. When you think
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  about what it takes to stand up a
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  partnership like what you have with CHOP, what
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  are the foundational capabilities or potentially
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  the internal alignments that need to be in
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  place on day one?
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  I think the relationship between the teams has
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  been very
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  transparent and very trusting with the again, as
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  Steve mentioned, the intent to have
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  accountable deliverables
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  that we are all working together towards,
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  in a focused way.
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  I think the more that we know about
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  each other, the more that we understand the
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  synergies that exist. And so conversation
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  that allows us to
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  see each other's strengths and
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  brainstorm in a way to hit innovation
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  is really energizing. And and so I think
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  we've been looking to
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  rely on the team itself to drive the
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  biggest impact.
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  And maybe just to add that LabCorp is
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  very creative in the ways that we partner
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  with small and large companies.
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  And so we love the opportunity
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  to
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  really
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  engage in a way that makes sense for
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  the specific medical center's needs that we might
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  be partnering with.
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  Yeah. I think Debbie mentioned the word team,
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  and I think that's what we've become.
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  This was a a concept, and now it's
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  a commitment, and we're really excited about what
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  comes in the future. Oh, well, I can
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  feel the excitement among the three of you
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  and the alignment like I mentioned earlier. So
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  it's been a great conversation. But before we
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  hop, is there anything that we haven't covered
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  that you think deserves more attention in this
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  conversation?
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  Well, I would just go back to the
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  beginning. CHOP's mission is to improve the health
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  of children and families.
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  And
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  we recognize that to do that with maximal
• 13:08
  effectiveness,
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  we need a partner like LabCorp who will
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  help us to take the diagnostics that we're
• 13:13
  developing or the diagnostics we may co develop
• 13:15
  together and to scale those nationally to help
• 13:17
  children's health all over the country and, in
• 13:20
  fact, internationally.
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  I would say that this has the support
• 13:23
  of CHOP at the very highest level, and,
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  we're excited to see where it goes.
• 13:28
  Fantastic. Mindy, Debbie, any final thoughts?
• 13:31
  I think just to say that we are
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  very aligned in mission, and so we
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  really are looking forward to play our part
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  in delivering that to
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  pediatric patients broadly.
• 13:44
  Yeah.
• 13:45
  Fantastic. Well, it's been such a pleasure having
• 13:47
  the three of you join the Becker's podcast
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  today. So thank you for the time and
• 13:52
  the insights. I I think there's a lot
• 13:53
  for other health systems with similar missions to
• 13:56
  think about when it comes to partnerships here.
• 13:58
  So I wanna thank you all for for
• 13:59
  giving us insight to that. And, of course,
• 14:01
  we'd also like to thank our podcast sponsor,
• 14:03
  LabCorp.
• 14:04
  Listeners, be sure to tune into more podcasts
• 14:06
  from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast page
• 14:09
  at beckershospitalreview.com.