Latest / StartUp Health NOW Podcast / Why the CEO of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Joined StartUp Health’s Health Moonshot Impact Board

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Why the CEO of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Joined StartUp Health’s Health Moonshot Impact Board · StartUp Health NOW Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome back to StartUp Health NOW. I'm your host, Logan Plaster.
• 0:03
  [upbeat music] Now, normally we use this show to bring you interviews with up and coming founders in health innovation, specifically founders who are part of the StartUp Health community, which currently includes around five hundred companies from twenty-nine countries.
• 0:17
  My job with this podcast is to share with you the inspiring progress being made by healthcare startups in the hopes that we can make important connections and speed up innovation even more.
• 0:29
  Today, however, I want to step one level up and talk a bit about StartUp Health and our bigger vision. My guest on the episode is Chuck Henderson, CEO of the American Diabetes Association.
• 0:41
  The ADA is a leading advocacy organization for all people suffering with type one and type two diabetes, promoting research, fundraising, education, you name it.
• 0:51
  The reason I invited Chuck on the show is because he recently became a member of StartUp Health's Impact Board.
• 0:57
  And the reason why that is important is that our impact board model is core to our philosophy and our model for innovation. Let me explain.
• 1:05
  The fact is, there are literally thousands of amazing healthcare founders and startups working away at amazing new ways to cure disease, to manage patients more efficiently, to make life better for doctors and nurses.
• 1:18
  But the vast majority of these ideas won't make it to market. They won't have their desired impact on real people because they are siloed efforts.
• 1:27
  To truly change healthcare for the better, we need a radically collaborative approach, which is why StartUp Health created impact boards that bring together top minds from various industries, from pharma, to academia, to hospital management, to patient advocacy, to investment.
• 1:43
  We bring these folks to the same table for a discussion with early stage founders with the goal of breaking down those common barriers and getting innovative solutions to market.
• 1:54
  We've got one overarching impact board, and then we create Health Moonshot specific impact boards as well. That brings me back to my guest, Chuck Henderson.
• 2:04
  I'm incredibly excited to see how his voice and experience will add to the StartUp Health Impact Board in coming months, specifically as we bring new diabetes-focused founders through our program, help them survive the valley of death and move into healthy commercialization.
• 2:19
  It's all about going beyond ideas and connecting the dots. Bringing these amazing startups from concept to impact is the key. As you'll hear in the conversation, Chuck shares this passion, so let's get into it.
• 2:33
  What excites me, you know, about leading the ADA is that, you know, it, it's a, it's, it's wonderful to, uh, be able to have an impact on lives, have an impact on transformation.
• 2:45
  As, as you know, there, there are a hundred and thirty-three million people in the US living with either prediabetes or diabetes.
• 2:52
  And so just from a personal point of view, you know, my grandmother and my uncle passed away of complications of diabetes. Mm. And so when people say, "Well, Chuck, why did you go into it?"
• 3:04
  Well, that's my why because I do know and I fully believe if they would've had the access, the education, and the tools to, to be able to thrive living with diabetes, I do think they would still be here today. Mm. Mm.
• 3:17
  And so when I think about the impact that I can have on lives with, with, with, with educating, with resource, and just being out there, being a positive influence because, you know, when you think about diabetes, the ADA focuses on type one, type two, and gestational.
• 3:34
  Well, type one obviously is hereditary, DNA. Um, you know, type two, environmental things based on ZIP code, based on how you were raised, based on what you put into your, your, your body.
• 3:48
  Then gestational, you know, comes from a maternal, you know, health, health thing.
• 3:51
  But, you know, the good news is, is, is all those, you know, you can still live and thrive, but, but really at its core, it's about education, it's about access.
• 4:01
  And so that's what really motivates me, um, uh, about leading this, uh, great, great org, uh, in the ADA.
• 4:09
  I'm guessing that a big part of your job is to carry the torch and continue the great work that's already happening at the ADA, and yet you're also called to be a change maker.
• 4:18
  And so I'm wondering, uh, if there's anything in particular that you know that you really want to shift during your tenure in this position. Yeah.
• 4:27
  I would say, and that's a good point, I, I would say that, you know, uh, you know, people paved the way before me, and so the ADA has been un- undergoing some significant transformation for a while.
• 4:39
  And so I think what I can bring or what I know that I, I can bring is that we move the organizational, Logan, from more of a, of a transactional to a transformational, um, aspect.
• 4:51
  And so what I mean by that is that we need to, we need to bring scale to this cause, you know? We can't do it on a, on a one-off basis.
• 5:00
  And so when we think about, you know, partnering with companies like StartUp Health, you know, like Abbott, like Walmart, like Baxter, like Genentech, you know, we need scale.
• 5:10
  We need public, private resources and able to address this critical problem because from a metabolic standpoint, you know, diabetes affects every part of your body, from your eyes to your organs, to your liver, your kidneys, your feet, your toes, everything.
• 5:25
  And so, you know, it's gonna take resources, and it's gonna take scale, and it's gonna take us attacking this issue community by community by community and really putting the patients first- Mm-hmm...
• 5:37
  and really listening to the patients. And so I really think that the ADA, you know, is not only a convener, but we're a change agent for good as well. Yeah.
• 5:48
  You know, at StartUp Health, we believe that health transformation really stems out of radical collaboration. You mentioned some of those ideas and how important it is to the ADA.
• 5:57
  Um, have you seen encouraging signs of, of collaboration, of sort of the walls coming down, the silos being lowered and, you know, networks being shared?
• 6:08
  Could you give any examples of, of, um, you know, optimistic collaboration?Yeah, I would say one, one thing that, that we've done from an ADA standpoint is that we really pushed from an advocacy standpoint, which is one of our best assets within the organization, advocating for people that can't advocate for themselves.
• 6:25
  As you know, insulin is a big affordability issue, right? You know, you have people in homes that are, that are rationing insulin.
• 6:31
  So one of the things that, that, that we got done, you know, thanks to Congress and thanks to the government, is that we were able to get insulin capped at thirty-five dollars a vial, uh, from a Medicare standpoint.
• 6:43
  And now the next step is to get that across the aisle and get it pushed from a commercial pay, right? And so immediately, that brings down... Well, that levels up the access so that it can be affordable.
• 6:54
  Another example of that is clinical trials, right?
• 6:57
  Now, from an FDA standpoint, from an, an approval standpoint, you know, you have to be inclusive of clinical trials be- because for, for a long time, there was only one segment of the population, right, that was a part of the clinical trials for obvious reasons, for, you know, lack of trust for people of color.
• 7:15
  But, but now, you know, the government, you know, and the FDA is coming and saying, "Okay, if you want to get these drugs approved, you have to do clinical trials for all walks of life, for all, you know, for people of color, for all different ethnicities."
• 7:30
  And again, it just levels the playing field, you know, and you are, you are, you are, you are building drugs or you're developing drugs around, around everybody versus one particular subset of the, of the population.
• 7:45
  And so I... And, and so I know for, for a fact that the ADA plays a critical role in policy and legislation and in advocating for people around access, around affordability. So, yeah.
• 7:56
  When you talk about, you know, increasing access and making insulin more affordable, yeah, you're talking about collaborations with some of the biggest names in, in healthcare. You mentioned Abbott.
• 8:06
  Uh, you're doing advocacy in, in Washington with regulators.
• 8:10
  Um, Startup Health represents that early-stage innovator, that, that, you know, tinkerer, that change maker that's maybe still at a team of five, six, seven people, um, hasn't even raised their big Series A yet.
• 8:24
  What role do you think that startups play in catalyzing innovation in diabetes? So I would say that, you know, i- it's basically an open playing field for innovation.
• 8:36
  You know, one of the things that attracted me to, uh, Stephen Cryin and his organization is just the, the, you know... one, the thoughtfulness, right? One, the intentionality, you know?
• 8:48
  You know, and then the business model of, like, you know, the, you know, solving for the twelve, thirteen, fourteen moonshots. I mean, that's incredible, right?
• 8:55
  So, you know, you have all these brightest minds, you know, that are disparate, but then how do you bring them together, you know, under, under one roof to make, you know, you know, really meaningful change happen?
• 9:06
  And I'll give you an example of that. You know, COVID, right?
• 9:09
  You know, COVID, you know, showed a bright light to many different things, many different inequities, but in a positive thing, what it showed me is that we have the ability to come together fast and solve really, really critical problems.
• 9:22
  And I think that, you know, in a, in a, in, you know, in a commercial term, that that's what Startup Health represents, right?
• 9:30
  They're, they're, they're able to, you know, to, uh, uh, to, uh, you know, to, uh, scale, but also bring in the right people and solve the right problems.
• 9:40
  And ultimately, I think that they're gonna be wildly successful in, uh, you know, solving for some of these chronic i- illnesses. So, yeah. Hmm.
• 9:49
  As encouraging as some collaborations that you've seen have been, um, there's always room for more. And so I... my...
• 9:56
  one question I have for you is if you could get two stakeholders in the room with you, or work together by themselves, if you could, uh, you know, uh, facilitate a conversation with the right people, whether it's in pharma, you know, whether it's in, um, access, regulation, um, who might that be?
• 10:15
  And, and what might you do to kind of, uh, increase collaboration in diabetes? Yeah. So what, what I would do is first, you know, I would, I would bring in, you know, the most senior heads of the government, right?
• 10:28
  And then I would bring in some of the most senior folks, yeah, you know, from a, from a corporate standpoint, and then I would bring in real-life patients, right? So that they could actually hear their stories.
• 10:39
  You know, and then so, you know, from an advocacy standpoint, you know, one of the things I love about this job is being able to go on the Hill and talk to your congresspeople and talk to different people, you know, of influence from a policy standpoint.
• 10:50
  But we, but we have to get in the room, and we have to have very honest conversations with each other, you know? And I think the most important thing, Logan, is, is checking your ego at the door.
• 11:00
  I think from an ego standpoint, you know, we all have egos. You have an ego. I have an ego. But at the end of the day, it has to be much bigger than just the, the individual, right?
• 11:09
  Because, you know, every day I wake up, I say, "You know, what can I do to make the lives better for the millions of people, you know, not thriving with diabetes, that are suffering every day," right?
• 11:20
  And so at the end of the day, I look myself in the mirror like, "Have you done what you can do to move the needle in a positive way on people living with diabetes?"
• 11:29
  And I think that if we could just check our egos at the door and just sit in a room, "Okay, you know, how can we allow for all of us to have better lives," right?
• 11:39
  You know, to live a full life with our families and just, you know, enjoy however much time we have on this earth, I think that we would be in a much better place, so.
• 11:50
  Something that's always interested me in my conversations with, uh, health innovators is that there's innovation in technology, and in your case, that's, you know, new therapies and platforms, and then there's innovations in business model, which is taking what we already have and making it more accessible.
• 12:06
  And it's such... that's such a big deal. You've mentioned that already with, uh, the issues of cost and geography and just getting the kinds of technologies ha- have been developed for two decades into more hands.
• 12:18
  I wonderI mean, both are exciting in their own way, and I'm just kinda curious where your head is at in terms of focusing on brand-new therapies versus getting the best of the current market to more people.
• 12:33
  Well, I mean, I think it needs to be a balance, right? So, you know, uh, we are living in probably the, the best technological time that we've ever lived in, but again, it's, it still boils down to access.
• 12:46
  And to your point, I mean, I do think it needs to be, be a balance, too, of getting the best therapies in the right hands as well, but we can't slow down innovation, right?
• 12:57
  Because innovation, you know, is the key to, you know, I mean, efficiency, living better lives, I mean, and, and, and all that great, great stuff. But I do think it needs to be a balance.
• 13:07
  So, uh, you know, I don't know if I exactly answered it, you know, but, but it definitely needs to be a healthy balance.
• 13:13
  I, I, I definitely think there's still a lot of wonderful therapies out there that people don't have access to, but then with innovation, it makes it more efficient, it makes it better, it makes the efficacy better, and so it definitely needs to be a, a healthy balance.
• 13:25
  So, yeah. Yeah.
• 13:26
  I know it's hard for someone in your position, you can't pick favorites, but is there an area of innovation that you just are getting the most excited about right now, whether it's a digital platform that helps children with diabetes, or whether it's a new therapy for hypoglycemia.
• 13:41
  Is there an area of innovation that you're just getting excited about? Yeah. I would say two.
• 13:45
  I would say stem cells as it relates to, you know, a, a potential cure for Type 1 diabetes, and then I would also say CGMs, continuous glucose monitors. I would say that's a game changer, right?
• 13:58
  And so, you know, I would say that, that I wear one. I'm not pre-diabetic, and I'm not d- you know, I, I, I don't have diabetes.
• 14:05
  You know, but I was getting to the point where my numbers were going up a little bit, you know, and, uh, I got a prescription. I get real time results. You know, I drink water, I drink this, I eat this.
• 14:17
  I mean, it, it, you know, that, that, that line moves, right? And so- Mm... you want the line to be more consistent, you know? Uh, is there one sort of h- habit or behavior that you, has shifted, uh, in particular?
• 14:30
  I grew up, you know, loving soda pops. Yeah. You know?
• 14:34
  So I will tell you that, you know, one of the things, you know, that I've shifted, especially in moderation, is that I've really limited my, uh, my, uh, pop levels and my, uh, uh, you know, juice levels and not consuming so much, you know, sugars.
• 14:50
  And I, I mean, literally, you know, I used to have a belly, and now my belly [laughs] is, is a little bit flatter now.
• 14:56
  So but, I mean, but again, you know, uh, uh, you know, things that you put into your body, wearing certain devices, it shows you, you know?
• 15:05
  If you drink something, if you eat something that you're not suppo- it, it, it spikes. Yeah. You know?
• 15:10
  And, and, and, and, and I mean, it's very simple to understand, you know, and- It must, it must be a huge help in your conversations in your position to have it and to understand yourself better. Yeah, yeah.
• 15:22
  And I'll tell you, you know what I mean, one of the things that, that, you know, has, has been, you know, a ultimate blessing in this role is, you know, believe it or not, I think I've become a, you know, a, a,
• 15:35
  a, a, a better, healthier citizen by being in this role, Logan, because, I mean, literally it's in my face- Yeah... every day, good, bad, or indifferent.
• 15:45
  And so, you know, as a leader, you know, of the ADA, you know, I have to be representative of what I'm trying to do, you know?
• 15:52
  So I wanna be my best self and my healthiest self so I can continue to lead great transformation in the ADA. So, you know- Awesome... I'm, I'm all in, man, so yeah. I love it. I love it. Okay, last question.
• 16:04
  2024 is coming soon. Yeah.
• 16:07
  Uh, what do you hope to accomplish as a part of a StartUp Health Impact Board as you look at the other industry leaders, uh, that you could interact with there and the sort of innovation community that's collaborating there?
• 16:21
  Yeah. You know what? I'm, I'm, I'm still relatively new to the, you know, to the board and, you know, on the, on the advisory board.
• 16:28
  But for me, Logan, at, at its core, it's been more of a learning for me, you know, listening, uh, you know, to all the bright and really intellectual people, um, you know, uh, on the calls.
• 16:39
  And so for me, it's, it's just really listening and learning, you know, to, you know, how I can become, you know, not only a better leader, but, you know, lead better transformation.
• 16:50
  I think we are in, in a, in, in a v- in, in a really good place from an ADA standpoint, but there's always more- Mm... that, that, that I can do.
• 16:59
  It, it, it's me personally, selfishly, just being a sponge in the room, just absorbing, you know, all the different, you know, ways of doing things because, you know, there's 10 different ways to skin a cat, right?
• 17:10
  And then, and, and so there's, there's enough intellectual horsepower, um, on those calls, you know, that, um, you know, I, I can really learn something from, so yeah.
• 17:20
  I love that idea, that entrepreneurial spirit and that energy is flowing both ways, from a, from a, a startup, you know, a small company, up to a $200 million organization with a long history, and it's flowing back and forth.
• 17:35
  Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's great, man. I mean, I think this is one of the great causes, um, you know, in the world.
• 17:41
  And so, you know, my, my wife always asks me, you know, "What do you, you know, wanna be remembered for?" You know?
• 17:47
  And I would just wanna remember, you know, that I did good, that I impacted the world, you know, in a really, really positive way.
• 17:56
  And so, you know, I don't think I would've done my job, you know, if we don't help bend the curve- Mm... on diabetes. I mean, I know it's, it's, it, it, it's, it's fast-growing.
• 18:07
  It feels like it's out of control, you know, but I do think, you know, you know, being a, a part of, you know, boards and organizations like, like, like a StartUp Health, having some really, really great, great partners, you know, that are really interested in putting patients first, I think we will get there.
• 18:24
  Nice. Chuck, thanks for taking the time with me today, and I appreciate the work you're doing. Very excited to have you on the Impact Board, uh, and ready to watch what's gonna happen in 2024.
• 18:35
  Yeah, no, thank you, R- Logan, and I, I really appreciate your, uh, your time. Really enjoyed this today, so thank you. [upbeat music] Thanks for listening to StartUp Health NOW.
• 18:47
  We'll be back again with another episode next week. [upbeat music]