Episode 2: Economic Development and Advocacy in Biotech with Key Opinion Leaders Sharon Courtney and Nicole Honoree

You're listening to BIO From the Bayou, featuring stories and industry insights from experts in the bustling biotech scene of New Orleans.

The entire Gulf Coast region is buzzing with expertise and excitement, and we're here to bring you frontline access to this vibrant ecosystem direct from NOLA, the city that provides a little Lagniappe with everything we do.

Where people come for the science and stay for the food, festivals, and resilient culture.

I'm Sharon Courtney, Vice President for Government and Community Relations at Tulane University.

And I'm Nicole Honoré, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Economic Development and Strategic Initiatives at LSU Health New Orleans.

And this is Bio from the Bayou. We'd like to welcome you to our second episode.

Today, Sharon and I will be both host and guest as we discuss how we advance our biotech ecosystem here through partnerships and advocacy.

Nicole, it's so great to be with you today. We've worked together for a really long time, so it's really fun to actually be on a podcast together. The positions we hold at Tulane and LSU are different, yet our roles have intersected many times over the years. Nicole, talk a little bit about your role at LSU Health today and why our paths tend to always lead to each other.

Sharon, you're right. Our paths have certainly crossed over all the years as we've been on opposite sides of the street but always working towards the same end. At LSU Health, I tend to do a little bit of everything. I am very involved in trying to move the university forward In terms of its impact in research, in creating new opportunities for our faculty, staff, and students, and in trying to make a difference for how our local economy can grow based upon the intellectual capital that we develop here. Sharon, tell me about your role at Tulane and how it's grown from strictly government relations to including much more community-related things.

So at Tulane, for example, we didn't actually have a community relations function, which meant it wasn't a priority necessarily for anybody at the university. So once I took that on, things changed a lot in terms of how we worked with our community groups, with economic development organizations and others, and how those things would intersect with public policy. Now, as the university continues to grow, and particularly as we grow downtown in the BioDistrict, that link to community relations becomes even more important.

Absolutely. And, you know, you're right, partnerships are so critical, but they are not always easy, as we've both learned firsthand over the years. With one of us being in a public institution, one of us being in a private institution, we often have similar missions, but sometimes we have to compete. What do you think the keys to success are in growing the relationship between our 2 very distinct universities?

So I think the most important piece of any partnership, particularly between academic institutions, which, as you said, can be very different, whether it's Tulane and LSU or Xavier or Dillard, any of our other potential higher ed partners, is trust. Because if we can't trust each other, then we're not successful at any level. And I think that's really where in the past decade we've really come together around partnerships because we have developed that level of we're all working toward the same common goal. I think New Orleans, and particularly in the region, is in a really unique spot at this point because for the first time we have people at LSU and Tulane and Xavier and the UNO Tech Park that have all worked in the space for a long time and creating this like vibrant biosciences and life sciences district. And right now everyone trusts each other. Everyone is working off the same songbook. I don't know how long that window's gonna stay open. So we have an opportunity right now to really move the city forward into a really Robust and vibrant innovation and biosciences district.

I think you hit on something that's really important for us to share with anyone listening, is that the ability to work together and trust has created whole new opportunities that we never thought we could imagine before that would be available here. A lot of people don't think of New Orleans as a biotech or a bioscience area, but together, because we trust each other, because we've been able to build these partnerships with public and private, with an HBCU, with a regional institution, with economic development entities, with the state entities, we've been able to leverage our relatively small size into a much bigger scale. And in fact, that partnership has actually led us to be one of the finalists in the EDA Build Back Better competition that was launched last year. And we're very proud to say that New Orleans and the state of Louisiana actually has 2 finalists in that. Each involve multiple partnerships with universities and economic development and business enterprises.

I think what's even more amazing about that is that New Orleans and the region is really not a city in a region that has great corporate wealth. So we've really had to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps to make this happen. It's through our research, through the commitment of our economic development organizations, through the commitment of the state that we've been able to get this far. We've been working together to grow support for a biosciences cluster in New Orleans for A couple of decades. I think that things started well before Katrina. There was a pause, probably at Katrina. The biosciences legislation passed to create the BioDistrict, and we've had a lot of successes and setbacks. But where do you think we are today, and how does the role of universities in economic development— has it changed over the past few decades to get us where we are now?

You know, I think that where we are today is a remarkable testament to the resilience of the people of this city and the commitment of the universities to rebuild after Katrina and to start to really leverage their strengths and focus their strengths. I think that the role of universities has definitely evolved in this area. You know, 20 years ago, none of us were thinking about economic development. We weren't thinking specifically about university partnerships the way we are now. Traditional tech transfer was Disclosure, license, maybe a startup every now and then, and hope for the best through royalties. And I think our 2 universities have really led the charge in evolving that model to focus on partnerships at every part of the possible interaction.

Fantastic.

You know, one of the things I always envision when I think about universities and their relationship to economic development is that it's sort of a pipeline model, and you want to have relationships every way. You know, here in Louisiana, we're very familiar with pipelines. We like them to be solid. We don't want leaks anywhere. Heaven help us if we have an oil spill or a leak. But in the world of university interacting with the outside world, we want what I want to call a leaky pipeline. We want as many things going in and out as possible. As it flows from the input of a basic research idea to the output of an economic impact, we want students going in and out of companies. We want faculty consulting with companies. We want industry sponsoring our research. We want inventions moving forward. We want startups to spin out. And I think one of the things that we've done to really facilitate all that is enhance the opportunity for startups here in New Orleans. How do you see that having evolved and, and where do you see the opportunities are now to support entrepreneurship in the city?

So I think what's been interesting over the years is, and I don't wanna pat ourselves on the back too much, but I will a little bit, in that we've had to cultivate new champions every 5 or 6 years within like the federal government or the state government. 'Cause as I said, we don't have the same corporate wealth as some cities, so we really do rely on state and federal funding potentially more than other cities and other regions do. So we've found champions that have created— and the state has been a good partner over the years. They created the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium. They created the New Orleans Bioinnovation Center. We have the assets as a result of the state support, and more recently, the federal government has really stepped up its role in helping create these sort of regional innovation systems. So through different COVID relief packages, the American Rescue Plan, and the work of our members of Congress, there have been big opportunities that exist now that didn't exist before. For example, the Build Back Better, which was the money that went to the Economic Development Administration to support regional innovation. We're going to have NSF regional innovation engines. EDA continues to do additional support to support these regions, but all of these require extensive partnerships. None of them are single institution-driven grants. So every single one of them requires that we bring in local governments, state governments, industry, and community organizations. And I think that's something that we've done a pretty good job of over the years of already cultivating many of those. So those partnerships are a natural.

You're right, and I think it goes back to that level of trust and interaction and knowing each other. You know, it's the advantage of a small community. A little bit of that lagniappe we all get is that we interact and we all move towards the same goal. We all recognize Louisiana is not the East Coast or the West Coast, but we've figured out how to leverage us to be the Gulf Coast that we can really try to advance these initiatives. You touched on something interesting that we've obviously had to rely a lot over the years on both state. and federal funding, but we all recognize that the key to really moving the economy forward is partnering with industry and creating the opportunity for those private dollars to come in and build upon the, the assets that the universities are creating.

Yeah, I think the federal government uses the phrase now geographies of innovation, which is that all innovation doesn't have to happen on the East Coast and West Coast. It happens everywhere. So we like to say it will happen on the best coast, which is the Gulf Coast.

You're absolutely right about that. Sharon, we know that every city or region has different assets and a distinct culture. Obviously, we know some of the key things here, but aside from research, what other factors do you think are critical for a region to really be successful in growing a strong base for its entire population?

So I think there are a lot of examples around the country of people who've done innovation districts well. In the sense of the science and the commercialization piece, whether it's the Cortex District in St. Louis or what's happening in Pittsburgh or Columbus. But I think where New Orleans and the Gulf South region in particular have a chance to be, to stand out above everyone else, is our ability to sort of bring everyone along with us. So this can't just be about what happens to our institutions or the people who work for our institutions. We have to have inclusive growth. So that means the commercialization and the research and science, but it also means partnering with community accelerators, partnering with organizations that work with communities of color to create new entrepreneurial paths for success. It means creating new workforce programs that actually drive people toward really good jobs. Our city has been hindered by the fact that we've relied so much on tourism as our economic base. We have a real opportunity here to change that story and our future if we do this the right way and make sure there's opportunity for everybody.

I think you've hit on a really important point here is that we have to be intentional about our growth and our success forward. We have to be intentionally inclusive in how we do this. We can't think within the silos of the ivory tower of academia and only look at how we benefit ourselves. You know, and I think that in my experience, there are a lot of people active in the Gulf South region right now that really do have that mindset. And I think that is really something that it could become very attractive for people who want to look to expand or relocate here.

I think one thing that I haven't mentioned yet that I think is going to be really important to us going forward is that the state recently received money from the federal treasury to do the SSBCI program. If you ask me what it stands for, I can't tell you, but it says something about small business and creative initiatives. But it also is helping create new venture funds that are really for communities that haven't been served by venture funds in the past. And so that's going to be anywhere from like $50 to $70 million that organizations around the state have access to, to provide capital, because enhanced access to capital is going to be another really important part of our entrepreneurial community and its ability to move forward.

Absolutely. And it just, as you say that, it makes me think, here you are, government and community relations person talking about access to capital and venture funds and all that. And I think it highlights the fact that what we do at our universities has to have a broad view and a wide scope. And it represents that universities can't just think about what they're doing, their main mission in pursuing community growth and community development. You know, our impact is that we have to be aware Of all these community organizations, of the needs, of the funding mechanisms, whether they be public, private, or federal or state. I think that you tapped onto something like people think that universities only live in their lane. And I think what we have been working towards over all these years is staying in our lane, but building those relationships where we bring more people onto that interstate, where we give more people the opportunity. to move forward as a region economically. I think the universities that are successful today in partnerships are aware of needing those partnerships across all avenues of the spectrum.

Well, and I think what's also unique about us in New Orleans and our institutions, public institutions were of course always created for the public good. And as our president at Tulane likes to say, Mike Fitz, is that Tulane was unusual in its founding in that it was created as an outward-looking institution. It was founded as a medical school to help find a cure for yellow fever. So both of our institutions have always been outward-looking, and I think that's what will also help make us successful is that our mission has never changed over the years. It stayed the same.

You're right. Our missions do align very much, even though our governance and our structure might be different. Both of us see our primary focus as serving the public and being here for the public good. And being 2 health sciences centers with a focus on treating a broad patient population As well as on trying to find cures and therapies and treatments for diseases. It gives us that core mission of alignment to try and serve the entire population.

Nicole, this was really fun. We should do this again sometime, but if people wanna know more, where should they go?

If you'd like to connect with us, check out our show notes for contact info and stay tuned for our signature biotech showcase event, BIO on the Bayou, which is returning in person this fall.

Thank you for joining us, and we'll see you next time on Bio from the Bayou.

Thanks for joining us for Bio from the Bayou, and we hope you'll join us again.

If you'd like to learn more about the emerging biotech scene in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, visit us at biofromthebayou.com, where we have more info on who we are, biotech in the Gulf South, and the industry events we'll be attending where you can meet with us in person.

And we'd be remiss if we didn't give a special thanks to the Accelerator Network for providing funding for this podcast. Learn more about them on our website in the show notes.

We'll catch you on our next episode of Bio from the Bayou.