Episode 35: Designing Solutions in Biotech - Cleveland NeuroDesign with Key Opinion Leader JoJo Platt

I know you're waiting for me to disclose that it's revenge that drove me in this direction.

Yep.

And, and that's primarily true.

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

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Where people come for the science, but stay for the food, festivals, and resilient culture. I'm James Zanewicz.

The Chief Business Officer for the Tulane School of Medicine.

And I'm Dr. Elaine Ham, the Executive in Residence for the Tulane School of Medicine.

And this is Bio from the Bayou. Welcome back to Bio from the Bayou. Today's guest is JoJo Platt. Among other things, she is the president of Platt and Associates, Inc. A national consulting company which analyzes areas of innovation, opportunities for connections, and strategic initiatives for clients throughout the industry that exists at the nexus between neuroscience and tech. She's also been a podcast host, author, thought leader, and most relevant for today's discussion, she is also one of the founders and executive faculty for the Cleveland NeuroDesign Entrepreneurs Workshop. Welcome to the show, JoJo.

Thank you so much for having me on, James.

JoJo, I just want to dive right in because we know each other, so we don't need all the small talk. But for many of our listeners, they don't know you yet. So can you give us a little background on yourself? What made you want to be an expert at the intersection of neuroscience and technology, which is a really interesting space?

Thanks.

I'm not sure that I can say that I'm an expert. I would say that I'm very good at knowing the experts. Over the past 16 or so years in this field of neurotechnology, I've been able to develop relationships with A great many of the thought leaders on the engineering side, neuroscience, neurobiology, neuroanatomy, molecular biology, all of the disciplines and inputs into what makes neurotech successful. And I'm here, I'm not a scientist, I'm not an engineer. I'm here because I love the idea that this revolutionary field, it's not all that new, but that we have an opportunity to do a lot of good for patients, clinicians, caregivers, and that we're able to address issues that pharma either hasn't or can't.

Well, Jojo, I had you on a panel once in New Orleans for BIO on the Bayou, and we talked about what drove you into science. And I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit, because it's one of my favorite stories.

I know you're waiting for me to disclose that it's revenge that drove me in this direction.

Yep.

And that's primarily true. I went to a wonderful, wonderful high school. It was really great, but I struggled in science so much so that my science teachers really essentially begged me not to take anything beyond the bare minimum requirements for science. It was better for them. It was better for me. And looking back on it, I'm not entirely sure that they were wrong. I definitely wasn't in a place in high school where I was looking to be challenged. I was definitely the kid who was looking for efficacious shortcuts, and science would not offer that. So I've come back to the field from a very different perspective, from the business side, and I've gotten to engage with people who have the ability to explain scientific concepts and engineering concepts in ways that make just absolute perfect sense to me.

Well, now that we've got a bit of your background and your story, and my favorite story out, I want to turn to the Cleveland Neurodesign Weekend, which is basically an intense course covering the basics of the biodesign process out of Stanford through the lens of neurotech. Now, that's a mouthful. So can you break it down and provide an overview of neurodesign and its goals?

Investing in a career in science means pretty much that you're on track in your science and technology classes from high school or your undergrad all the way through. And as you become more specialized, that leaves less room for discovery of other electives or other areas of interest. So, it's not uncommon for an expert in neuroscience or electrical engineering to have never had a business class, to not know how to read a balance sheet, to not really understand the fundamentals of commercialization. And so we are focused— the Cleveland NeuroDesign program is focused on providing a crash course on what it takes to commercialize neurotechnologies and really support our next generation of leaders so that they can more easily adapt and apply these principles, whether they stay in neurotechnology or go to another field. These principles and concepts are portable, and they really apply to any, any field.

That's a great intro to the course, and I, I wanna dig a little deeper if we can. What is the agenda like, or I guess more simply put, what do the workshop members work on? What are some of the key concepts that you've referenced that they do learn?

Biodesign, as Stanford has designed it, and Paul Yock and Josh Makower and the other founders of the program, Really drive home the idea that you should be addressing a need. Starting out with a solution looking for a need is not going to be the surest way to success. And so, they're very heavy on observable needs and unmet needs. So, if we had the time, our fellowship program actually spent, I think, 6 weeks in clinic and with Physicians and nurses and patients and caregivers observing opportunities for improvement. So that's where the foundational work comes in. We take a full list of observed needs, clinical needs, and we allow our teams to come in and they self-select from this pre-populated list of clinical needs. And they develop the concept all the way through IP strategy, Regulatory strategy, marketing strategy, communications, looking at all of the things that go into making more of a research science idea into an applicable commercial opportunity.

That's incredible, Jojo. And so thinking about the people who partake in this program, who can apply?

Sure.

And then how should they prepare for the course? And I guess finally, when are your applications due? That was a whole lot of questions at once, so I can repeat them later if you need.

I think I got, I think I got it. You know, we get this question a lot, who can apply? And it really is wide open. We are happy to entertain anyone's interest in the program. At the end of the day, we have to select only 32 students, and they generally come from around the world. Our prototypical, I guess, applicant, if we were to have one, would be somebody in their graduate program, PhD, postdoc. That's generally where the bulk of applicants come from. But we have had— this is our 5th year— we have had 2 or 3 undergrads who have come through the program and done very, very well. Also, last year we had 2 MD-PhDs who are practicing surgeons and established in their career. They have decided to dedicate some of their mental capacity to research ideas that could be commercialized. And so, they came through the course, and they also did very well. So, the long answer, which you just heard, gives you most of the details, but the short answer is just to apply if you're interested. And that application is due June 21st. So, there's still time.

There's time to do it. But I know the application, because you guys are self-selecting down to 32, I believe you said, really, really deserving people, and you get more applicants than that. So obviously there is a cost of time and everything to prepare the application to try and get in. What value do the members of the program get? And I guess simply, why should they make the time to apply and really take part in this program?

Well, one thing about the application itself, I want to, I want to say it's not an onerous application. This is not like applying to university or a fellowship program. It's really meant as a tool for us to understand where you are in your commercialization path and what passion you bring to it, because commercialization can be learned. Passion, I think, is something that, that you either have or don't have at the moment, and we want to foster that. And as for what the students get out of the program, again, this is our 5th year. Our 4th year at Cleveland, and over half of our cohort have gotten their first commercial position in industry as a direct result of this program. Because it's not just the skill set that we teach, it's also the quality of the faculty, the networking opportunities, not just with the faculty, but also among the students themselves. We've had 2 startups originate out of members of our cohort getting together and, and launching a startup. We've had other folks who have come in with startups, sort of nascent startups underway that have flourished, which we like to think we contributed to that success and ongoing success and growth. And we've also had a faculty new co. So some of our faculty members have gotten together. They're still in semi-stealth mode, so I can't say a lot about it except for the fact that they've closed $25 million in funding already.

Wow.

That's incredible. So definitely people should apply because there are tangible outcomes that can change the trajectory of your career.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Well, so we talked about, you know, the cost of time, but obviously there are often other costs to prices of workshop. What are the costs for the NeuroDesign Entrepreneurs Workshop, including travel and all those things people don't often think about?

So the program is free. The application is free. The program is free. The textbook we supply. We do hope that successful applicants will be able to cover the cost of their travel to Cleveland. And then once they're there, we cover everything. We cover the hotel, meals, bus ride back to the airport. But even for the students who don't have the capacity to cover their expenses to travel to Cleveland, we do have a robust— well, these years it's a little leaner, but it's a needs-based fund to help support travel. So, we've never had a student who couldn't make the program due to financial challenges.

That's incredible.

We're, we're there to support across the way. Yes.

Oh, I love that. That's the way these things should be run.

We have so many great, great sponsors. They come back every year. They're very supportive. Saluta Medical, Spark Biomedical, Medtronic, and Abbott have been contributors along the way. Precision Neuroscience is returning, and we're hoping to add some new ones this year.

Yeah, and if you have more of those, of course, you can shoot them over, and our amazing producer, Ian McLaughlin, will make sure those links get in our show notes so they get some credit.

I will, I will do. Thank you, thank you. And honestly, I believe in this program so much. So I just turned 50 this year, and my birthday happened to coincide with one of our big industry conferences. And so instead of letting people buy me drinks, You know, I said, don't buy me a drink, make a contribution to the NeuroDesign Travel Fund, and was hugely successful.

Thank you. I'm willing to bet you got both, probably the drink and the donation, which worked out great for you.

I was not empty-handed. Life's too short to be lived one drink at a time.

Well, you talked about the great sponsors and we talked about the great faculty earlier, and I'm personally excited to be returning as well.

Oh, no, no, no.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

We haven't talked enough about the faculty. We really haven't, because I do want to acknowledge the faculty because they are outstanding. James, you're a returning faculty member. You're on your 4th year now, I think.

I am. I came in year 2. It's crazy. And then last year you made me an advisor, which I thought was insane. And then I came in 2nd. I beat some VCs and I am going to my grave happy about that.

And, and we're gonna challenge you again this year to do the same thing. We have Thought leaders across the field who take time out of their schedule. We don't cover any— well, we cover their hotel and meals. They volunteer their time. They volunteer, they get themselves to Cleveland. Some of them also support in terms of sponsorship, but just being able to have C-suite level faculty is a great part of the success of this workshop. So thank you, you and all the faculty.

Is there anything new in that regard this year? Are you, are you tweaking things? Do you have anything different with faculty going on? Like, give me the tea.

We do, we do. We— so we have on Sundays— so the students arrive on Thursday afternoon and we go through, and it's starting at 4 o'clock on Thursday pretty much through Sunday around 2 PM. It's almost constant work. We even have caffeine station set up in a workroom for overnight work at the hotel for teams who want to take advantage of that. But on Sundays, historically, the cohort have come and they've given their final presentations and pitch decks to the faculty on site. And that's been fantastic, but we wanted to kind of up the game this year. And so we are including a wider, deeper pool of venture capitalists and venture investors, angel investors, as judges on Sunday.

Ooh.

So they will be remoting in, they will be judging in real time and providing feedback to each of the teams about what they liked, what they thought was an opportunity for improvement. And having that connection, even just presenting in front of legit VCs, which we also have on faculty, But a wider swath of VCs helps with that networking, helps with the feedback and refinement. And I'm, I'm really excited about that this year.

Oh, that's really cool. I'm excited for that now too. One last question. Are there any other possible courses in this vein you're working on in the near future?

Well, I'm sure this was not a hint to drop, uh, not at all design.

AI and healthcare design coming soon. And Jojo, can you talk a bit about what that might look like for us? I know we're in the early stages of brainstorming and ruminating, but, you know, what's your brief spark of vision as we start to announce that?

So like we mentioned about biodesign/neurodesign, is this is a set of skills that can be applied to any field. We believe that the value in neurodesign is that it addresses the specific needs of neurotechnologies as opposed to any other healthcare-related field. And so we're gonna extend that with the partnership with Tulane and use these tools and learning opportunities to integrate AI in healthcare and really focus on what does that mean? Why is AI specifically such an important tool? And how do we leverage this tool to optimize patient outcomes and improve conditions? Through therapies, diagnostics, any of the other relevant applications for AI in healthcare.

And this is why we're so excited to partner with you on putting this together, because I cannot wait to see the outcomes that come from this. And I think we're going to have some really real-world solutions and investable things, and it might become much more than just learning the process, but it may become 50% equally generating solutions, solutions given the space that it's in.

Yeah, and sparking that inspiration. And I think we all know from our isolated times in COVID versus when you're in person, that context and that actively bouncing ideas off each other generates so much creativity and leads to, in my opinion, leads to faster innovation, broader concepts, diverse perspectives. And that's critical when, when looking at any solution in healthcare.

Yeah, and I think learning from NeuraDesign, the fact that we're going to partner with our hospital system of LCMC Health that Tulane University has partnered with, and with our own internal practice plan group of Tulane University Medical Group to go source real problems that they have. And that can be anything from patient care to follow-up to adherence to clinical trials to analyzing billing and coding to make it more efficient and faster and better for the patients to potentially get reimbursement done quicker. I guess the amount of problems out there that need solutions is incredible. And I think this is going to be a real game changer for the region and for any companies out there. JoJo and I are going to be looking for sponsors for this and get in early. This is going to be the next hot thing.

Absolutely. And I can't wait. I think it's— I've been so lucky in my career to be a part of movements that change life. So I'm old enough to be involved in some of the internet backbone technologies that are still in use today. And then to be a part of neurotechnology where we're tackling tough problems that pharma has either ignored or can't address. And now to look at how we can apply this mind-blowing technology and improve people's lives. I, I just feel so fortunate to be let in the door and be a part of the club. Yeah.

You, you and I both started our careers in that space, and anyone who wants to know the real story behind how you and I met needs to buy us a drink because it's not for a podcast.

Absolutely. And I think we've got the word no swearing. And, and, and so this story's off the record.

It's a safe time to wrap this up, I think. JoJo, I wanna thank you so much for joining us and talking about the Cleveland NeuroDesign Entrepreneurs Workshop. We're going to be sure to keep an eye on this year's program. And I encourage everyone listening who's in that bracket, which is a really wide bracket from undergrad into early career professionals or even later career professionals who are curious about this space, to apply, take part in it if you get selected, and, you know, keep your eyes open for the AI in Healthcare Design workshop with details coming very soon.

In order to learn more about the program, we also have an FAQ video on there. And to get to the application, which again is due June 21st, the application is due June 21st, you can go to clevelandneurodesign.org. We have 2 programs. We have the fellowship, which is on hiatus, but the workshop is definitely active, and that's where we'd love for you to apply.

That sounds great. And we will also have that in the show notes to make it super easy for folks. Speaking of that, as always, we're going to have your contact info, your LinkedIn, where people can get a hold of you if they want to connect And I know you are always available for folks at the intersection of neuro and tech who have a solution and need to know how to solve it. You are the nexus of everyone who can do that for them. So I encourage folks to reach out to you through LinkedIn if they need to get ahold of you. We'll have that link to NeuroDesign, the application process, informational links. We'll link to your sponsors to thank them for being so great. And I want to make sure everyone knows to go check out those show notes. We always say that, but this time I think it's really, really crucial. And I want to thank you again, Jojo, for making time to join us in a really hectic week.

Thank you. I appreciate it, James. It's always so great to work with you.

I will see you soon at BIO 2024.

Absolutely.

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