Biodesign Innovation Fellowship Graduation Address

given June 19, 2007 by Carlos Mery, representing the 2007 graduating fellows

It is a real pleasure for me to talk to you today on behalf of my colleagues and share with you a few thoughts about our stay at Biodesign.

Biodesign is a very unique place. There is probably no academic program like this anywhere else. People from very disparate backgrounds and experiences, all of them with proven records of leadership, are brought together into teams and expected to work harmoniously towards a common goal: the development of medical devices. Throughout the process, we are mentored by exceptional people like you. We’re given free range to think, to try, to experiment – regardless of the outcome. Regardless of whether we fail or not. Sometimes, it’s even better if we fail. The only mandate to us: we should learn from our mistakes. Learn from our experiences. What else can we ask for?

And it sounds easy. But it’s not. You all know it.

Working as part of a high-profile multidisciplinary team was for sure one of the most challenging but also rewarding experiences that we lived as part of the program. It became very clear to us that in the current med-tech world, there is no role anymore for the one and only inventor-innovator. It is all about creating an effective and synergistic team. It was true a century ago when Edison led his team of people to create some of the most amazing inventions that the world had ever seen. And it is still holds true today. As some of our VC friends would say, “It’s all about the people.”

Another important lesson that we learned is that innovation is not that simple. It is amazing how most people think (and I include myself prior to going through the program) that coming up with an idea is the most difficult part of the process. Now we know that the idea is just the mere beginning. It takes months and years of intense work and iteration for an idea to become fruitful. As Sir William Osler said, "In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurs." In med-tech innovation the main credit goes to those that translate that idea into patient care.

These years have marked our lives in a very positive way. They have dramatically changed our way of thinking. I cannot wait anymore in line at a supermarket without asking myself what alternative solutions could be implemented to reduce the waiting time. We’ve developed a keen eye to identify problems that are there but that we never saw before. We have learned that it’s OK to challenge the prevailing order. If we may call it order.

We may not be better engineers or better surgeons, but for sure, we’re better innovators. We have acquired some of the skills needed to bring people together to create effective teams. Teams that work together in transforming a concept from that very amorphous “eureka” idea in our minds into a concrete medical product that works, which at the end of the day, is all that matters.

That being said, with greater knowledge comes greater responsibility. By virtue of its impact in patients’ lives, developing medical technology poses a series of ethical and moral concerns that we need to be aware of. It is our mandate to not only develop medical technology that works but to also oversee its ethical incorporation into clinical practice. We have an obligation to our patients. After all, engineers, designers, business people, or physicians, we are all patient care providers – maybe not for a handful of patients but for thousands or millions of them at a time. It is them that we need to serve.

Never before in the history of mankind has technology been married with medicine as much as it is today. But it is also true that never before in the history of mankind have disparities in healthcare been more pronounced - between hemispheres, between countries, between states, and even among people within the same city. Disparities are everywhere and they’re getting worse. It is therefore our responsibility to find a way to use technology to bridge that gap. I urge my peers to take on this challenge and to bear it in mind as they develop medical technology in the future. After all, it is up to us to help those that cannot help themselves. If we don’t do it, no one will.

On behalf of all my graduating colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all, members of the med-tech community and friends of Biodesign for creating such a rich environment that promotes innovation and for the support and honest feedback that you have provided us during our ramblings in Biodesign.

We would like to thank the staff at both Biodesign and the Department of Surgery for being the engine that keeps the program running day in and day out. We would like to thank the Biodesign faculty for helping us find the way. And in particular Mike Gertner, Todd Brinton, and Paul Wang for walking with us through the complex road of medical device innovation.

We would like to especially thank Dr Yock and Josh Makower. Their vision and dedication are what allowed us to be here. We thank Dr Yock for his continuous support while we navigated through uncharted territory. And last, but definitely not least, we would like to thank Dr Krummel. His character, enthusiasm, and commitment have served as a constant source of inspiration for all of us. His sincere interest and guidance in both, our personal and professional careers undoubtedly made us better people.

George Bernard Shaw once said: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man." On that note, I dare you all to be a bit more unreasonable in the future.

Thank you very much.