Biodesign Innovation Fellowship Graduation Address, 2010

given June 8, 2010 by Avi Roop, representing the 2010 graduating fellows

Hello All, I would like to first thank everyone for allowing me to speak on behalf of the graduating fellows, my speech will include some prose from Ithaca*.

With final days in Minneapolis approaching, I sat thinking about the road ahead. Prone to paranoid delusions, I pondered the back-story, the true purpose of Biodesign. Was it some sort of next-generation incubator? There had to be more to this story.

Looking to inject some levity into my speech today, I asked a few of the current fellows if they shared my suspicions about the “secret story” behind biodesign. Maybe an NIH funded study of precociousness and entrepreneurial success? Did you all wonder?

I was met with the flat stare of a hardened biodesign fellow at the end of May. The look of “do you have any idea how busy I am as I sit at the crossroads of capitalistic greatness and economic insignificance?” Their answers were direct: “No I pretty much knew what Biodesign was all about, to, I had no idea, but I can tell you I wasted no time wondering”.

Set out for Ithaca, ask that your way be long, full of adventure, full of instruction. Those who threaten you - do not fear them: such as these you will never find as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare emotion touch your spirit and your body.

That same advice to Odysseus is what brings us together today, rare emotion from voyage into the unknown. My point: voyage into the unknown ultimately protects us. Rumsfeld spoke about this: “There are known known’s, there are known unknowns, but also there are unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.” While many poke fun at his wording, he gets at something at the core of Biodesign. How to know this pursuit into the unknown, as quickly as possible?

On a different level, Julian Gorodsky also teaches us about the permutations of known and unknown within ourselves. He teaches us that rigorous feedback helps us gain footing and vantage thru the most important and covert window into ourselves, the window into what is unknown to us, and what unknown to others.

Additionally, many investors, physicians and entrepreneurs in the audience today have a fascination with the unknown that is unknown. For it is risk and opportunity that wait for us that world of unknown unknown’s. Risk to the patient, risk to the investment, yet an opportunity. An opportunity to discover an entirely new way of operating that instantly contrasts all we “knew” before!

To Odysseus and to us: pray that the road is long. That the summer mornings are many, that you will enter ports seen for the first time with such pleasure, with such joy! Stop at ancient markets, purchase fine merchandise, learn and learn from those who have knowledge.

These teams behind me have asked for the long road, to take the time to learn a new way to enter and to know, that which is unknown. This is not a road they walk alone. They walk with everyone here tonight. There are no surreptitious motives. There are only lofty ideals and rare emotion.

We shall always keep Ithaca fixed in our mind. To arrive there is our ultimate goal. But do not hurry the voyage at all. It is better to let it last for long years; and even to anchor at the isle when we are old, rich with all gained on the way, not expecting that Ithaca will offer us riches.

Today is a Biodesign rite of passage. Biodesign is a method, a process, but also an evangelism. And I argue that the process of changing the fundamental way by which people solve problems is the true power behind all of this. The transformation comes from teaching others how go somewhere we have never been and we cannot aptly describe. How do you tell someone about unknown unknowns? Biodesign is a way, and recognition is owed to the staff and the current fellows as they ever expand their effectiveness of instruction. To be clear, these fellows behind me have pushed that instruction further than ever before.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage. Without her you would never have taken the road. But she has nothing more to give you. And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not defrauded you. With the great wisdom you have gained, with so much experience, you must surely have understood what Ithacas mean.

On behalf of all my graduating colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all, members of the community and friends of Biodesign for creating such an environment that promotes innovation, support and honest feedback.

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. Roula, Dawn, Chris, Mary, Joan and Gail, thank you for well, putting up with us. We would also like to thank Cardiology, Vascular Surgery, and Cardiothoracic Surgery for their support and guidance while in the hospital. And to conclude, a special thanks to Drs Yock, Makower Brinton, Zenios, Popp, Wang and Krummel, Craig Milroy and Ari Chaney, their vision and dedication are what allows us to be here today.

All the best, thank you.

* From Ithaca by Constantine Cavafy