Commercialization Award: David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc
In the movie made about your life, which actor would portray you? For David Fajgenbaum, it’s a question he’s likely been asked before. His conversation with host Maiken Scott, however, kept coming back to what matters most: the work and the patients. Fajgenbaum’s experience curing his own “incurable” disease ultimately led to the formation of Every Cure, which is now working to find treatments for diseases that have been overlooked.
Fajgenbaum explained that although saving patients is the goal, hearing what they do afterwards is what fuels his team. When they find out that a patient can go to college, see their child on their wedding day, or even just experience the simple things in life that were closed off to them before, keeps the team pushing forward.
That drive is matched by the speed of the technology itself. In the beginning, it took 100 days to generate their first results and treat a patient; today, the platform takes about 17 hours or less.
“Philly is everything,” he noted – back when he was a graduate student, other students helped him research potential cures for his disease. And today, the Philadelphia life science community is an essential backbone to the work they do.
David’s call to action:
- If your doctor recommends an off-label treatment that worked for you, share it with Every Cure so they can study it.
Cultivator Award: Cait Garozzo
It’s not every day that organizations receive surprise grant money, but for Cait Garozzo, Executive Director of The Skills Initiative, it’s a lived experience. Last year the organization received $4M from MacKenzie Scott's Yield Giving foundation for their workforce development program. Garozzo explained: “The power of the work radiates farther than we can possibly imagine.”
Similar to Every Cure, which matchmakes patients to drugs, The Skills Initiative works by designing the solution backward. Rather than creating talent, they’re finding talent that already exists and matching it to openings in the job market. Essentially, they serve as a matchmaker between employers and the Philadelphia community.
Part of The Skills Initiative’s job is helping local talent recognize that they belong in STEM fields.
She explained that the underlying challenge to moving forward is access: knowing what opportunities are available, and how to reach what comes next.
Cait’s calls to action:
- Expand the description. Employers: take a look at your job descriptions and re-write them not for what people did in the past, but for what you need people to do today.
- Change the way you talk about talent. Philadelphia does not have a shortage of talent. If we all work together, we can reframe the conversation and connect people to jobs.
Capital Award: Greg Howard
Greg Howard’s college experiences instilled in him the desire to surround himself with people smarter than him. His company, Quorum Capital Partners, grew out of an angel syndicate. Now, he has a brain trust on speed dial that can help improve the probability of success by activating a community of experts who are personally invested.
“I know how hard it is to be a founder, so I have tremendous respect for people who are starting their own companies – that is incredibly hard to do. The thing that I look for and tried to get better at a founder is stoicism. Understanding very clearly what it is I can control, while having total clarity about what I can’t control,” he explained.
He noted that finding and surrounding himself with the right people is something he can control. And choosing the right people is about focusing on what they can accomplish, not just what they’ve done. He echoed what Cait Garozzo explained: expanding opportunity in the ecosystem is also about expanding the definition of talent.
Greg’s calls to action:
- Get involved. Greg encourages people to get involved with the Science Center and spread awareness of programs like Capital Readiness (of which he has served as an Investor-in-Residence).
- Share the knowledge. Greg encouraged anyone interested in joining his brain trust to reach out and start a conversation.
Convener Award: Rebecca L. Grant, DVM
Rebecca L. Grant is a veterinarian-turned-life sciences and innovation ecosystem champion for the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Commerce.
“It’s the city’s job to create the runway and the infrastructure and partnerships, capital – but government isn’t necessarily moving at the speed of biotech,” she explained. “It’s creating that predictability so that biotech can move at the speed of biotech.”
Predictability comes from reducing friction: the city has been moving towards greater mobility and reducing red tape, making it easier for people to do business and succeed in Philadelphia.
She wants companies to ask, “Who can I talk to?” because the Department of Commerce is in a great position to connect people to the person or organization they need to resolve an issue.
Ultimately, she sees Philadelphia as a high-touch ecosystem where connection drives progress: “I left Philly and came back two years later because doing research here is so much better, and it’s such a collaborative, friendly ecosystem and people want to help you,” she explained.
“Not every Philadelphian becomes a scientist, but everyone can feel the benefits of having a world-class life sciences ecosystem.”
Rebecca’s call to action:
- Equity. “Everyone in this room should think about who isn’t at the table yet.” Studies show that diversity of people, diversity of thoughts leads to a better outcome: if everyone in your boardroom looks like you, you’re not getting the best solution. There are a lot of people who don’t know which door to open, so open it for them.
Forward Momentum
Across four very different perspectives, one theme came through clearly: moving an innovation ecosystem forward takes more than great ideas. It takes people willing to share what they know, open doors, connect talent to opportunity, and build the systems that allow innovation to move faster.
That work is already happening across Philadelphia. The challenge now is to keep moving.
