Brock Family Center in the News
Keith Obstein, MD, MPH, center, was presented the award by Kenneth Holroyd, MD, MBA, and Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD.
(photo by Donn Jones)
Keith Obstein receives inaugural Brock Family Center Innovator of the Year Award
November 17, 2023 - Keith Obstein, MD, MPH, professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and professor of Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, has received the inaugural Innovator of the Year Award from the Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation in recognition of his achievements in developing and commercializing a magnetic, flexible colonoscopy system with the potential to provide a safer alternative to standard colonoscopy. (Read more in the VUMC Reporter article by Jill Clendening at this link)
October 6, 2023 - Vanderbilt University’s Robert Webster and Charleson Bell, BE’07, MS’09, PhD’15, will receive $12 million to establish and manage the Mid-South Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub. REACH will focus on accelerating real-world impact of biomedical innovations through education, mentorship and financial support for entrepreneurs. Diversity is woven into the hub at all levels, from the leadership team through the review committee. The hub spans a four-state network (Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and Virginia), and entrepreneurs from any university in those states are eligible to apply.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center will be a strategic partner in these efforts, through providing matching funds and leveraging the Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation—an initiative that bolsters the translation and commercialization of discoveries developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. (Read more in the Vanderbilt News article here)
Ken Holroyd, Brock Family Center lead, at the HAIS 23 event
(Photo by Erin O. Smith)
September 26, 2023 - On Sept. 20, artificial intelligence experts from industry and from Vanderbilt gathered at Langford Auditorium on the VUMC campus for the first annual Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Sessions, or HAIS 23, sponsored by the Brock Family Center.
Among the day’s presenters was Peter Embí, MD, MS, professor and chair of Biomedical Informatics and senior vice president for research and innovation at VUMC. Embí, who serves on the steering committee for the National Institute of Medicine’s health care AI code of conduct initiative, also provided brief remarks to conclude the daylong program. (Read more in the VUMC article by Paul Govern)
May 31, 2022 - A $10 million gift from the Brock family, including John F. Brock III, his wife, Mary, and their three adult children — Rebecca Brock Dixon, John F. Brock IV and Major Brock — will establish the Brock Family Center for Applied Innovation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The gift will accelerate the translation of discoveries and know-how to the public domain through commercialization and industry partnerships. (Read more in the VUMC Reporter article by Nancy Humphrey)