NSBE - Convention 2020 - 58

SIGs SPOTLIGHT

Boosting Equity and
Diversity in Healthcare
BY CINDY ATOJI

t's no surprise that NSBE's Healthcare
'A SUSTAINED EFFORT'
Innovation Special Interest Group (HISIG)
To help strengthen the pipeline to careers
in healthcare innovation, HISIG recently
was founded in Boston, at NSBE's 42nd
Annual Convention. Boston, after all, is
teamed up with an advanced-manufacturing
a biotechnology hotbed, home of numerous
institute, a consortium of member companies
called the National Institute for Innovation in
small start-ups and billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies. It was 2016, and some
Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL).
NSBE members in the biomedical field said
This partnership aims to solve industry problems with a workforce that is representative
there was a gap in the Society's resources
related to the healthcare industry. The
of the minority population and the patients
decision was made to form a healthcare
who ultimately get served by healthcare solutions. Developed in partnership with NSBE,
innovation group to recruit and retain
members interested in healthcare transthe NIIMBL eXperience is a weeklong immerformation; connect healthcare members in
sion program designed to introduce underrepresented freshman students to
academia, government and industry
for mentorship, professional developcareer possibilities in the biopharmament and career opportunities; and
ceutical industry. Students are paired
with mentors in the industry and
educate NSBE members and the
broader community about healthvisit corporate worksites, where they
care disparities.
gain an appreciation for the largescale manufacturing of biopharmaArthur L. Edge III, director of the
HISIG, says there is a tremendous
ceutical products.
"The HISIG has a vision for the future to
need for this group because of the
"HISIG believes that a sustained
huge healthcare disparities beimpact patients in a tangible way and deliver effort to cultivate Black innovatween Blacks and whites in the U.S.,
tors for the healthcare industry
healthcare innovations to communities that will improve access to preventive
disparities that include shorter life
services, diagnosis and treatment
expectancy, high rates of chronic dis- need it." - Arthur L. Edge III, Director, NSBE
ease and more incidence of cancer.
of the unique needs of the Black
Healthcare Innovation Special Interest Group
"There is a need for us to
community," says Ta'Sheema Taylor,
a HISIG member and former HISIG
solve this issue," says Edge, a
technical project manager for
Executive Board member. "That will
GlaxoSmithKline. "I don't see it as a Black issue, so to speak,
improve quality of life and life expectancy within the Black
community."
but a Black healthcare issue. If we solve it for this particular
population, we solve it for the nation. In most biomedical or
Edge says that the Healthcare Innovation SIG has allowed
pharma companies, minority representation is in the single dighim to network with peers for cross-pollination of ideas and
sharing of best practices. He sees the SIG as an extension of
its, so diversity workforce inclusion is needed to develop new
solutions, he adds.
the work he does for his employer. HISIG also helps fulfill his
The Healthcare Innovation Special Interest Group has
passion for mentoring by connecting him with protégés earlier
in their careers. In his work with GlaxoSmithKline, Edge is
gathered for summit meetings that included keynote speakers,
accredited technical trainings, thought-provoking panels, inhelping to produce a global supply of drugs to treat patients
novation showcases and networking receptions. Entrepreneurs,
with lupus, a disease that disproportionally impacts Black
women. So his professional work and his SIG work both hit
public health officials, venture capitalists, governmental
agencies, clinicians, engineers, researchers and others have
very close to home.
convened to advance HISIG's mission: "to promote the develop"The HISIG has a vision for the future to impact patients in
a tangible way and deliver healthcare innovations to communiment and implementation of innovations that will improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injury, illness and disease."
ties that need it," Edge says. ■

58 * CAREER ENGINEER * CONVENTION 2020 *

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NSBE - Convention 2020

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