The featured speaker for the Chamber's 2018 Annual Meeting to be held on Monday, November 19 at the RI Convention Center will be Chris Coburn, Chief Innovation Officer, Partners HealthCare System and President of Partners HealthCare International. 

The GPCC is pleased to host Chris of Boston-based Partners Health Care to discuss how one of the nation’s largest health care systems is advancing science and technology to build new local companies focused on drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital health. 

Chris leads a team of more than 125 talented employees who are tasked with the worldwide commercial application of the unique capabilities and discoveries of Partners’ employees. His responsibilities include investing, company creation, international consulting, innovation management, industry collaborations and licensing.

Commercialization revenue exceeds $130 million annually and more than 225 companies have been spun-off from Partners in the last decade. Large-scale industry collaborations have been established in areas such as AI and drug development.

Provider strategy and operational consulting has been delivered to clients in nearly 40 countries. His group also manages a nearly $200 million venture fund. Prior to joining Partners, Mr. Coburn was founding director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations and served for 13 years as its executive leader. 

Partners consists of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and McLean Hospital. Partners is the nation’s largest academic research enterprise with over $13 billion in annual revenue, 74,000 employees, 1.5 million patient visits and $1.8 billion in research expenditures. It also has a managed care organization, out-patient facilities and community hospitals.