SpreadLove In Organizations - Healthcare Leadership

This episode is in partnership with MIT Sloan Healthcare and BioInnovations Conference, an event that brings the healthcare ecosystem together. We sat with Andy Plump, President of R&D and Board Member at Takeda, and discussed his personal story, his leadership beliefs, and the “Challenges in Scaling Biotech Innovation” the topic of his panel at the conference. Hear his thoughts on the current and next decades of innovation, "will it be the decades of Life Science or Computer Science?" Most importantly, Andy leaves us with a message of hope. Every dark period in history anchored on the triad of war, pandemic, and social injustice has ended with greatness through science... We are on the edge of this, again, now. "This decade will be remembered for Life Science or Computer Science... The potential is limitless." MEET OUR GUEST Andrew Plump President of Research & Development and Board Member at Takeda. Dr. Andrew Plum is the President of Research & Development and a Board Member at Takeda. His career spans nearly 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and academia. Andy has been recognized for his contributions to the healthcare industry, education, and the arts. He serves on several non-profit boards including the Board of Trustees for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation, the Biomedical Science Careers Program, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the PhRMA Foundation. Prior to Takeda, Andrew served as head of Research & Translational Medicine, deputy to the president of R&D at Sanofi, based in Paris, France. Prior to Sanofi, he served as worldwide cardiovascular research head at Merck. Andy received his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), his Ph.D. in cardiovascular genetics, and his B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in medical genetics at UCSF.

In this special episode, we celebrate a significant milestone for SpreadLove In Organizations podcast. It has been an incredible journey, filled with profound insights, heartfelt stories, and impactful chats. Over the past two years, we have had the honor of hosting 100 exceptional leaders, each with their unique experiences and perspectives. Through their stories, we have shared-in their triumphs, challenges, and the invaluable lessons they have learned along the way. Our guests have touched our hearts, made us smile, reflect, and most importantly, prompted us to rethink our preconceptions about culture in high-performing organizations. To celebrate the "100 episode", we have compiled a special segment featuring the reactions of some of our influential guests to a question that has become synonymous with our podcast: What is your first reaction to 'spread love in organizations? These diverse and thought-provoking responses represent the culmination of our shared journey, highlighting the power of love in fostering healthier, more caring work environments to deliver on a shared purpose and deliver results to all stakeholders. On behalf of SpreadLove In Organizations team, we express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support, genuine feedback, and, above all, the love that has flooded every aspect of this incredible endeavor. Our devoted community has played an integral role in shaping this podcast into what it is today. Hope you will embark on this special episode, united by the common purpose of cultivating empathy, genuine care, and love within organizations for people to feel safe to thrive, be at their best, and imagine a better world. Thank you for joining us on this extraordinary journey… In this episode, you'll hear from John Bamforth, Jeremy Morgan, Gabi Mittas, Lien Le, Amy Edmondson, Jill Donahue, Daena Giardella, Enrique Conterno, Rodrigo Verdi, Otto Scharmer, Christi Shaw, Amer Kaissi, The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi, Richard Kivel, Myriam Hakim, Bridget Akinc, Maheen Junaid, Lisa Matar, Amre Nouh, Basima Tewfik, Pravin Chaturvedi, Dina Sherif, Dave Noesges, Michael Ullmann, Naji Gehchan.

Being in healthcare is a privilege and a humbling responsibility; we impact lives. This is what Michael Ullman has done throughout his years at Johnson & Johnson from where he retired recently as Executive VP, General Counsel & Executive Committee Member. Leadership for Mike is grounded in humility, kindness, and optimism, it is above all a responsibility to other people. Hear Mike's experience leading JNJ to deliver on covid vaccine that saved humanity during the pandemic, and his thoughts on ESG, Health Equity, social responsibility, and how to build high-performing teams to ensure we deliver on our purpose. As leaders, our job is not to be superstars but rather shine through others, through our people's greatness. Kindness is underused in the world, create a culture that demands it, treat people with respect, trust them, empower them, and help them succeed. "Kindness is underused. Create a culture that demands it." MEET OUR GUEST Michael Ullmann, (Retired) Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Executive Committee Member, Johnson & Johnson Michael Ullmann retired from Johnson & Johnson earlier this year after over 33 years with the Company.  For the last 11 years, he served as a member of the J&J Executive Committee and the Executive Vice President, General Counsel leading a global organization of over 2,000 employees in 60 countries encompassing Legal, Government Relations & Policy, ESG Strategy, Intellectual Property, Corporate Governance, Data Privacy, Compliance and Security.  As General Counsel of the world’s largest Life Sciences company, he successfully guided JNJ through high-profile and high-risk situations, while helping to grow the business to annual sales of $94 billion, increase shareholder value and maintain its reputation as one of the most admired companies in the world.  Mike joined Johnson & Johnson in 1989 as a mergers & acquisitions attorney and held various management positions, including General Counsel of the Worldwide Medical Devices Group, before becoming the company's General Counsel in 2012. Michael is a member of the Board of Directors of Americares and serves on the Columbia Law School Board of Visitors. 

From communist Poland to building and living her American Dream, Dorota McKay's story is an inspiring story of resilience, grit, hard work, humility and never being afraid of taking risks but rather always asking for opportunities. Her words of wisdom for all of us healthcare leaders are crucial: If you're in doubt, always choose integrity and follow your moral compass. Your reputation is more important than any short-term gain. Listen to her story, learning, and powerful experiences around cultural transformations, in this inspiring episode. "If you're in doubt, always choose integrity." MEET OUR GUEST Dorota McKay Vice President, Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer for Vapotherm. Dorota McKay is a creative problem solver with a passion for finance and personal development. She is currently a VP Controller and Chief Accounting Officer for Vapotherm, Inc., a publicly traded medtech company that develops innovative, comfortable, non-invasive technologies for respiratory support of patients with chronic or acute breathing disorders. Dorota holds active CPA, CMA and CFE designations. Prior to joining Vapotherm she was a Controller for Decibel Therapeutics and a Finance Director at Oxford Immunotec. She is also corporate trainer and coach certified in Canfield Methodology and a Certified Culture Transformation Tools Practitioner with the Barrett Values Centre.

In this episode, we chatted with Melanie Ivarsson, Chief Development Officer at Moderna, who led teams in times the world was anxiously waiting for them to deliver us a hope with Covid Vaccine... and they did. How did they achieve this? How do you lead in such unprecedented times? How do you ensure this sense of purpose continues to live today? Hear all about those stories and about Melanie's biggest leadership learning throughout this once-in-a-lifetime experience: Enable others to be the best they can be, and don't get in their way. "Hang on to your true self." MEET OUR GUEST Melanie Ivarsson Chief Development Officer at Moderna. Melanie Ivarsson is Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer at Moderna, where she leads the Clinical Development Operations department. In this role Dr Ivarsson and her team deliver all clinical programs within the Moderna portfolio. Melanie has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Moderna, she was Head of Global Clinical Operations, at Takeda (following the acquisition of Shire) and spent 9 years at Pfizer in Clinical Development. She also held roles within the early clinical development group at Eli Lilly. After receiving her PhD from the University of Bristol, she completed postdoctoral research at Lund University and New York University. Dr Ivarsson also holds an Executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Bringing the human voice to inform decisions in healthcare, nothing can be more impactful. Going beyond the facts and the sad reality of inequities, health misinformation, and tragic health outcomes to really deeply understand the "WHY" question. Sema Sgaier, CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health, has made this her purpose and focus of her work in the non-profit and for-profit organizations she led. In this episode, we discussed data, conspiracy theories, the power of stories, and the importance of understanding what people really need on the ground and the "why" behind their behaviors. You'll also hear Sema's story, her leadership beliefs, and about the "professional love language". "Be bold, step up, go after big ideas." MEET OUR GUEST Sema Sgaier CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health. Sema Sgaier is CEO and Co-Founder of Surgo Health, a healthcare technology company developing a revolutionary socio-behavioral analytics platform and generating novel, real-world data designed to inform and improve health equity and outcomes by enabling a greater understanding of the complex factors that influence how individuals engage in their healthcare. Sema is a serial entrepreneur with close to 20 years of experience in healthcare. She co-founded and led Surgo Foundation and Surgo Ventures, where she led the development of analytic products that solve health problems with greater precision. She was Initiative Lead at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she brought innovations in data, consumer insights, and product introduction into large-scale health programs globally. She has over 60 publications and is a frequent OpEd contributor to The New York Times and prestigious media outlets. She is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Washington. She completed her fellowship in Genomics at Harvard University, Ph.D. in Neuroscience from New York University, and M.A. in Neuroscience from Brown University. Sema is a member of the Board of Directors of the United States of Care. She was selected as a rising talent by the Women's Forum for Economy and Society.

Leadership is the ability to make decisions that benefit the whole system, it is those who go beyond personal benefit, beyond their own team's benefit, and do the right thing for the community. In this chat with Amy Kimball, we discussed leadership in healthcare non-profits, and also in entrepreneurship. We talked about the key components of building a thriving culture of excellence, high performance, and people-centered service. Hear Amy's inspiring journey, and her authentic thoughts about being "lonely at the top", something we all experience as leaders at some point in our lives. "It is about what you want for yourself." MEET OUR GUEST Amy Kimball Executive & Leadership Coach and former biomedical research CEO. Amy Kimball is an Executive & Leadership Coach and former biomedical research CEO. Prior to launching her coaching business in 2022, she had been coaching professionals on the side for 15 years, while she held leadership roles in academic biomedical research. During her tenure as CEO of a midsized biomedical research institute, she led a turnaround to rebuild a culture of excellence, high performance, and people-centered service. Prior to that, she held research administrative leadership roles at large, Boston-based academic medical centers. She holds an Executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and has completed Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching program. She coaches CEOs and other leadership positions that feel “lonely at the top;” mentors and advises start-ups; and serves in peer coaching roles within the helping professions community. Learn more about Amy's work: www.amykimballcoaching.com

Small affection, care, and love can do miracles in life... This is what Ashoka Madduri co-founder and CEO of Target Therapeutics experienced personally, and what he is taking with him paying forward to the teams and communities he serves. From a small village in India to now leading biotech, Ashoka shares his inspiring story of grit, resilience, hope, optimism, and patience. Trust, empowerment, and care are for him the critical ingredients to building successful teams that can develop and bring breakthrough innovation to patients. "Care and love can do miracles." MEET OUR GUEST Ashoka Madduri Co-founder and CEO of TargetSite Therapeutics. Ashoka grew up in a small village in south India. After completing his undergrad and masters he obtained DAAD matching scholarship and moved to Germany. He completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry from University of Groningen, Netherlands, where he worked on anti-cancer complex natural products. He performed his post-doctoral research to understand pathways involved in multi-drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis at Harvard Medical School. Over the years he has worked in multiple biotech companies and developed expertise in business development & corporate strategy. He received his Executive MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. Currently, he is a Blavatnik Entrepreneurial Fellow at Yale Ventures providing strategy & enabling multiple early-stage life science startups. Ashoka is a Co-founder & CEO of TargetSite Therapeutics, a Yale spin-out, and Partner at Vestra Associates where he advises biotech companies on strategy and partnerships.

From an engineer who "loves to make things" to a longtime life science and technology leader who only makes things that matter to people and make their life better, learn in this episode with Paul Hartung how to build successful biotechs, launch startups in life sciences and most importantly assemble teams that will address relevant unmet needs. Paul leaves us with a simple yet powerful reminder: as healthcare leaders, we are doing important work we should never stop until we solve and cure the diseases we are addressing. "Develop a passion in your team for them to come every day and solve relevant unmet needs." MEET OUR GUEST Paul Hartung, a longtime life sciences and technology executive. Paul Hartung is a longtime life sciences and technology executive with a proven track record in launching successful startup businesses and leading Fortune 500 organizations. Paul currently serves on several Board of Directors including Leuko and Verisense, he mentors at MIT VMS, MassBio MassCONNECT, and The Capital Network, and serves as a judge for MassChallenge. He served as President & CEO through successful Phase II of Cognoptix, which has developed an innovative eye scan for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Paul also founded Sonivance, and has held senior management roles at 3Com, Summit (LASIK), Trumpf, Laser Fare and GE.   Paul graduated with honors from MIT with an MS Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is an active speaker, author, and inventor on a number of patents.

Sharing our core values is essential; living by them is crucial. For Jason Dupuis, this is a key part of daily leadership. His values are Passion, Dedication, and Integrity. Passion is "love what you do"; Dedication is "Be there"; integrity is "Do the right thing", a simple framework that Jason lives by and transmits daily to his people in healthcare. His words of wisdom are powerful for us in healthcare: always put "human first" and show-up! "Showing up is a choice that every great leader makes." MEET OUR GUEST Jason Dupuis a passionate Human Experience Strategist, Thought Leader, influencer, and speaker. Jason Dupuis is a thought leader, speaker, and organizational behavior enthusiast who believes in the power of Human Experience as a key driver of organizational performance and strategy. Over the last 20 years, Jason has served as the Chief Experience Officer for PM Pediatrics Care as well as the Administrative Director for Admitting and Emergency Services at Boston Children’s Hospital. Most recently, he joined Fidelum Health as a Consultant and Principal Healthcare Advisor to bring the Human Brand concepts of Warmth and Competence into the Human Experience in Healthcare. As a Core Value advocate and fanatic, Jason has devoted his career to successfully demonstrating that being “human first” and leading with personal and organizational core values can create efficient and profitable operations while simultaneously delivering an exceptional experience for patients, families, and care teams. In addition to his professional roles, Jason is an Adjunct Professor in the Hellenic College School of Leadership & Management as well as recently joining Boston College as an Adjunct Professor in their Masters in Healthcare Administration program. Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Management & Policy from the University of New Hampshire and a Masters of Health Administration from Simmons College in Boston, MA.