Arizona Bioscience Leaders to Join WearTech Center Advisory Board

The Partnership for Economic Innovation (PEI), a passionate collective of business and community leaders dedicated to accelerating Arizona’s economic opportunities, announced the addition of three bioscience and workforce development industry leaders to its WearTech Center advisory board. Mary O’Reilly, Vice President of Bioscience Research Programs at the Flinn Foundation, Andy Lombard, former Chief Executive Officer of Arizona Venture Development Corporation, and Steve Lindsey, Director of Innovation Partnerships at Banner Health will join their collaborative effort to help bring transformative wearable technologies to the market.

The WearTech advisory board is made up of leaders from business, biomedical research, and design who believe in supporting a wearable technology ecosystem to foster the next generation of healthcare innovation. A key part of WearTech’s model is fostering cross-industry collaboration to advance biosciences and improve health outcomes.

“The addition of these business leaders will accelerate our mission to foster innovation, drive economic growth, and position Arizona as a leader in wearable technology solutions,” Wes Gullet, Director of Applied Research Operations for the Partnership for Economic Innovation. “Arizona is well positioned in the bioscience sector, and we are honored to have these industry experts help build on the ecosystem’s success.”

As Vice President of Bioscience Research Programs at the Flinn Foundation, Mary O’Reilly will help the advisory board address workforce needs in medicine and health care. Andy Lombard was most recently the founding Chief Executive Officer of Arizona Venture Development Corporation, the $87M federally backed venture capital firm focused on Arizona startups and funds. Lombard will advise WearTech as the Center supports early-stage entrepreneurs and investment opportunities. Steve Lindsey, the Director of Innovation Partnerships at Banner Health, will help open doors for partnerships with globally recognized healthcare systems in the state.

“Arizona continues to establish itself as a vibrant hub for advanced bioscience solutions by building robust public-private partnerships,” said Brad Jannenga, Founder & Executive Chairman at Chassi and PEI Board member. “By combining bioscience research, business leadership, and academia, these innovative solutions developed by the WearTech Center will drive economic development to create more high-paying jobs and thriving businesses.”

WearTech Center’s applied research model has proven successful as a catalyst for accelerating product commercialization, supporting the development of fourteen independent projects. Most recently, Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company (HOPCo) acquired WearTech project MyACTome, a smartphone-based fall risk and frailty assessment platform. WearTech project ReSuture has recently received a patent for its synthetic vascular tissue models used to improve surgical training.