Cleveland Clinic's 2014 Medical Innovation Summit Examines Cancer Treatment And Personalized Medicine

12th Annual Summit Launches Crash Course for Future Innovators, Draws CEOs of GE, IBM, Amgen and More

Cleveland, OH /PRNewswire/ - Cleveland Clinic's 12^th Annual Medical Innovation Summit will bring together more than 1,500 executives, investors, entrepreneurs and clinicians Oct. 26 to 29, 2014, in downtown Cleveland to examine the latest innovations in cancer treatment and personalized medicine.

In an effort to inspire innovation across industries, the summit will offer new sessions including "Innovation Base Camp," a half-day huddle on implanting a culture of innovation and "New Ventures in Healthcare Challenge," a competition which will connect angel investors and venture capitalists with entrepreneurs.

With over 1.6 million new cancer cases and over 585,000 cancer deaths in the United States each year, the Summit will feature a large variety of healthcare stakeholders from executives in pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and devices to information technology leaders, payers, investors, and entrepreneurs who will discuss the most promising market-ready approaches to curbing cancer's devastating impact. The Summit, titled, "Now, it's Personal" will take a deep look at how targeted, personalized therapies are changing the game in the cancer market.

"This is an exciting time for cancer research with many groundbreaking advancements that will change the future of cancer detection, therapy, and treatment," said Brian J. Bolwell, M.D., Chairman, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. "The Medical Innovation Summit fosters a collaborative atmosphere and will bring together some of the nation's most renowned business and thought leaders in cancer with the goal of revolutionizing the delivery of cancer care and getting these ideas to market."

Registration for the summit is now open. Some of the key questions speakers will include:

• How are industries advancing "value-based" innovation, and how will this lead to better care at a lower cost?
• What are the upcoming opportunities and challenges for innovators and investors in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics?
• Will targeted, personalized approaches to cancer live up to expectations?
• How has cancer impacted countries around the world, and how are health leaders in those nations addressing the issue?

"Cancer is personal for all of us," said Gary Fingerhut, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations. "The latest breakthroughs in personalized cancer treatment as well as changes to the healthcare ecosystem require candid discussions with all stakeholders to ensure we work and innovate together for the benefit of patients everywhere. The place to do this is the 2014 Medical Innovation Summit in Cleveland, Ohio."

For the first time, the week will begin with a new crash course on developing cutting-edge innovation and design-thinking skills onSunday, Oct. 26. The session, "Innovation Base Camp," will prepare Summit attendees with an enhanced understanding of the guiding principles of innovation and collaborative relationship-building. The half-day "huddle" will guide future innovators from across all industries to uncover the tools necessary for inspiring a culture of vibrant, innovative collaboration and implementing cutting-edge industry solutions at their own organization. Jeff Arnold, chairman and CEO of Sharecare, Inc. and founder of WebMD, will be featured during a fireside chat.

"Cleveland Clinic pioneered the disciplined, metrics-driven approach to innovation," said Thomas J. Graham, M.D., Cleveland Clinic's Chief Innovation Officer. "Our inaugural 'Innovation Base Camp' complements our Medical Innovation Summit by delivering practical knowledge and a forum for exchange between the leaders most responsible for driving the creative culture and commercialization in their organization."

"We have been extremely gratified with the success of our Global Healthcare Innovation Alliance that now extends to academic medical centers, research universities, large businesses and government-sponsored technology centers," adds Dr. Graham. "'Base Camp' attendance is not just limited to medical executives and bioscience investors, but has programming that is relevant for all of these sectors involved in the healthcare innovation ecosystem."

The Summit is also offering several platforms for healthcare entrepreneurs to showcase their latest technologies. On Monday, Oct. 27, The 2nd Annual New Ventures Healthcare Challenge will feature four start-up health information technology companies that have been selected by a panel of experts to present their technologies and respective business plans to Summit attendees and a panel of investors for a chance to be named the "MIS2014 Challenge Champion." On Tuesday and Wednesday, over 55 companies from all over the world will present their technologies in various concurrent sessions including the "Healthcare Transformer Showcase" hosted by StartUp Health and "Ground Waves" hosted by the Trout Group.

The meeting will be capped on Wednesday by a presentation of the "Top 10" Medical Innovations, which are predicted to have a breakthrough impact on healthcare in 2015. Michael Roizen, M.D., Cleveland Clinic's Chief Wellness Officer, and a panel of 10 of the Clinic's physician leaders will present the highly anticipated list.

The 2014 Medical Innovation Summit agenda includes more than 60 top healthcare leaders, including CEOs of some of the most important companies in the industry. Keynote speakers include: Robert Bradway, chairman & CEO, Amgen; Jeff Immelt, chairman & CEO, General Electric; and Ginni Rometty, chairman, president & CEO, IBM.

Other featured speakers at this year's event include: Edward Benz, M.D., president & CEO, Dana Farber Cancer Institute; Paul Hudson, president, AstraZeneca North America; Don Fowler, president & CEO, Toshiba America Medical Systems; Greg Sorensen, M.D., CEO, Siemens Healthcare North America; and Dow Wilson, president & CEO, Varian Medical Systems. Select sessions will be moderated by Maria Bartiromo, global markets editor and anchor, FOX Business.

The Summit is being supported by Premier Sponsors: Siemens, GE Healthcare, and the Global Center for Health Innovation. Platinum sponsors include: Citigroup, Inc., IBM, Tarolli, Sundheim, Covell & Tummino LLP, Varian Medical Systems, Inc., StartUp Health, LLC, HealthXL, HIMSS, Crain's Cleveland Business, and The Trout Group, LLC.

The summit is organized by Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the corporate venturing arm of Cleveland Clinic, which has developed 67 spin-off companies over the past decade.

During the summit, join the conversation on Twitter by following #MIS2014. Follow Cleveland Clinic Innovations atwww.twitter.com/CCInnovations. More information on the summit can be found at http://summit.clevelandclinic.org.

Members of the media who are on assignment and interested in gaining access to the 2014 Medical Innovation Summit may emailBridget Peterlin directly, peterlb@ccf.org. Access is limited.

About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Reportconsistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, eight community hospitals, more than 75 Northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 16 full-service Family Health Centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and, scheduled to begin seeing patients in 2015, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2012, there were 5.1 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 157,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us atwww.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.