The 2021 AdvanSE Conference by Southeast Life Sciences brought together key players in the Southeast entrepreneurial ecosystem and beyond to help further our mission of fostering life science innovation and investment across the region for the greater good.

The closing keynote for this year’s conference was presented by Dr. Vivian S. Lee, MD, PhD, MBA, President of Health Platforms at Verily Life Sciences, an Alphabet company. In addition to being a physician and healthcare executive, Dr. Lee also serves as a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School. Her closing keynote presentation, The Long Fix: Leading Change Post-COVID, explored what moving to a better healthcare system might look like and the lessons that the industry has learned from the “epic stress” on the system caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic.

Verily asked Dr. Lee to join their team and “Do what’s in your book,” and leverage Alphabet’s proficiency in scaling solutions to affect powerful change where change is badly needed. This includes activating alternative business models of care including full financial risk models underpinned by Medicare and driven by value where value equals quality plus service divided by cost.

“The healthcare system is so broken, but it’s no one entity’s fault,” Dr. Lee shared in the Q&A session following her keynote. “I think we’re all responsible – that’s my view. So we all have a role to play. [And] if there is any silver lining [to the pandemic] at all, it is that everyone is a lot more engaged with their health.”

We invite you to watch Dr. Lee’s full keynote presentation on our YouTube channel. We believe it is well worth 30 to 45 minutes of your time.

Dr. Lee’s book, The Long Fix: Solving America’s Health Care Crisis with Strategies that Work for Everyone, explores this topic in much greater detail and can be purchased through Amazon and Audible.

Thank you to everyone who participated, both virtually and in person, in the 2021 AdvanSE Life Sciences Conference. We invite you to join us for the 2022 edition of AdvanSE that will take place on May 25-27, 2022 at the Avalon in Atlanta.

In the meantime, we encourage all members of the southeast life science ecosystem to explore and engage with Women@SLS, a group dedicated to enhancing opportunities for women in the medtech and life science industries. You can also help build our community by staying connected with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.