Innovate Health

From Lab Bench to Market: How OHSU Innovates Turns Research Into Startups — with Dr. Aditi Martin

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT

How does a promising discovery in a research lab actually become a company, a licensed product, or a clinical tool patients can use? In this episode of Innovate Health, Dr. Aditi Martin, Senior Director for Collaborations and Entrepreneurship at OHSU, breaks down how OHSU Innovates helps researchers, clinicians, and students turn early-stage ideas into partnerships, startups, and market-ready innovations — and why entrepreneurship doesn't have to be a lonely journey.

In this episode:

• Inside OHSU Innovates: how partnership development, startup formation, and gap funding work together to support academic entrepreneurship

• Real success stories — from a nerve-imaging surgical technology (Trace Biosciences) to a biodegradable neurosurgical clip (NeuraMedica)

• How the Biomedical Innovation Program and the I-Corps-based Commercialization Readiness Program de-risk the path from idea to market

• Why "the earlier, the better" is the golden rule for connecting with OHSU's innovation and technology transfer teams

• Guest credential: Dr. Martin is a pharmacologist by training who spent seven years at Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures before joining OHSU in 2015 to lead its growing innovation ecosystem

Guest: Dr. Aditi Martin, Senior Director for Collaborations and Entrepreneurship at OHSU. A pharmacologist by training (Virginia Commonwealth University), Dr. Martin spent seven years at Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures in business development, licensing, and patent analysis before joining OHSU in 2015 to help build out its innovation and entrepreneurship programming.

Topics covered: academic entrepreneurship, technology transfer, biomedical innovation funding, healthcare startups, industry-academia partnerships, commercialization readiness

Timestamps:

02:05 Dr. Martin's path to OHSU and what OHSU Innovates is

05:14 Partnership development — the first pillar of Collaborations & Entrepreneurship

07:07 Cultivating startups from university IP — the second pillar

08:53 The Biomedical Innovation Program: gap funding for early-stage ideas

09:50 The I-Corps-based Commercialization Readiness Program

11:59 Push vs. pull — how researchers and innovators connect with the program

13:58 Success story: Trace Biosciences' nerve-imaging technology

15:42 Success story: NeuraMedica's bioabsorbable surgical clip

17:16 When to reach out — "the earlier, the better"

20:03 How OHSU Innovates defines success: metrics, ROI, and repeat innovators

24:07 Navigating risk and the culture shift toward innovation at OHSU

26:41 Coaching researchers through commercialization anxiety

30:56 Overcoming early resistance through relationship building

34:49 What's next: on-campus startup space and expanded ecosystem partnerships

36:51 How to get started — contact info, newsletter, and the annual impact report

Links & Resources Mentioned:

OHSU Innovates — https://www.ohsu.edu/innovates

OHSU Collaborations and Entrepreneurship — https://www.ohsu.edu/innovates/collaborations-and-entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial Education Programs — https://www.ohsu.edu/innovates/entrepreneurial-education-programs

OHSU Startup Companies — https://www.ohsu.edu/collaborations-and-entrepreneurship/ohsu-startups

Contact Dr. Martin's team: oce@ohsu.edu

AI Healthcare Staffing Optimization: From Hero Staffing to Best-Fit OR Teams

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

How do you staff 15+ operating rooms a day without burning out your best nurses? OHSU's Dio Sumagaysay and Taryn Tomlinson explain how an AI-powered staffing optimization tool ended "hero staffing," cut hours of manual scheduling, and lifted care consistency across their perioperative teams.

In this episode:

How OHSU's perioperative team moved beyond "hero staffing" and siloed scheduling knowledge held by individual service coordinators
Inside IQ Staff Planner: the AI tool that auto-assigns OR staff by case history and competency, built in partnership with LeanTaaS
Real outcomes: 25 hours a week of service coordinator time redirected to patient care, a 5-minute average drop in case duration, and a 30% increase in care consistency
How OHSU built staff trust in AI by co-designing the tool with frontline service coordinators and charge nurses instead of imposing it top-down

Guests: Dio Sumagaysay, Vice President of Perioperative Services at OHSU (overseeing multi-specialty procedural areas including cath lab, IR, and endoscopy), with the organization for almost 17 years. Taryn Tomlinson, Assistant Nurse Manager for the operating rooms at OHSU Center for Health and Healing, with OHSU since 2019.

Topics covered: AI staffing optimization, operating room scheduling, perioperative workforce management, healthcare AI adoption, OR staffing shortages, LeanTaaS IQ Staff Planner

Timestamps:

[00:00] Welcome to Innovate Health: meet Dio Sumagaysay and Taryn Tomlinson

[04:02] The old way: "hero staffing" and siloed OR knowledge

[07:51] Why OHSU piloted IQ Staff Planner

[12:39] Inside the 8-year LeanTaaS partnership

[16:14] How the tool works: case-history "signal bars"

[19:41] Inside auto-assign: AI-matched daily staffing

[23:02] Addressing fears: will AI replace OR staff?

[25:50] The results: 25 hours reclaimed, 30% more consistency

[28:17] Culture change: from paper whiteboards to AI dashboards

[34:24] What's next: main OR, anesthesia, and surgeon optimization

Links & Resources Mentioned

Back to the Patient: How AI Scribe is Changing the Visit

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Ambient AI scribe technology is redefining clinical documentation by reducing cognitive and administrative burden while restoring patient-centered care. Through a rigorously evaluated, data-driven implementation, OHSU demonstrates how AI-assisted documentation can cut charting time in half, improve clinician retention, and enhance the quality and accessibility of clinical data—without compromising oversight or patient trust. In This Episode, We Cover: - Ambient AI in Clinical Practice: How automated documentation tools reduce clinician burnout and improve patient-provider engagement. - Enterprise Implementation Strategy: The technical, operational, and procurement challenges of deploying AI scribe solutions across a large academic health system. - Future of Clinical Workflows: Key insights for health system leaders, educators, and researchers on scaling AI responsibly while preserving clinical judgment and training integrity. Episode Timeline and Key Takeaways 00:00:05 – Introduction and Context: Overview of AI scribe technology and its role in transforming documentation and clinician workload. 00:04:11 – Addressing the Documentation Burden: Clinicians describe the evolution from paper charts to EHRs and how documentation demands introduced inefficiencies, distraction, and burnout. 00:10:43 – Technical Deep Dive: OHSU’s rigorous vendor selection process, including RFP across 12 vendors, pilot testing with 100 clinicians, and data-driven evaluation using Epic Signal metrics. 00:17:33 – Research & Education Impacts: Real-world use of AI scribe shows reduced charting time, improved note quality, and implications for clinical training, cognitive workflows, and learner development. 00:34:28 – Future Outlook: Advancements may include clinical decision support integration, automated order entry, and reduced reliance on manual documentation, reshaping both care delivery and medical education.

Saving Sight with Light: Dr. Huang and OCT

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 20:16:26 GMT

In this episode, Dr. David Huang tells the story of how optical coherence tomography (OCT) grew from a single research project in an MIT lab into a mainstream medical technology that saves the eyesight of millions and launched an entirely new field of innovation. He reflects on the teamwork and collaborators who shaped the breakthrough—and why working with people has been the highlight of his career. Dr. Huang also looks ahead, sharing what his team is developing now and how OCT’s next generation could transform early detection and treatment even further.

Vista Pavilion puts patients, staff and families at the center of design

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:00:14 GMT

OHSU's new inpatient addition, Vista Pavilion, will expand OHSU inpatient capacity while redefining what healing spaces can be. With an emphasis on holistic experiences that integrate patient care with emotional and environmental considerations, as well as dedicated interdisciplinary staff and research space, the Vista pavilion puts patients, families, and staff at the center of the design and experience.

It's not Epic training, it's clinician training with Epic

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

This episode discusses the critical role of ongoing advanced EHR training in empowering clinicians to deliver care more efficiently, remain adaptable, and achieve higher levels of professional satisfaction. "It's not Epic training, it's clinician training with Epic.

How Clinical Informatics improves health care delivery

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Clinical informatics at OHSU, how it started and how the focus on human-centered design continues to drive how we test, adopt and integrate health care technology and the critical role clinical informatics plays at OHSU. "[Clinical informatics] is a collaboration that has the happiness of our providers, and the success of our system, and the success of our patients at its heart."

OHSU Sprints: Boosting clinical effectiveness and EHR engagement

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

OHSU Sprints, what they are, how they can help reframe workflows and processes to meet the diverse needs of staff across a unit or department, and why they’re essential for enhancing clinical effectiveness and engagement with the electronic health record.

AI in Health Care: Opportunities, risks and the path forward

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

How AI, or artificial intelligence is reshaping health care—the opportunities it brings, the risks it poses, and the thoughtful steps needed to move forward.

People plus Technology: Why we started this podcast

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The goals behind the Innovate Health podcast, what we hope to achieve, why a podcast and how folks can share ideas and thoughts for future episodes.

Recharge Retreat: Optimizing EHR efficiency with personal wellness

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

How the OHSU Health Recharge Retreat fits into the broader mission to boost satisfaction and efficiency through Epic initiatives at OHSU, including a candid, firsthand account from an attendee on what it’s like to attend the retreat, and how the experience impacted his work and well-being.