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Today’s conversation has two themes that I think are important for our listeners. On one level, you’re going to hear about advocating on behalf of health sector innovators, but on another level you’re going to hear about what it takes to pivot a career and take on an entirely new role, in a new sector after almost a decade of dedicated service in another. My guest for today’s 163rd Terms of Reference Podcast is Jamie Bay Nishi. For the past 9 years, Jamie was at DevEx, starting with member support and ending by leading the production of DevEx World. Only a few months ago, Jamie took over the leadership role at the Global Health Technologies Coalition – an advocacy organization in the health sector. This is a story of serendipity. But as with all stories of serendipity, it has its foundation in a great deal of hard work, experience and personal investment. Today’s conversation is about finding comfort with being vulnerable, how you advocate in an environment that may not be receptive, how to absorb massive amounts of information quickly in order to communicate effectively with policy makers and, perhaps most importantly, what is possible for all of us in the social sector. You can connect with Jamie here:
IN TOR 163 YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT
- The Global Health Technologies Coalition, with 25 and counting organizations committed to advocate for R&D in new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for the world’s low and middle income populations
- The value of promoting networking in A&D, to bridge the “East Coast-West Coast divide” and prevent people working in the same threads to spend decades without talking to one another
- How GHTC’s language and message seeps into bills going to “the Hill,” intricacies of using highly specialized language correctly, and when and where “R&D” and “innovation” mean the same or totally different things
- Making the case for public investment in global health technologies, especially from the US government, by evidencing the impact in jobs and private funding of health innovation as a result. Stay tuned for Jamie’s remarkable figures
- On changing career lanes on A&D, continuing success streaks, and engaging in conversations with more diverse partners while protecting everyone’s voices
OUR CONVERSATION FEATURES THE FOLLOWING
Names:
- Global Health Technologies Coalition
- Devex
- Policy Cures Research, G-Finder Report
- MenAfriVac (Meningitis Vaccine)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- G20
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- Kaiser Family Foundation
- The Hill (Media site)
- Politico
- Chan Zuckerberg
Topics:
- Global Health, Research, Basic research, R&D, Innovation
- Diagnostics, diagnostic testing, greenlight processes
- Drug and health product development
- Media, communications, PR, networking
- Advocacy, lobbying
- US 2017 Presidential election
- Vulnerability
- Lawmaking, constituencies
- Stakeholders, engagement, public and private partners
- Innovation accounting, return on innovation
- Public spending in health research
- Meningitis
- Ebola
- Zika
- 2017 G20 Hamburg summit, Communiqué
- Antimicrobial Resistance
Places:
- Washington, DC
- Hamburg
EPISODE CRIB NOTES
Washington, DC 02:42 Global Health Technologies Coalition 10 years old 25 nonprofits in global health r&d Not apps New drugs, vaccines, diagnostics For low and middle income populations 04:09 Transitioning from Devex Why? Talking about career trajectories People called her a “lifer” 9 years “I still hang out, I’m still a ‘devexer'” “It was never a dull moment” Fun as it went from startup to large A&D media company Helped launch Devex Live events And Devex World conference “I don’t think I’ve run out of room there, but…” 06:51 What do you expect to get out of global events? Facilitate organic introductions and relationships organically “A lot of these stakeholders are not talking to each other” Involve the “mid-levels” into the conversation Spark and energize A Techcrunch Disrupt for A&D Bridge the East Coast-West Coast divide 09:22 Falling upwards from the sky After Devex World a headhunter reaches out Advocacy at global health technologies Jamie did not know about advocacy “If you feel like that, go have a conversation” She found out advocacy or technical skills were not really requirements But rather a “big picture thinker” Days after the US presidential election, Jamie gets a call: “So do you want it?” After some more days, she says yes “The time for advocacy is now” New skill sets from GHTC The original referral came from Devex World 12:07 How big is it? GHTC is a niche ecosystem, 4-staff Product development partners Promoting partnerships between public and private, with some academia and NGO implementers Day to day focuses on US advocacy Make sure the US government continues to commit to expenditures in global health Also keeping tabs on what WHO, UN is doing “I come in and think: what do I want from policy position” Lots of statistics “I wanted to bring that media communications background” “What is the big picture about why global health matters” Not lobbying, but lawmakers reach out for specific language GHTC staff penned some of what is going up the Hill 16:32 Your top 4 stumbling blocks “Steep learning” in tech, the Hill Coming in as a director is tricky Their team is highly knowledgeable “Feel OK with being vulnerable” and lean on people A lot of the small details is tricky to grasp “I’ve muddled my words a few times” 19:15 Innovation? I want to talk to you Within federal agencies, talk R&D With policy makers, external stakeholders, private industry, Silicon Valley, talk Innovation There are cultural usages of the word Language and communication continues to be a struggle (Siren alert) US government return on innovation US investments support health, economy, jobs 21:09 What are those results? $.89 of every dollar spent by the government in health r&d stays in the US A 2012 study set the benchmark at $.63 A decade trendline, excluding Ebola and Zika “We have the credibility of the data our research is based upon” Policy Cures Research is a partner, “G Finder Report” With GHTC making state-based fact-sheets Saves lives, supports constituencies Most of the numbers come from the US government Menafrivac Low cost meningitis vaccine 378k deaths prevented On track to save USD9B by 2020 25:02 If I ask you for US government funds, will your answer for this question and that one be the same? Africa, Asia are the core of the meningitis effort The vaccine was very low-cost, it increased access “I thiink that does make sense” but for lawmakers the emphasis goes on showcasing ‘catalytic’ investment They often wonder “why is no one else funding this, why not private companies” Some of these global health crisis have no rationale for market forces For every $1 spent by the NIH, the industry gets $8.38 in investment Usually NIH does basic research US government spent basic global health research in 2015 spawned USD4B in investment The private sector is “not yet” into the coalition Bringing many voices, letting the government speak for themselves 29:14 Bigger picture stuff “I want to shake things up a little bit but I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater” GHTC has a streak of success. “I don’t want to diminish that” More organizations care about global health mHealth Biofood Vector control Pesticides “So many more technologies we could be working on” And bringing private, others to the table 30:29 Will Jamie fundamentally change the flavor of global health? We need to be engaging carefully Elephant in the room Protect the voices in the room Differential membership categories likely, tiers Private partners want to be in the loop, maybe not advocating along in the Hill G20 Hamburg meeting was a test to show results on preparedness, antimicrobial resistance Communique included GHTC language about GH R&D At WHO Assembly early this year, a diagnostics list Parallel to existing medicine lists To fast-track reviewing and adoption across countries Process coming up 2018 34:18 Std World Health Ops Not just getting things on paper But getting on the committees, engage, be involved Make sure the infrastructure is there Since budget proposal, GHTC has been actively persuading congress members More funds have been coming Silver linings, but other financial threats coming “It’s a constant effort” 37:01 Jamie’s niche picks Kaiser Family Foundation reports, aggregation The Hill Politico Chan Zuckerberg Antimicrobial Resistance, Russia’s multidrug resistance tuberculosisPlease share and participate
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