TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | m a y 2 0 1 5 17 A t Houston 2035, a unique, daylong conference designed to look 20 years into the future, attendees will probe the possi- ble as they address those questions. Developed by Xconomy, a news and events organization focused on the business of technology, and hosted by TMCx, the event will take place on May 21. "The concept of exploring 20 years into the future is something that we've been thinking about for a long time," noted Robert Buderi, founder, editor-in-chief and chief executive officer of Xconomy. "Everyone's always so focused on their near-term goals, whether those are quarterly projects or even one to two years out. There was less and less of the long-term, fundamental thinking that's so essential to the growth of cities, industries, regions and econo- mies. To counter that, we wanted to encourage thinking about what you have to do to grow the areas you're leading in already, while still considering emergent new areas." Four of those leading areas—health care and life sciences; energy; education and talent; and infrastructure, design and architecture— have been selected as conversational focal points, giving featured speakers a platform to speculate, collaborate and, most importantly, innovate. "On one level, those four areas of focus that we selected are fundamental drivers of anything," explained Buderi. "In conducting AS WE HURTLE ALONG THE PATH OF PROGRESS, THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE BECOMES INCREASINGLY HAZY. Will the landscape still look familiar in 20 years? What can we do to cast a spotlight on major, high-growth areas that are key to ensuring our collective development? What can today's stakeholders do to position Houston as a beacon of global innovation? research here in Boston when we studied long- term planning and the future of cities, those areas kept coming up, along with some other ones like transportation. In education, there's a lot of innovation going on both in terms of how people learn but also in whom you're teaching and how people who haven't been included in education are incorporated. We also have to tackle these big questions surrounding energy, which underpins everything. If you look beyond that to health care and the Texas Medical Center, there's importance there not just to the region but also relating to big prob- lems in the world." "We need to get a critical mass of man- agement-level talent in the life sciences," said Robert C. Robbins, M.D., president and chief executive officer of the Texas Medical Center. "It's essential that the many students, trainees and faculty members across all of our institutions understand that the fundamental discoveries they're making every day can be translated into new, commercializable drugs, devices and digital solutions to improve the health of humanity." In the medical sector, several major advances are underway that will continue to advance knowledge and improve patient care. Unlocking the mysteries of the genomic profile will give way to a clearer vision of the unique aspects of every disease. We will surely migrate from describing a disease class—such as breast cancer—to defining each case by the individual's genome and treatment will truly be "personalized." "Take a look at the genomics programs at Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center," said William F. McKeon, executive vice president and chief strategy and operating officer of the Texas Medical Center. "These are some of the top thought leaders in the world and they are driving DNA sequenc- ing and analysis to be the gold standard of care at the Texas Medical Center." McKeon thinks that harnessing the infor- mation from genomic analysis will pave the way for more targeted therapies, providing the capability to preemptively attack diseases before they can cause harm. He noted that this is also an appealing option as the costs to sequence the human genome have reduced significantly, and could soon cost less than a conventional blood test. From minimally invasive surgery to the miniaturization of medical devices, advances in technology continue to benefit both patient and practitioner. Pacemakers, first introduced as large devices perched on a cart outside the patient, now reside comfortably under the skin, the size of a quarter. Technology today even allows for some medical devices to be remotely monitored for performance. I'm excited because we rarely take an opportunity to stop for a moment, reflect, and look over the horizon for the next 20 years. — WILLIAM F. McKEON Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Texas Medical Center

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