Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/662005
t m c » p u l s e | a p r i l 2 0 1 6 12 12 A s the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences and Festivals—a world-renowned convergence of creative content and new ideas in the music, film and tech industries—increasingly becomes the go-to place for health innovation, it comes as no surprise that the Texas Medical Center had a large presence at this year's festival. Nine TMCx Accelerator companies participated in competitions and Texas Children's Hospital collaborated with three other top children's hospitals to host a pediatric pitch competition. In its 23rd year, SXSW Interactive, the festival's incubator of emerging technology and digital enter- prise, hosted 19 different tracks that encompassed everything from sports, government, food, education, and health and medical technology. "I remember complaining, 'We've got rock stars coming for SXSW Music, we've got movie stars coming for SXSW Film, and all we've got for this Multimedia and Interactive thing is a bunch of geeks,'" said SXSW Interactive Director Hugh Forrest, recall- ing a conversation he had with his boss in the 1990s. "It's a vast oversimplification, but in that space of time, between then and now, geeks have become rock stars." TMC at SXSW The Texas Medical Center thrives at SXSW Interactive as the festival enters its second year featuring health care and medical technology B y S h a n l e y C h i e n Noninvasix CEO Graham Randall, Ph.D., earned a second-place victory at the Impact Pediatric Health Pitch Competition. Although the prevailing zeitgeist of SXSW Interactive in previous years has been focused on social media, gaming, and retail and e-commerce com- panies, a new wave of emerging health care startups are thriving in collaboration with each other, trying to solve a slew of health-related challenges at SXSW's second annual health care track. In addition to panel discussions with health care professionals and venture capitalists, SXSW Interactive featured several pitch competitions—including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Shark Tank-inspired HackMed Barracuda Bowls—that brought health technology and medical device ideas to the forefront of discussion. "Every American knows health care has tremen- dous waste and is ripe for solutions that will create better outcomes, based on real data," said Katherine Chambers, chief executive officer of current TMCx company The Right Place and MIT HackMed Barracuda Bowl winner. "In today's world it's a shame we have more solutions and tools as consumers in retail, travel, social engagement and educational models through technology solutions, but that health care is still playing catch up. Our health is the most personal and important thing we have, so shouldn't technology play a strong role there to help us all live lives more fully?" AOL co-founder and former CEO Steve Case emceed the second annual Impact Pediatric Health Pitch and welcomed founders of 10 startups to present their innovative solutions for unique challenges in pediatric health care to a panel of judges representing the nation's top children's hospitals, including Boston Children's Hospital, Cincinnati Children's, Texas Children's Hospital and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. One of the judges, Jennifer Arnold, M.D., medical director of the Pediatric Simulation Center at Texas Children's Hospital, said she regularly sees the direct impact and value of cultivating a culture that encour- ages entrepreneurs to develop innovative products and solutions geared toward improving pediatric health care. "Focusing on pediatric health and health care startups is critical to moving health care for our most fragile patients, infants and kids, forward," Arnold said. "In a system where the focus tends to be on adult health care and innovation, the ability to support those companies willing and interested in focusing on advances in pediatrics is crucial. Without support- ing their work, pediatrics will continue to lag behind in innovation." It's a vast oversimplification, but in that space of time, between then and now, geeks have become rock stars. — HUGH FORREST Director of SXSW Interactive