Kipum Lee, PhD, Named President of University Hospitals Ventures

CLEVELAND --Innovation has always been at the heart of how University Hospitals grows, adapts and delivers exceptional patient care. To remain competitive in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape, UH Venturescontinues to build on this foundation-encouraging new ideas, advancing entrepreneurial thinking, and translating promising concepts into solutions.

Kipum Lee, PhD,has been promoted to President of UH Ventures effective today, October 1. Previously, Lee held the role of Vice President, Enterprise Strategy & Innovation.

Lee succeeds David Sylvan, MBA,who will continue to serve as Chief Strategy, Innovation & Marketing Officer of University Hospitals. Sylvan also serves as Executive in Residence, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University.

"Since joining UH a decade ago as part of our inaugural Innovation platform, Kip and the UH Ventures team have played a pivotal role in developing the culture of innovation that now runs throughout our health system," said Sylvan. "Design thinking is a core part of how we approach challenges thanks to this team-whether in process reengineering, product development, strategy formation, service design, or engaging patients and caregivers through a people-first approach. UH Ventures is our engine for this work, and its leadership is vital to our future. I look forward to Kip's leadership in further advancing UH Ventures as a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship."

In his most recent Vice President role, Lee spearheaded and co-designed initiatives that have had impact across the entire health system, including:

• Human-centered design deployments across the UH and its emergency departments, the UH Neurological Institute, and the UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute;
• Innovation programs, which award capital to advance the most promising ideas in digital health, medtech, and care redesign;
• Launch and incubation of the UH Cutler Center for Men, RadiCLE, and the Veale Healthcare Transformation Institute; and,
• Cleveland Innovation District work supporting the Office of the CEO and collaborations with leading organizations such as NASA Glenn Research Center and Eaton Corporation.

Beyond UH, Lee's career demonstrates a longstanding commitment to advancing innovation. Early projects included a mobile health initiative in South Africa recognized by The Economist and development of the Marriott Mobile platform, which became one of the top global mobile commerce applications.

As President of UH Ventures, Lee will drive revenue growth and margin improvement by building business opportunities aligned with UH's enterprise strategy; deploy early-stage capital into promising technologies and solutions; provide strategic leadership in defining and advancing enterprise strategy; and strengthen UH's culture of innovation through institution-building programs and hands-on leadership.

Lee holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University, and Case Western Reserve University, where he also serves on faculty at the School of Medicine and the Weatherhead School of Management. He contributes to thought leadership as a board member and editor for Design Issues, published by MIT Press, and supports Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurial ecosystem through board service, including with JumpStart, Inc.