Cultivating Innovation: CCI and Advancing Healthcare

Dr. Aileen Helsel is the current Interim Director for Carilion Clinic Innovation (CCI), a catalytic agent and resource for regional innovators and creatives within the Carilion healthcare system. Since beginning her role as Interim Director in April 2022, Dr. Helsel oversees the healthcare system’s efforts to develop and market disruptive Carilion inventions while also expanding the region’s biotech and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Dr. Helsel has an extensive biomedical research background and after spending years at the bench she started working with Washington State University (WSU), where she successfully licensed and commercialized life science innovations. Dr. Helsel then moved across the country to begin working with CCI in 2021, where she continues to guide disruptive ideas to the marketspace.

About Carilion Clinic Innovation: Carilion physicians, nurses and staff make unique discoveries through their research, and continuous improvements to the care they provide our communities. Some of these discoveries are innovations with commercial potential. First and foremost, they can benefit patients in our community. When inventions are brought to market by an Industry partner or spun out as a startup, patients across the country and globe may benefit from our employees’ curiosity and commitment to innovation.

Host: Brett Malone
Editor and Producer: Becca Halm