Michael Mazzeo, dean and the Knight Family Professor at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, recently announced the launch of a new health initiative - part of the school's five-year strategic plan - that envisions Olin as the premier institution for the business of health and an engine for innovation at WashU.
"Impact - that's what motivates us at Olin. We're focused on creating a positive impact on society through world-class research, education and community collaboration," Mazzeo said. "Our initiative in the business of health reflects and advances that focus on impact."
"The health ecosystem is sprawling. Patients, populations and policies can all benefit from the perspective anchored in Olin's research and education mission. We can teach physicians the skills they need to lead, improve operations through systems and help bring new therapies to patients. We look forward to driving the partnerships that will generate solutions to the deepest societal challenges."
Led by Managing Director Patrick Aguilar, MD, EMBA '20, the health initiative promises to address multifaceted challenges in the health industry by forging collaboration with innovators throughout WashU and the region, preparing students for effective careers in the business of health and spurring commercialization opportunities.
"Olin Business School is well situated in the St. Louis region with institutional partners at WashU - including the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health - as well as partners throughout the community that are focused on making health better," Aguilar said. "From pharmaceutical companies to insurance providers, physician groups and hospitals, the region is rich with resources that contribute to making lives longer and better.
"Through our faculty expertise and the students we train, we believe Olin Business School can be a valuable partner to drive health solutions and maximize impact.
"Furthermore, I'm excited about the students who are entering the business school interested in health and am eager to show them what we have to offer."
For students of all backgrounds - pre-med, humanities, engineering - a business education can provide a pragmatic way to pull together their thoughts and insights and help them effectively accomplish their goals.
Patrick Aguilar
Building the foundation
Olin's health initiative is focused on four key pillars: Research and scholarship, curricular design, commercialization and executive education.
- Research and scholarship: Olin faculty are already engaged in meaningful health-related research, Aguilar said. For example, Sydney Scott, an associate professor of marketing, investigates consumer engagement with medical products through the lens of moral beliefs, which has generated important insights for both physicians and public health experts. And Tony Sardella's transformative work on returning production of critical pharmaceutical ingredients to the U.S. has brought millions in funding to the region and is helping to mitigate drug shortages.
Olin plans to continue and build upon this scholarship by strengthening relationships with WashU Medicine and the School of Public Health, as well as industry partners.
- Expand course offerings and experiential learning opportunities: In addition to the existing undergraduate degree in health-care management, Olin will launch a health concentration in the Master of Business Administration program this summer. "We are working with corporate partners to understand the skills they need in their workforce and are committed to building out our degree content program in ways that are attractive to students and prepare them for jobs in the industry across the country," Aguilar said.
Through Olin's Center for Experiential Learning, the school also will offer students opportunities to work on projects that address specific health industry challenges. This hands-on experience is invaluable in equipping students with both broad business understanding and specialized health industry insights, Aguilar explained.
- Support commercialization of biomedical research: Through educational sessions, individual coaching and network connections, Olin will partner with researchers at WashU Medicine and throughout the university to help transform their scientific discoveries into solutions that benefit patients in the region and beyond.
"WashU is committed to transforming its world-class research into innovative therapies and meaningful technologies that benefit society and drive economic growth," said David. H. Perlmutter, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of WashU Medicine.
- Executive education: The final pillar of this initiative will be expanding executive and specialized continuing education programming to help health leaders stay up to date in the ever-changing health industry.
By combining WashU Medicine's expertise in groundbreaking discovery with Olin's expertise in business strategy, we can accelerate the path to commercialization. This new initiative marks a pivotal step in WashU's efforts to expand its commercialization opportunities, and I'm excited to work with Dean Mazzeo to bring it to life.
David. H. Perlmutter
Building bridges
In launching the health initiative, Olin's initial focus has been on establishing tighter collaborations with WashU Medicine and the School of Public Health.
"I am grateful to Dean Perlmutter and Sandro Galea, inaugural dean of the School of Public Health, for their sincere commitment to making these partnerships work," Mazzeo said. "Those collaborations will help make sure that students across the campus benefit from faculty expertise and that our work is cohesive and leverages the full power of WashU."
That focus on cross-campus collaboration is what will set Olin's business of health program apart from other schools, Aguilar said.
"There are a number of places where health-care management or health administration is done really well," he said. "We believe our program will be unique because we'll maintain the full breadth of business education and offer a deep dive into health, and we'll do that in partnership with our schools of medicine and public health.
"Many places have separated this out where either the business school or the public health school has this thought leadership around health management. At Olin, we're committed to being partners and working closely with our colleagues in medicine and public health to build a community that asks and answers these questions together. It's about leveraging the entire strength of WashU, not just one school's capabilities."
About Aguilar
Aguilar knows firsthand the value of a business education for medicine. As a pulmonologist and an assistant professor of medicine at WashU Medicine, Aguilar was promoted to director of the Medical Critical Care Program in 2018.
"What I realized quickly was that I was well trained to be a physician but didn't have skills to appropriately think about managing a busy practice," he said.
Aguilar began taking executive education programs and then enrolled in the MBA program, completing his degree in 2020. "Through the program, I developed a deep understanding of the value of management science in health care and how training doctors to think about their role in larger organizations could make things better for both patients and doctors," he said.
Returning to Olin to lead the new health initiative was an opportunity Aguilar couldn't resist.
"Olin has a deep bench of talent in research, teaching and community partnerships that can pair with thinkers of all types from around the institution to make health better. I think it's amazing to be a part of that and to help make it a successful venture," he said.
