Physicians pitched projects advancing breakthroughs in cancer care, autoimmune disease treatment, and neurosurgical restoration to Hoag Innovators, a group of philanthropists accelerating innovation across Hoag.
Hoag Innovators is a group of philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders who support groundbreaking ideas from Hoag clinicians and collectively help drive healthcare innovation. The group meets twice a year in a Shark Tank–meets–TED Talks-style pitch forum to hear presentations and determine how philanthropic funding should be allocated. At the Hoag Innovators Spring Meeting on April 30, four physicians presented forward-thinking projects aimed at reshaping how care is delivered and how disease is treated. After the engaging pitches, the Hoag Innovators voted to award more than $1.1 million in cumulative funding to three of the proposed projects.
Together, their projects spanned a novel neurosurgical technique to restore brain function by creating new communication pathways; a cutting-edge cancer therapy using patient-derived “tumor avatars” to predict treatment responses; a next-generation cellular therapy program expanding access to treatments for severe autoimmune and rheumatologic conditions; and a comprehensive health screening model focused on personalized health optimization.
Hoag Innovators voted to fund projects from:
Tiffany Beck, MD, MPH, FACOG
Gynecologic Oncology, Hoag Family Cancer Institute
Project: Using patient-derived organoids to support more precise, personalized treatment approaches for gynecologic cancers.
Ezequiel Goldschmidt, MD, PhD
Cranial Neurosurgery, Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute, Hoag
Project: Advancing a groundbreaking surgical approach to create a functional “brain bypass” aimed at restoring function for patients.
Raghuveer Ranganathan, MD
Program Director, Immune Effector and Cellular Therapy, Hoag Family Cancer Institute
Project: Developing an integrated cellular therapy program to apply advanced immune-based treatments to patients with autoimmune diseases.
Each reflects a commitment to advancing novel, research-driven approaches designed to directly translate into elevated standards of care.
