Local partnership is leading to big health innovations

Randy Yatscoff. Image supplied.

Randy Yatscoff is a health scientist, an innovator with over 20 patents and a local community builder on the board of Edmonton non-profit Health Cities. 

The former biotech executive has more than a decade of experience providing guidance and mentorship to local startup companies on technology commercialization, investor relations and securing funding.

He was also an academic for 17 years, most recently at the University of Alberta.

A professor of laboratory medicine and pathology and the director of the U of A Hospital's labs, Yatscoff’s passion for health innovation began during those academic years. 

“It was a busy time for me at the U of A. I ran the labs, taught classes, had grad students and did research,” says Yatscoff. “I also began getting involved in developing new health technologies, which led to developing a new immunosuppressive drug that was eventually approved by the FDA for treating autoimmune kidney disease.” 

Yatscoff’s interest in innovation led him to leave academia and enter the corporate world. He eventually became CEO of a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, before leaving to become executive vice-president of business development at TEC Edmonton. In that role, he coordinated a group of individuals who assisted startup technology companies to develop their products. 

One focus of TEC Edmonton was promoting health sciences through the establishment of a Health Accelerator. 

“When the Health Accelerator was finished, we wanted to keep the health-sciences innovation that was happening there going, and that led to Health Cities being born,” says Yatscoff.

Health Cities is a local economic-development agency that helps Alberta health innovators scale and deliver their solutions to the public.

They engage with clinicians, innovators, philanthropic organizations, industry and academia to address key health challenges, secure funding and bring new ideas to life.

They also have an important relationship with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

“Many of the health innovations that Health Cities assists with come through the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry,” says Yatscoff. “Health Cities has a strong partnership with the University of Alberta.”

Those ties also led to the formation of the Yatscoff Family Award in Medical Entrepreneurship, which rewards new ideas in medicine found to have entrepreneurial potential. The award is specifically limited to students in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

“During my years at the U of A, I saw many good ideas in health technology that never saw the light of day. We want to motivate students to present and develop their ideas. We want to see bright minds in medicine get experience with inventing and bringing ideas forward,” says Yatscoff.

“Even if those ideas don’t end up as businesses, just the experience they gain could lead to something bigger down the road.”

To students thinking of applying for the award, Yatscoff says to be creative and confident. 

“Don't think your idea doesn't merit consideration. Put it out there. It's important for students in the medical sciences to focus on coming up with new ideas. If this gets some to focus, then we’ve been successful.”