About Christopher Coburn
Coburn is the Chief Innovation Officer for Mass General Brigham in Boston, one of the largest hospital systems in the United States. At MGB, Coburn and his team lead business development, investments, company creation, corporate alliances, commercial strategy setting, licensing, and innovation management. Through his decade of leadership, his team created over $160 million in commercial revenue, helped 300 companies spin-off of MGB, managed a $500 million venture fund, and began and grew the World Medical Innovation Forum. All of these achievements support MGB as the nation’s largest academic research enterprise with over 6,600 Harvard Medical School Faculty and 85,000 total employees.
Coburn attended John Carroll University and graduated with a bachelor of arts. He received his master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in science policy at George Washington University in 1981. After serving the public in governmental roles at the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and The Ohio Washington Office, Coburn focused even more on the use of his science policy degree as the science and technology advisor to Ohio’s governor in 1984. In Ohio, he managed a team of 90 people and Ohio’s $10 million investment into technology and development. Over his seven-year stint, Coburn positioned Ohio as a technology competing leader and also served as the deputy director for Ohio’s Department of Development and Executive Director of Ohio’s Thomas Edison Program.
In 1991, Coburn transitioned from government roles to business when he became Vice President of the Battelle Memorial Institute, an organization that provides scientific solutions for environmental, health, national security, and infrastructure industries. In a business setting, Coburn successfully increased revenue, engaged more clients, and grew his team to 70 people. In 2000, he moved to the Cleveland Clinic as the founding director of the Clinic’s Innovation team, where he established the National Innovation Alliance.
Today, Coburn still uses his academic background by dedicating his time on multiple boards. He guides others with his expertise through the board of directors at the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI) as well as the board of advisors for software development company Mason, digital and broadcast company GBH, and Boston’s Museum of Science.
Coburn’s family has a long legacy at John Carroll University. His wife, Nancy, and father, siblings, and nephew are all alumni.
About Dr. Michael R. Anderson
Dr. Anderson is a pediatric critical care specialist who currently serves as Senior Advisor for the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Dr. Anderson also leads the Physician Leadership Development Program at Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C.
Dr. Anderson is a frequent guest speaker on national news programs and panels bringing clarity and logic to the nation’s ongoing battle against public health misinformation. Previously, he served as President and CEO at Benioff Children’s Hospital/UCSF in San Francisco and Oakland, California, as Chief Medical Officer for University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, and as Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.
Dr. Anderson has published and presented on a variety of pediatric topics including safety/high reliability, pediatric disaster preparedness, and the physician workforce. As President George W. Bush’s appointee, he served as Vice Chair of the National Commission on Children and Disasters. In 2014, he was appointed by the Obama Administration to chair the National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters at HHS.
Dr. Anderson believes deeply in giving back to his community and has served on several nonprofit boards including the John Carroll University Board of Directors, the Jesuit Friends and Alumni Network, the Ignatian Solidarity Network, MedWorks, the FBI Citizens Academy Foundation, Cuyahoga Health Alliance Program, the Children’s Museum of Cleveland, the Community Advisory Board for Cleveland State University’s Urban Health Program, the Bay Area Council, the Joint Powers Authority Health Care Committee, and the San Francisco American Heart Association.
At JCU, Dr. Anderson received the Beaudry Award in 1986, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2017, and the Alumni Medal in 2022. In 2019, he was awarded an outstanding alumni award by Shrine High School in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Dr. Anderson received his MD from Case Western Reserve in 1990 and his MBA in Health Care from Kent State University in 2013. He completed his pediatric residency from the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in 1993 and his pediatric critical fellowship from Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in 1997.
For more information on John Carroll University’s 2023 Commencement Exercises, please visit https://jcu.edu/commencement.
