The story below is a preview from our July/August 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
There is a lot of construction going on at Carilion, but that’s not all that’s new.
Former Carilion President and CEO Nancy Howell Agee put it succinctly when she stressed that all that construction over at the Riverside campus has a very real purpose: “Throughout my career, many times people have had to go elsewhere for care, including my husband. Nobody should have to go elsewhere for care.”
Dan Smith
A 3D-printed pre-surgical planning model of a bone tumor (blue) on the shoulder blade (white), generated from CT scans.
That is a bold pronouncement by a visionary leader, but it is not limited to the construction of buildings. The people in those buildings are already bringing innovation in care, devices, methods and distinct improvement in health care for this region of Virginia. Those people, says Carilion Clinic Innovation (CCI) Director Aileen Helsel, PhD, aren’t all engaged as inventors, physicians or executives. “A lot of what we do is in-house,” she insists. “We don’t have to go outside Carilion for solutions.”
Ryan King, PhD, is Carilion’s Innovation Manager, who says, “Collaboration is one of our values.” He points to the incubator building where medical startup businesses can thrive. There is considerable new product potential being developed. Carilion has 13,000 employees, King points out, “and ideas can come from anywhere. Carilion leans into innovation. … Innovation is what we choose to do. It is not a job description.”
There is a simulation center within the century-old former trolley barn that houses Carilion’s Center for Simulation, Research and Patient Safety. “It is unique,” he says. “It combines all the assets we have.”
Dan Smith
Carilion’s Center for Simulation, Research and Patient Safety was once a trolley barn.
Helsel talks of “partnering with startups outside Carilion … giving access to what they need to get to market, figuring out what they need, nurturing the companies.”
Over the last five years, CCI counts 100 invention disclosures, with more than 90 inventors and filed more than 45 patents. Currently, 12 inventions are in active development, with 31 active patents.
One innovation of late is LymphaVibe. The lead inventor of the lymphedema sleeve is Carilion therapist Tara Newberry. She is not normally an inventor, but her therapy work led to the idea. The sleeve can be worn anywhere, and patients hardly notice it is there, says King. Virginia Tech engineering students helped reduce the sleeve’s size, making it more practical.
GO Virginia has approved $14.3 million to support Project VITAL: Virginia Innovations and Technology Advancements in Life Sciences. “That will establish new research cores, expand workforce development programs and create a collaborative network connecting Virginia Tech and other academic institutions with industry partners across the commonwealth’s biotechnology corridor,” says the press release.
Want to discover how Carilion Clinic is revolutionizing regional healthcare through homegrown innovation and cutting-edge partnerships? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our July/August 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!