Jorge Cortell-Albert

Senior Advisor, Health and Life Sciences
Harvard University Innovation Labs

Jorge is the Senior Advisor, Healthcare and Life Sciences at Harvard Innovation Laboratories, serving all 13 Harvard University schools, and faculty member at several Harvard Medical School Executive Education programs. He is also a Founding Partner (GP) at Unveil Pharma, board member at Lysando (pharmaceutical company world leader in antimicrobial proteins), a Harvard College Fund President's Associate, and a Harvard HealthLab Accelerator Mentor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 
A former Venture Partner at NLC, Europe's largest Healthtech Venture Builder (100+ health tech ventures), Jorge helped build (in his portfolio) 7 of them. Previously, as a serial entrepreneur, Jorge founded 6 startups (5 exits and one shut down) in 3 countries. He's a former professional basketball player, member of the European Commission Expert Group on Venture Philanthropy and Social Investments, and UBS' Industry Leaders Network.

His innovations in healthcare technology, deployed in 15 countries to treat 80 million patients, include inventing the first open-source and model-independent AI application platform in healthcare (2019); designing and developing a multimodal platform for the rapid diagnosis, intervention scenarios, and resource planning for pandemics (introduced days after Covid19 was declared a pandemic in 2019); inventing the first precision medicine software platform (2014); designing the first vendor-neutral digital pathology dicomizer (2012); and developing the first commercially available augmented reality system for surgery (in 2008).

He has delivered keynote talks at events like HIMSS, RSNA and the World Longevity Forum, guest lectures at institutions like Oxford, MIT, and Stanford, while having taught innovation at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Open University of Catalonia. At Harvard, Jorge served as Venture Innovation Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard (TECH) in the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) while also serving as an Expert-in-Residence and Mentor at the Harvard Innovation Laboratories (i-lab).

First generation college student, he graduated from the University of Oxford (Computer Science), MIT (Entrepreneurship Development Program), and the University of Valencia (postgraduate in Clinical Genomics), receiving innovation and academic awards from: NASA, HIMSS, IBM, Digital Pathology Association, Frost & Sullivan, and the Wall Street Journal. 

Speech title & Synopsis

​MedTech and Digital Health Commercialization at Harvard University

At the forefront of healthcare innovation, the convergence of medical technology (MedTech) and digital health is redefining patient care globally. In this talk we will explore this transformative synergy and its implications for the healthcare sector. We'll also introduce a new Harvard Medical School Executive Education course designed for Asian technology companies aiming to penetrate the US healthcare market and announce two new Asian investment funds.

The session will commence by dissecting the individual and collective impacts of MedTech and digital health, emphasizing groundbreaking devices, diagnostics, wearables, and the digitalization of health data. We'll examine real-world examples where this partnership has enhanced patient outcomes and operational efficiency, such as AI-assisted diagnostics and telehealth services.

The challenges of data interoperability, data security, and maintaining ethical standards in patient care will be addressed. We will also unveil a groundbreaking Executive Education course offered by Harvard Medical School, tailored specifically for leaders of Asian technology firms looking to navigate the complex US healthcare market. This course promises to equip participants with the insights and strategies necessary for successful market entry and expansion.

Moreover, we are thrilled to announce the launch of two new Asian investment funds—one focused on Biotech and the other on MedTech—dedicated to nurturing innovations emerging from the Harvard Innovation Labs. These funds represent a commitment to support the commercialization of cutting-edge research and development with the potential to impact healthcare delivery on a global scale.

Concluding the talk, we will look ahead to the challenges and opportunities for MedTech and Digital Health in the coming years.