Michael A. Harris, Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics in the Institute on Development and Disability at Oregon Health & Science University and OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, pitched the Novel Interventions in Children's Healthcare (NICH) program at the 83rd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego. (Courtesy of Michael A. Harris)

He took the stage before an online and in-person audience of more than 1,000, with mere minutes to pitch an idea to three judges, each representing a potential funder. After his five-minute presentation, he fielded the judges’ rapid-fire questions in hopes of winning the competition and securing the ultimate prize.

It sounds a bit like a reality TV show, but that was the whole point.

Michael A. Harris, Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics in the Institute on Development and Disability at Oregon Health & Science University and OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, was pitching a program that helps young people with diabetes who face incredibly challenging social circumstances at the 83rd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego. The first-ever American Diabetes Association Innovation Challenge allowed applicants to pitch judges from three prestigious organizations in hopes of winning one-on-one time with each of them, and ultimately, funding.

Harris co-developed Novel Interventions in Children's Healthcare (NICH) in 2011 with his colleague Kimberly Spiro, Ph.D. NICH significantly improves the care and treatment for young people with complex and chronic health conditions, who experience a disproportionate amount of social burden. The program supports young people who have diabetes and other medical conditions in accessing the highest level of health care while also helping them navigate complex social situations, such as houselessness, transportation challenges, underemployment, and unemployment, among many others.

NICH team members, known as interventionists, are dispatched into the community and lives of these young people to help families navigate the local siloed health care and social services system, and bring resources to the family.

In his pitch, Harris shared a story about a teenage patient who had been admitted to OHSU for Type 1 diabetes complications 22 times in a single year. With help from NICH, her blood sugar levels improved, and she did not require any additional hospitalizations. She’s now living independently and enrolled in nursing school.  

“Through NICH, we’re impacting the most vulnerable who, to no fault of their own, are buried under a mound of social challenges,” Harris said. “Diabetes, along with other chronic and complex health conditions, is incredibly difficult to manage, even under the best of circumstances. When you add social challenges, it becomes nearly impossible.”

Harris was one of six finalists from a competitive pool of more than 60 applicants. The audience and judges cast their votes, and NICH was named a winner of the Innovation Award, along with two others. The honor gives Harris bragging rights and access to the judges, who represent three potential funders: Helmsley Charitable Trust, Swiss Diabetes Venture Fund and Startup Health.  

“People are looking to invest in the kind of work that we’re doing here,” Harris said. “One notable thing for NICH and OHSU is that we were the only finalists who are operating in the ‘social drivers of health’ space, which makes our win even more significant.”

The basis for the competition is to accelerate the path from concept to commercialization around new ways of treating and caring for people with diabetes.

“Our goal is to support innovation and expose these potentially life-changing ideas to partners who can provide the resources and guidance needed to move forward and advance patient care,” said Chuck Henderson, chief executive officer of the ADA. “We congratulate the winners for their work and celebrate all that’s ahead.”

For Harris and the rest of the NICH team, that looks like growth and expansion throughout Oregon and beyond. NICH has 17 interventionists in Oregon, in cities such as Portland, Bend, Salem, Eugene and Coos Bay. In addition, NICH was launched at both Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.

“OHSU has afforded us the opportunity to do this by providing support and resources,” Harris said. “I feel like we’re really walking the walk when it comes to intervening in the social drivers of health for our most vulnerable youth and should be held up as an example of what can — and should — work.”