Announcing the founding director of CHIE

Michael Bloom, PhD, has been named the founding director for the Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship and associate clinical professor at Loyola University Chicago’s Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, effective September 1, 2022.

The center was conceived as a hub for health sciences innovation at the intersection of healthcare, social justice, and industry among entrepreneurs, faculty, students, community, and business leaders. Its unifying mission: to reduce health inequities and improve population health for all through entrepreneurship.

“Bloom stood out during our search due to his compelling vision for academic entrepreneurship in helping solve critical issues of health inequities in public health and healthcare delivery through the power of higher education,” says Elaine Morrato, DrPH MPH, founding dean of the Parkinson School. “He brings a long commitment to inclusion, which complements Parkinson’s and Loyola’s Jesuit values and strong support of diversity, equity, and inclusion. I am thrilled to welcome him to our Parkinson School family.”

About Center Director Michael Bloom

Bloom has extensive experience leading major innovation, partnership, and research initiatives in biotech and healthcare for higher education and industry.

He says, “Loyola and Parkinson have the right approach for creating scalable, sustainable solutions for improving societal health and reducing health inequities. It is an honor to bring my experiences and apply what I call the 4 C’s – convening, connecting, collaborating, and communicating – to launch the center and grow its impact.”

Bloom joins Loyola from the University of South Florida where he served as associate vice president for research and innovation. In that role, Bloom led engagement and innovation portfolios, launched the Office of Corporate Partnerships, and supervised the incubation of more than 50 healthcare, medical device, and pharma startups in the university’s Tampa Bay Technology Incubator and Student Innovation Incubator.

He also served as co-chair of the City of Tampa Economic Advisory Committee, advising Mayor Jane Castor on economic inclusion and innovation; co-chair of the University of South Florida Research Task Force on Anti-Black Racism; and co-chair of the university’s Pandemic Response Research Network (PRRN). The PRRN is a university-wide transdisciplinary research initiative to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted over the course of 18 months in the participation of more than 400+ principal investigators, $6 million in research grants, 53 invention disclosures, and three startup companies.

Prior to the University of South Florida, Bloom served as associate vice president for corporate engagement and commercialization at Kent State University, professor of communication and public relations at Notre Dame College, senior vice president for corporate and foundation relations at the Downtown Cleveland Partnership, and marketing communications consultant for biotech and healthcare clients.

Bloom also is an avid theatre professional and spent most of the 1990s working for the Second City Theatre in Chicago and Cleveland, including as producer, musical director, and staff writer for Second City Communications. He received PhD and MA degrees in communication from McGill University in Montreal.