UH Health Names Beto López Executive Director of Institute for Digital Healthcare Transformation
HOUSTON, Sept. 17 — UH Health has named Beto López, an innovation leader with extensive experience in healthcare, entrepreneurship and venture capital, as the inaugural executive director of the Institute for Digital Healthcare Transformation at the University of Houston.
López will lead the new institute’s university-wide efforts to develop and commercialize technologies that improve healthcare access, delivery and outcomes, building partnerships to move promising innovations from research into real-world use.
“Beto understands that breakthrough technology alone doesn’t transform healthcare — it has to be designed around the needs of patients, providers and communities and have a clear path into practice,” said Jonathan McCullers, vice president for health affairs at UH. “His experience spanning academic healthcare and venture capital equips him to bring together researchers, healthcare organizations, entrepreneurs and investors. This makes him uniquely suited to lead this institute and help turn the University’s innovation into solutions that improve people’s lives.”
Bridging Healthcare, Design and Entrepreneurship
López has spent more than two decades building and leading innovation efforts across the private, public and academic sectors. He spent 10 years at IDEO, a global human-centered design and innovation consultancy, leading more than 100 projects for Fortune 500 companies and public agencies.
He later joined the founding executive team of UT Austin’s Dell Medical School, where he co-founded and served as managing director of the Design Institute for Health. López went on to co-found a social venture studio and venture capital fund focused on healthcare innovation. His work included leading digital health and population health initiatives with Houston-based Legacy Community Health and investing in technology-enabled ventures focused on maternal health, aging and mental health.
“Most digital health initiatives and commercialization efforts start with the technology and hope adoption follows. But the translation gap isn’t a science problem — it’s a scaffolding problem between researchers, the community and the market,” López said. “I’ve spent the past 10 years building that scaffolding in places that weren’t wired for it, and I’m looking forward to building it here at UH to help ensure new healthcare technologies reach the people and communities that can benefit from them most.”
Turning Healthcare Innovation into Impact
Launched in August under UH Health, the Institute for Digital Healthcare Transformation brings together expertise in medicine, engineering, business, law and other disciplines to advance the development and deployment of new healthcare technologies.
The institute focuses on technologies including artificial intelligence, wearables, sensors and mobile health applications, while providing researchers with commercialization support, entrepreneurial expertise and connections to healthcare and industry partners.