Organizations across the Pittsburgh region and other markets are working hard to attract and retain talent. One factor that continues to resonate with people, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a desire to live with purpose and find roles where they have impact.
The Altruism in Medicine Institute is working with talent in settings as varied as health care, education and law enforcement to develop resilience and avoid burnout, which can lead to reduced turnover and greater job satisfaction.
Though founded in California, the institute has since relocated its headquarters to Pittsburgh. To date, it has trained about 3,000 nurses through a partnership with UPMC Health Plan and is expanding its trained to include law enforcement as well as people who work in Parks and Recreation. Future plans include training for Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Barry Kerzin, the institute’s founder and president, said he chose Pittsburgh as a home base because of the region’s dedication to improving social determinants of health.
The Pittsburgh region’s life sciences sector hit record levels of innovation during the past two years, with an ecosystem that is gaining strength and diversity.
Scott DiGuglielmo, director of agency brokerage at Burns Scalo Real Estate, said the region’s life sciences investment is being driven by the talent within the area’s hospital systems and research facilities at the area’s universities.
Among the major investments driving sector growth are more than $1 billion in hospital expansions for Allegheny Health Network, which launched the AlphaLab Health accelerator in 2020 with seed-stage investor Innovation Works, and UPMC’s spend of more than $2 billion in three new specialty hospitals, with an additional $1 billion earmarked to commercialize new drugs, diagnostics and services.
Last year, Pittsburgh was named one of the top global emerging startup ecosystems and one of the top global emerging ecosystems in funding by the Startup Genome & Global Entrepreneurship Network. In addition, WalletHub named Pittsburgh one of the top U.S. metros for STEM jobs.
“Our role is how to design and program the robots that will actually install the new navigation system onto the (satellite). This is an incredible opportunity to work together toward an ambitious goal. No one knows how to refuel spacecraft such as satellites and telescopes. If we’re successful, we will.”
Howie Choset, CMU Professor of Robotics, Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering on the university’s plans to recycle or revive non-functional space satellites
