By John Sutherland, 2026 MBA Candidate & Graduate Assistant, Kelley School of Business
Life Sciences Academy
On December 5th, I had the opportunity to attend the 2025 Life Sciences Conference in Indianapolis, an event organized by the Kelley School of Business, Center for the Business of Life Sciences in collaboration with Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference Series hosted by Ice Miller LLP. This past Friday’s conference brought together leaders from across healthcare, life sciences, policy, and hospital systems. Throughout the day, one theme became clear: the U.S. healthcare ecosystem is undergoing a period of significant transition, and the effects of this moment will shape the trajectory of research, access, and innovation for years to come.
Kristi Martin, Director, Camber Collective, & Former Chief of Staff, Center for Medicare, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The conference featured a keynote session from Kristi Martin (Camber Collective; former Chief of Staff at the Center for Medicare) followed by a multi-sector panel that explored the implications of the recently passed “OB3” legislation. As an MBA student engaged in healthcare and life sciences, the sessions offered valuable insight into how interconnected the system truly is, and how changes in one area can reverberate across many others.
Shifts at HHS: Understanding the Impact on Research and Innovation
Kristi Martin’s keynote provided a focused look at the structural changes occurring across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), specifically examining the impacts to the NIH and FDA. While administrative transitions often bring adjustments in staffing and budgeting, the scale of change in the past year has been unusually large. Significant reductions in workforce and agency realignment have introduced new uncertainty into organizations that play critical roles in scientific discovery and regulatory evaluation.
Martin underscored that the full impact of this period may not be immediately visible. Instead, effects are likely to unfold gradually over the next decade as reduced institutional capacity influences the speed of scientific progress, the advancement of clinical trials, and the overall stability of the innovation pipeline. Her remarks emphasized how foundational these federal institutions are, not only for healthcare policy but also for economic growth, public health preparedness, and the long-term vitality of the life sciences sector.
For students and early-career professionals, the takeaway is clear: understanding how macro-level political shifts influence the innovation environment is an essential part of engaging with the life sciences industry today.
View Kristi Martin’s Presentation Here
Courtney Condon, Sales Vice President – Deloitte Consulting Healthcare Provider Practice; Michelle Brown, Vice President & CFO, Carelon; Heather Falen Ashby, Vice President, Global Government Affairs, Zimmer Biomet; Ryan Urgo, Vice President, Head of US Public Policy, Eli Lilly and Company; Cora Steinmetz, Of Counsel, Ice Miller; and Andrew VanZee, Vice President of Regulatory & Hospital Operations, Indiana Hospital Association
Perspectives from Industry: Navigating OB3 and Market Change
The panel that followed brought together representatives from Eli Lilly, Zimmer Biomet, Carelon, Ice Miller LLP, and the Indiana Hospital Association and was moderated by Courtney Condon of Deloitte Healthcare Consulting. Each offered a unique perspective on how OB3 and broader federal changes may influence their organizations and the stakeholders they serve.
Coverage and Access
Carelon Services and the Indiana Hospital Association highlighted the operational challenges states face as they adapt to new program requirements. Changes in Medicaid and marketplace subsidies have the potential to shift coverage patterns, creating financial and logistical pressures for hospitals, especially those in rural and underserved areas. These shifts require coordination among states, providers, and CMS to ensure that disruptions in funding do not translate into disruptions in care.
Innovation and the Life Sciences Pipeline
Eli Lilly’s representative, Ryan Urgo, and Zimmer Biomet’s representative, Heather Falen Ashby, both discussed how policy and reimbursement environments influence research direction and investment decisions, particularly trade-off decisions between small molecules and biologics. Ensuring patient access remains a core priority, and new models, such as direct-to-patient channels, may play a growing role in maintaining continuity of care.
Supply Chain, Tariffs, and Manufacturing
Heather Falen Ashby and Urgo, representing Zimmer Biomet and Lilly respectively, both addressed how tariffs and global supply chain dynamics affect cost structures and manufacturing operations. Many device and pharmaceutical components are sourced internationally, making domestic production challenging without substantial investment. Andrew VanZee of the Indiana Hospital Association, added that tariffs can increase downstream costs for essential medical products, raising concerns about affordability.
Technology and Prevention
Across the discussion, technology emerged as a key area of opportunity. Panelists pointed to AI, automation, and telehealth as tools that can reduce administrative burden, support preventive care models, and help systems operate more efficiently during periods of fiscal constraint.
A System Defined by Interdependence
One of the most striking insights from the conference was the degree of interdependence across the healthcare ecosystem. Changes in federal workforce, reimbursement policy, supply chain economics, or research funding do not exist in isolation, they influence one another in ways that shape the entire continuum of care.
For the life sciences community at Kelley, this reinforces the importance of developing a broad, systems-level understanding of how innovation reaches patients. From scientific discovery to commercialization to delivery, each stage depends on alignment among public institutions, private industry, providers, and policymakers.
The 2025 Life Sciences Conference offered a valuable opportunity to learn directly from leaders navigating these dynamics in real time. As the healthcare system continues to evolve, events like this play a key role in helping students and professionals anticipate change, understand complexity, and contribute meaningfully to the future of the industry. A big thank you to all the speakers and to Kelli Conder and George Telthorst for organizing!
In presenting the Indiana Life Sciences Collaboration Conference Series, the Kelley Center for the Business of Life Sciences brings together key players for 2026 include: “On the Hunt for What’s Next: Sources of Innovation” on February 27 at the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute in Indianapolis and “An Update on Regulatory Affairs” on May 1 at Cook Medical in Bloomington.
Students and speakers post at the conclusion of the conference.
Leave a Reply