durham inc.
BIZBRIEFS Compiled by Sinclair Holian
ON THE MOVE
Dr. A. Eugene Washington, chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and president and chief executive officer for the Duke University Health System, will step down from both roles on June 30, 2023. During his tenure, Dr. Washington oversaw the establishment of Duke’s Population Health Management Office and the Department of Population Health Sciences within Duke’s School of Medicine, in addition to the university-wide program Healthy Duke, which aims to improve quality of life for students, faculty and staff. Dr. Washington also helped to establish the Center for Nursing Research and a multidisciplinary program to accelerate medical research called Translating Duke Health. Behavioral scientist and Duke University Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Gary Bennett was appointed as the new dean of Duke’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. Bennett begins his term on Feb. 1, succeeding Valerie Sheares Ashby, who stepped down in summer 2022 to become president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and interim dean Mohamed A. F. Noor. Avaya, which helps customers implement communication
solutions, announced the retirement of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kieran McGrath on Nov. 9 as the company continues a transition to subscription and cloud-based services. Global consulting firm AlixPartners Managing Director Becky Roof stepped in as interim CFO, while McGrath remained with the company in an advisory capacity through Dec. 1.
AWARDS & HONORS
A 42Floors study named Durham the No. 6 best place to start a business among U.S. cities, citing a high concentration of coworking spaces relative to population size, relative affordability and a high proportion of highly educated professionals. For the second year in a row, the Durham-Chapel Hill metro area ranked No. 6 in technology innovation among the 100 largest metros by population in the nation. The Tech Innovation Index analysis released by the NC Tech Association compares technology worker supply and demand, and innovation. The Durham-Chapel Hill region ranked No. 1 in business-funded higher-education research and development, No. 3 in innovation, No. 7 in work demand and No. 9 in tech worker demand. The Durham-Chapel Hill area ranked as the No. 2 affordable mid-sized metro area (where the cost of living is below the national average) with the most workers in occupations paying a median wage of more than
$100,000 annually. The study, conducted by How to Home, found that 15.3% of workers in the area are in jobs with salaries that average six figures or higher. Durham ranked No. 37 among the top U.S. cities with resilient economies in a report by financial news site SmartAsset. On a 0 to 100 scale, Durham scored 75.81 for employment, 79.22 for housing, 43.02 for social assistance and health care, and 63.38 for economic stability. The Healthcare Technology Report named Thomas Denny, a Duke University School of Medicine professor and chief operating officer of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery, one of 2022’s top 25 health care technology COOs.
MOVEMENT & DEVELOPMENT
Durham County voters approved a $112.7 million bond referendum that will enable Durham Technical Community College to construct two state-of-theart health care and life sciences training facilities and expand its Main Campus; $74 million is allocated toward constructing an 86,000-square-foot building for health care training programs and a pedestrian connector across East Lawson Street to the Educational Resources Center, with $35.2 million to be put toward a 35,280-square-foot life sciences building. The remaining $3.5 million will be used to purchase new land parcels.
in September. The round was led by the Dr. William H. Joyce Family Office, with contributions from existing funders The Launch Place, Cofounders Capital and Triangle Tweener Fund. Pattern intends to use the funds to improve its technology and fuel company growth. NC IDEA, a private foundation that supports entrepreneurship in the state, awarded $10,000 each to 15 startups during its ninth NC IDEA MICRO grant cycle in October, including Durham-based startup Committees, a web application to help grad students stay organized during their dissertation and thesis process. Tech platform Roobrick received a $3 million series A investment from Durham-based growth equity firm Jurassic Capital. The Roobrick platform, which currently serves more than 1,300 senior living communities and more than 10,000 consumers monthly, helps older adults and caregivers navigate age-related care and lifestyle decisions. Research Triangle Park’s Fennec Pharmaceuticals secured a closing of $20 million in funding from Petrichor Healthcare Capital Management in September, following a $5 million closing between the entities in August, and approval of sodium thiosulfate injection PEDMARK by the Food and Drug Administration. PEDMARK is used to reduce the risk of drug-induced hearing loss associated with chemotherapy drug cisplatin in pediatric patients with localized, nonmetastatic solid tumors.
FUNDING
Durham-based digital health company Pattern Health closed a $3.3 million series A funding round
december 2022 / january 2023
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