Chapter 08: A Commitment to Working in Healthcare –and Addressing Cancer
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Description
Ms. Kaul begins by noting that she began thinking about leaving her role at UPMC as the focus of the Innovation Center began to shift to investment banking. By July 2014 she had left the institution and began doing some consulting work. Through a colleague she met at a conference, she was introduced to individuals in the Texas Medical Center and was invited by Dan Fontaine to interview as the new CIO of TMC/X. She tells the story of how her focus shifted from the Medical Center to MD Anderson explicitly.
Ms. Kaul explains that she was attracted to MD Anderson because of her personal connection to cancer, the commitment that the executive leadership had to innovation, and her attraction to Houston, where she can offer a good lifestyle to her family and children.
Identifier
KaulR_02_20160425_C08
Publication Date
4-25-2016
Publisher
The Making Cancer History® Voices Oral History Collection, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Joining MD Anderson/Coming to Texas; Personal Background; Joining MD Anderson; Professional Path; Inspirations to Practice Science/Medicine
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
0:49.46.2 So how did the opportunity here come about? And when did you start thinking about leaving that position?
R. Kaul, MBA:
I started thinking about leaving that position as that shift started to take place. And so I negotiated an exit at that point, so that enterprises could be created.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
0:50.22.3 And what year was that, about? When was that?
R. Kaul, MBA:
0:50.24.7 That was a year before I got here.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
OK. So 2014?
R. Kaul, MBA:
I got here in -- yeah. Because I got here in July of 2015, I left there in July in 2014. And so, I left and allowed it to be transitioned, and they created sort of an investment banking model. The new leadership is investment banking leadership. And for that year where I had my non-compete, so part of leaving is leaving and running out your non-compete.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
0:51.09.3 Right. Right.
R. Kaul, MBA:
0:51.14.7 I was doing independent consulting for various companies I worked with a bunch of different companies. And I --that we're in a non-competitive space, I worked for -- I did some consulting with an accelerator, I did some consulting with some vendors to help them on their product strategy, things like that. And then in my kind of circles, I was at a conference, and I met a gentleman from Rice University who I hit it off with, and he said, "You know what, I want to introduce you to" -- you know, and I'd let him know that I was ultimately going to be lining up my next full-time opportunity. He said he wanted to introduce me to the Texas Medical Center folks. So he introduced me to Bobbie Robbins over at Texas Medical Center, and so I came for a visit, and Bobbie had asked me to mentor some of the companies in the TMCx. [ ] So ad hoc, in that visit, it wasn't actually even planned, he asked me to come over to MD Anderson and just meet with Dan Fontaine, you know, so that Dan would know me, and kind of sign off that that would be OK if I ultimately ended up joining the Texas Medical Center, right, as part of Bobbie's team. And I had a phone call with DePinho [oral history interview], and I had a face-to-face with Dan during that trip. And when I met with Dan, Dan said, "You should be looking for a job here. We're actually thinking of creating a chief innovation officer role," you know, "You need to apply to that." [ ]
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Yeah, seriously. Yes. When do you have that conversation?
R. Kaul, MBA:
[ ] So, once I got home to Pittsburgh, Bobbie called me and said, "I talked to Dan, and," you know, "He'd like you to apply over there. So why don't you do that?" And so I did, and I went through the interview process here. [ ] And ultimately, the timing worked out that my start date here was just the same week my non-compete finished from UPMC.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
What was it that intrigued you about the position?
R. Kaul, MBA:
Right, because it actually wasn't the only position -- it wasn't my -- I was parallel processing in another large academic medical center as well. And it actually, the timing came out where I ended up deciding between the two. This -- both were similar roles, the opportunity to kind of develop out, build an innovation center, kind of do what I did all over again, and kind of the opportunity to learn from some of the lessons I had in the past, and do it differently. And I have a personal connection to cancer, my mom died of cancer. For me it was kind of an opportunity to make a difference and be connected to that. Really the mission really drove me a lot in taking this job versus the other. And there seemed to be executive-level commitment to kick this off, which is something that's required. And then actually, Houston attracted me. My other opportunity was in New York, which was attractive because I had a lot of family there, and I know New York, I lived in New York, I love New York. But I don't want to raise kids in New York. And I have a six-year-old and a nine-year-old. And when I came here not having really been to Houston, I was impressed, actually, with the kind of lifestyle you could live here in Houston, and what I can provide to my children. The weather, I was done being cold! (laughter)
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Instead you have, you know, hurricanes and all of that, but...
R. Kaul, MBA:
I think I'd rather be hot than cold. It's a personal preference for everyone. I'm responsive to sunlight as well. I like sunny days. I have difficulty in the dark. So, it was attractive. You know? It's a nice cosmopolitan city with nice weather, and reasonable lifestyle. I can live, you know, 10 minutes from the office in a nice community where my kids are safe and comfortable. If I was living in New York, I'd either have to have city living in Manhattan with my kids, which would have been difficult, or had a 45 minute to an hour commute to provide them a nice suburban lifestyle. So, I mean, it just would have been a lot -- it would have been difficult. So --
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
A lot of people comment on that. It's an important factor in making their decision to come here. It is, it's huge.
R. Kaul, MBA:
I mean, for me, my kids drive a lot of my decisions. So, I mean obviously the job was very attractive for all the reasons I stated, but also like as a differentiator, I actually think Houston is attractive. I'm actually surprised, now that I'm here, that there are so many people who work here but don't live here. So I'm not sure I get that yet, maybe I'll learn that over the next couple of years. Maybe there's something I'm missing about how nice it is here.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Just for the record, what are your kids' names?
R. Kaul, MBA:
My nine-year-old son is Armon, A-R-M-O-N. And my daughter, who's six, is Maya, M-A-Y-A.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
All right. And your husband's name? I can't remember if I asked you.
R. Kaul, MBA:
His full name is Siddhartha. Do you know how to spell that?
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
I think so.
R. Kaul, MBA:
Like the book.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Yeah. And do you have the same last name, or...?
R. Kaul, MBA:
Yeah.
T. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
OK.
R. Kaul, MBA:
We all have the same last name, Kaul. K-A-U-L.
Recommended Citation
Kaul, Rebecca MBA and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 08: A Commitment to Working in Healthcare –and Addressing Cancer" (2016). Interview Chapters. 1267.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1267
Conditions Governing Access
Open
