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"If you're persistent, you can get there. If I think it's gonna be meaningful, I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Amy Hay, Chief Business Officer at CTMC, shares how she transformed ground-level patient care experience at MD Anderson into high-impact leadership that reshaped cancer treatment delivery. She traces her path from MD Anderson's first-ever internal administrative fellow to spearheading the institution's first proton therapy center and pioneering satellite clinics—including a "flea-bitten" Bellaire, Texas facility that became a runaway success by prioritizing convenience, compassion, and continuity of care. Amy recounts the audacious multi-year journey of raising 125 million dollars by assembling an unlikely coalition of clinicians, physicists, investment bankers, and construction operators, weathering the shock of 9/11 and frozen capital markets, then pivoting to purpose-driven local investors like firefighters' and police officers' pension funds whose communities are directly impacted by cancer.
Along the way, Amy reflects on the challenges of intrapreneurship inside a major academic medical center, the unexpected emotional letdown that follows a "big win," and how that restlessness ultimately pushed her toward global oncology. She shares how collaborations with Hospital Albert Einstein in São Paulo, the American Hospital in Istanbul, and other international partners expanded her perspective beyond elite U.S. centers, sharpening her focus on access, alignment, and building care models that work across diverse health systems—not just in Houston.
Key topics covered:- Standing out internally: How Amy became MD Anderson’s first internal administrative fellow by connecting frontline experience to C‑suite impact.
- Building a Proton Therapy Center: From a vision with no budget to a 125 million dollar project, and what it took operationally and emotionally to make it real.
- Pivot after 9/11: Why the team abandoned traditional Wall Street fundraising and turned to firefighter and police pension funds aligned with the mission.
- Patient‑centric satellite care: Transforming a “flea‑bitten” Bellaire clinic into a beloved extension of MD Anderson by prioritizing convenience, continuity, and compassion.
- From Houston to global oncology: Amy’s shift from U.S. academic medicine to building international cancer networks and improving access to quality care worldwide.
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Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Find our guest, Amy Hay at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amychay/Website: https://ctmc.com/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:Proton Therapy for Cancer Treatment (patient-friendly overview) – https://www.cancer.org/cancer/managing-cancer/treatment-types/radiation/proton-therapy.htmlHow Radiation Therapy Works – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_therapyUnderstanding Pension Funds and Mission-Driven Investing – https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pensionfund.aspHealthcare Intrapreneurship and Innovation in Large Organizations – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9530418/Satellite Clinics and Access to Care in Oncology – https://www.accc-cancer.org/docs/documents/oncology-issues/articles/2022/v37-n3/filling-the-gap-app-utilization-to-meet-care-needs-in-oncology.pdf?sfvrsn=d68651de_6Global Disparities in Cancer Care Access – https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:MD Anderson Cancer Center: https://www.mdanderson.org/Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein: https://www.einstein.br/enMassachusetts General Hospital: https://www.massgeneral.org/Loma Linda University Medical Center: https://lluh.org/
James Cox, MD https://www3.mdanderson.org/library/hrc/legacies/cox.htmlRitsuko Komaki, MD https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritsuko-komaki-11a14918/
Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:46 Landing the coveted MD Anderson administrative fellowship04:57 Discovering a passion for ORs, labs, and radiation oncology07:10 Vision to build MD Anderson’s first proton therapy center09:40 Transforming a “flea‑bitten” Bellaire satellite into a patient favorite11:40 Starting the proton center project with no budget and a “proton family”14:20 Fundraising pivot after 9/11 and partnering with local pension funds19:18 Building and operating the Proton Therapy Center with Hitachi technology21:32 Lessons in alignment, teams, and “intrapreneurship” inside MD Anderson24:34 Boredom after success and realizing most cancer care happens in the community26:40 Global oncology work with Hospital Albert Einstein and other international partners29:15 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business
and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.
