Praxis CEO Bill Barrable Interview with the Canadian Business Quarterly (CBQ)

Praxis CEO Bill Barrable talks about consumer engagement at Praxis, and how our Commercialization program supports an ecosystem of innovation through our Incubate and Accelerate programs in a recent interview with the Canadian Business Quarterly.

Excerpt from the editorial:

On top of all the exciting research and incredible ideas for commercialization, Mr. Barrable admits that the organization delivers its most meaningful work in the engagement of people with spinal cord injury in its methods.

“If we do that early, we do it well, and we do it consistently, it will elicit a much-improved outcome for them, in their health, in their wellbeing. This is something that people in organizations talk about, but they don’t necessarily do it with consistency. This is something that we are really striving for because we know it makes a difference.”

In the past, studies have been supported that look great methodologically and in terms of peer review, but unless they have relevancy to people with spinal cord injury, they are not going to make a difference in the long-term and on a large scale.

“That is where this is so critical,” Mr. Barrable says. “We’ve included people with spinal cord injury in our commercialization programs, where we incubate and we accelerate innovation, in addition to the research itself. This is central to our success.”

This approach defines the Institute as a new kind of charity. A lot of organizations focus only on research, innovation, or implementation – but Praxis does all three, with implementation being the key piece of this structure, to make sure that the ideas are put into use.

Read the full editorial here.

Listen to the podcast interview below.