Annette Walker guides a $1.5 billion investment in bringing City of Hope’s leading-edge cancer care to Orange County. Under her leadership, City of Hope first opened the Irvine-based Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, which expanded outpatient access to comprehensive specialty care and clinical trials for thousands of patients who previously had to drive to Duarte. A 73-bed hospital across the way is set to open by the end of this year as the only Orange County hospital focused exclusively on treating and curing the disease. The City of Hope commitment to innovation in treating and curing cancer propels Walker.
Tell us about something being developed in Orange County.
City of Hope is one of the leaders in clinical trials across the country. One of the studies we’re going to be kicking off here is about early detection – where you can detect cancer through a blood test. The vision is that it would be very inexpensive and could be done annually.
How does being in Irvine help City of Hope Orange County?
The city has done everything it can to help us place our facility and get it open. Irvine itself has been a big attractor for the kind of faculty we’re recruiting: They want to live in a beautiful community that’s safe. They want to live in a place that has great schools. They want to live in a multicultural community.
How do you help support innovation?
We have a culture of curiosity and of, “You know, why not?” I just find the best way to use our resources to fulfill the mission. We do it through facility planning. We do it through staffing, and we do it through cultivation of donors.
Move fast and break things is a mantra in technology. What is yours?
Fail fast and learn from it and move on. When something’s not working, don’t hold onto it with your fingernails or your pride.
