Advocate Health hopes new innovation center will boost medical research, training

LAS VEGAS — Advocate Health hopes its new innovation center in Charlotte, North Carolina, called The Pearl, will be a game-changer for medical research and training in the wake of federal divestment in the sector.

“The healthcare industry is really at a crossroads. We’re facing a lot of headwinds from shrinking innovation budgets and federal funding cycles really drying up,” said Dr. Rasu Shrestha, chief innovation and commercialization officer at Advocate, during a presentation at HLTH 2025 on Monday. “At the same time, we are feeling the tailwind of a growing demand for transformation. Patients, providers, communities: they are demanding better outcomes.”

Since January, the Trump administration has cut funds for medical research at academic health systems like Advocate. Between February and June, for example, the National Institutes of Health awarded about $8 billion less in research grants and awards compared to the previous year and eliminated more than 1,800 active grants.

Shrestha told Healthcare Dive that The Pearl, which opened in June, had been in the works for years before these federal cuts. It is nevertheless fortunate that the project is green light given the many obstacles faced medical financing today.

“The assaults that are being thrown at us in terms of funding cuts and Medicaid and 340B like neutrality — those are all difficult things,” the executive said.

The Pearl is primarily a biotechnology hub allowing Advocate Health and its partners to tackle projects that advance AI tools, such as those that have The capabilities of digital twins, enable early diagnosis of diseases and educate the next generation of healthcare workers, Shrestha said.

The physical space is centered around Advocate’s Charlotte campus for the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, but it also has laboratory space and the North American headquarters of the surgical training institute, IRCAD.

Operations at The Pearl will be driven by public-private partnerships between Advocate Health and corporate partners, including companies that support surgical training, such as ProximyAnd IRCAD North America and those advancing medical technology research, such as Medtronic and Boston Scientific.

Once the project is fully rolled out, Advocate expects The Pearl to generate more than 11,000 jobs in the Charlotte area. It could also help distinguish Advocate from peers Novant Health and Duke Health in a battle for talent in an increasingly competitive health care landscape in North Carolina.

The project is already helping to attract national and foreign talents. IRCAD Last month, it welcomed surgeons from around the world for its launch training, including leaders from China, India, Lebanon and South America. Shrestha said he has since received messages from other international medical professionals interested in working for the health system.

The project announcement follows the Trump administration’s changes to H-1B visa application fees, which could make it more difficult for technology companies and healthcare companies to tap top international talent to work on innovation projects like The Pearl. Last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned that the policy could “hamper economic growth” if foreign workers are unable to participate in the economy.

Still, Shrestha said this is not a major concern for Advocate.

“We have a huge pipeline through the medical school [and] nursing school,” the executive said. “We also have access to tremendous resources and engineering capabilities through other schools that are part of the ecosystem in and around Charlotte.”