The $1 billion question

Life Sciences Center chief sees herself as state standard-bearer

(Wiqan Ang/for the boston globe)

Susan Windham-Bannister, 57, has a big job before her: spending $1 billion. The longtime healthcare industry consultant was just tapped to run the new Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with overseeing the state's new $1 billion life sciences initiative. The agency is so new that the Carlisle resident is just the second employee. (Melissa Walsh, the center's chief of staff, is the other.) Globe reporter Todd Wallack sat down with Windham-Bannister recently to find out her vision for the job.

Did you apply for the job or were you contacted? I was contacted. Because I've been on the healthcare scene in Boston for a long time, I think people just know who I am.

Did you have any hesitation about the job? I had curiosity. I was aware of the center, but I didn't know much about it.

What is the center's role? The role of the center is really to be the steward of this investment of public tax dollars in the life sciences sector. Massachusetts right now is the gold standard of the life sciences - not my words, the words of the Milken Institute and other organizations that study and rank states. Massachusetts is number one. We want to continue that.

So you get to spend $1 billion? I guess you could say we spend it, but the way I think about is that we get to collaborate with our advisory boards and the stakeholders in this sector to decide what an organization like this can really do in the life sciences to make a difference in Massachusetts and beyond.

How much of the $1 billion is under the discretion of the center? All of it. There are some targeted investments that are specified by the legislation, but we have the authority with the input from our board, our scientific advisory board, and other boards, to make choices about where those funds should be allocated.

Have you figured out a process to approve the funding? We are working on that. The law was officially signed (June 16). We are anxious to get going.

Have you gotten requests for money yet? It's not that people are asking for money. What people are doing is sharing their thoughts about some of the challenges that this organization could effectively help address. I'm getting great ideas, great feedback, great suggestions.

Where will the center be located? We haven't fully decided. Maybe Cambridge. Maybe Boston. The law calls for the development of five technical innovation centers. And I am going to think of them as touchdown offices. We may have a home base, but I might choose to work several days a week at one of those tech centers because this is the Massachusetts life sciences center. I know a lot of the cities and towns in Massachusetts personally. I've worked in Worcester. I've worked in Springfield. I've done work for companies up and down, east to west, north to south. I know in a very hands-on way that all parts of the state have really great things to contribute to the life sciences.

That's interesting. Many people argue one of the strengths of Boston's biotech cluster is how close together companies are located. For certain phases of development, that's true. But when you start to look at manufacturing, when you start to look at the application of these therapies, the delivery of the services, then there are other areas besides being immediately in Boston and Cambridge. A manufacturing operation wants to locate where the cost of doing business, the cost per square foot, is not incredibly high. That doesn't immediately say Boston or Cambridge.

What's your biggest challenge? We can't do everything. We have to make some good choices. We may not be able to please everybody.

How much will you be paid? I'm paid $285,000 a year.

You've worked with a number of local companies as clients. Could you name some? I've worked with Genzyme. I've worked with Vertex. I have worked with Partners HealthCare - with Mass. General and Brigham and Women's. I've worked with Tufts. I've worked with the Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary. I've worked with Harvard Medical School. So, a number of constituents.

What was your doctoral dissertation on? It was called National Insurance as an Issue in Political Economy. And you say what does that mean?

That sounds more accessible than a lot of topics. I was interviewed last year. I was on a talk show, something called Talk America, and it was talking about what will happen with the baby boomers and national health insurance. And I just dusted off my dissertation. It's the same issue. I was talking about what are the implications of having a national health insurance program. What would the implications be for access, cost of care, and innovation?

Any hobbies? I love to read. I like music - I actually play the harpsichord. I ski. I like to work out. I love baroque music. And I amass African art.

Are you involved in charities? I am active in organizations that support young women.