USC’s 7th Annual Global Supply Chain Excellence Summit to Examine Current State of Humanitarian Aid

When USC's 7th Annual Global Supply Chain Excellence Summit commences in August, the agenda will again address issues related to cutting-edge technologies and practices now being embraced by leading supply chain managers worldwide.

The U.S. Pacific rim, after all, has been the incubator for disruptive technology, supply chain transformation, and blockchain solutions for some time now, so a focus on these trends should come as scant surprise. But many young attendees are also likely to find the program's “humanitarian logistics” track most compelling when considering a career in this business.

The men and women comprising this panel represent the very best range of services in this dynamic and growing industry segment, which at the same time, epitomizes the mantra of “innovation.”

Consider, for example, Pierre R. Theodore, MD, who is a board-certified Thoracic Surgeon with a particular interest in minimally invasive surgery, and surgical education. But he's also a Vice President, in medical devices, at Johnson and Johnson where he leads humanitarian missions from San Francisco to his home country of Haiti. He calls this his “passion project.”

“After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, where my family is from, I traveled there and saw patients who died unnecessarily after trauma and childbirth,” he recalls. “It was the first time I saw what it meant to be resource-limited in a healthcare setting, and I was very struck. When you see misery in the world that you can do something about, it encourages a certain responsibility, and I felt I needed to help.”

Today, he leads other prominent surgeons from the Bay Area to offer medical care and help build infrastructure in the hospitals there.

“When you engage in infrastructure building,” adds Theodore, “you create a system that's able to provide care for innumerable people in need.”

With over 80% of the world's population living within 5 miles of a coast, far too many communities still remain in remote poverty, observes Dr. Benjamin LaBrot, founder of Floating Doctors, a nonprofit organization which utilizes a highly versatile approach to a dynamic health environment.

“Poorly charted waters and rugged terrain, political factors, social disenfranchisement, poor health knowledge, poverty and lack of infrastructure separate these communities from care,” he says.

Floating Doctors recently partnered with Specialist Direct, Inc., a “telehealth” company created to diagnose diseases quickly and accurately in the region regions of extreme poverty. Together, the share of mission dedicated to healthcare logistics and delivery.

Another notable new partnership formed recently is that between Flexport.org and MedShare, which leverages reverse logistics to recycle medical supplies and equipment.
According to Susy Schonberg, Head of Flexport.org., MedShare has gained a new level of visibility into their supply chain, ensuring that critical goods will reliably reach their destinations, no matter how remote.

“We recently joined MedShare to send off one of their containers to the Philippines,” she says. “This container, managed by Flexport, will treat 12,500 patients in need at the Indigenous People's Hospital.”

The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) has also responded with logistical support to overseas destinations, but more recently, it found work right here in Golden State last year.

The Camp Fire, near Chico, California and the Woolsey Fire in northwest Los Angeles killed scores of people while injuring thousands more, leaving them homeless and without shelter.

“We were thankful for the overwhelming response we received from members of the logistics community,” says ALAN Executive Director Kathy Fulton. “Various companies stepped up to help us fulfill requests for everything from forklifts and pallet jacks to logistics space and transportation services. And that in turn helped us make a considerable difference for disaster survivors.”

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