Local industry leaders continue to discuss how Tarrant County can continue this momentum and foster an ecosystem to continue leading the country in medical innovation.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 2, the Fort Worth Report is bringing that discussion to the public through its final Candid Conversation event of the calendar year. The panel will feature innovators from universities, the private sector and the county\u2019s hospital, bringing them together to speak about the future of Fort Worth as a medical innovation hub.<\/p>\n
Join us for our latest Candid Conversation\u00a0<\/p>\n
The topic is building a major medical innovation hub.<\/p>\n
Panelists:<\/p>\n
Kirk Calhoun, M.D., FACP, president, UNT Health Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
Tricia C. Elliott, M.D., FAAFP, senior vice president of academic and research affairs, JPS Health Network.<\/p>\n
Elyse Stolz Dickerson, CEO and co-founder, Eosera.<\/p>\n
Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., founding dean, Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at TCU.<\/p>\n
The panel will be moderated by Ismael M. Belkoura, health reporter for the Fort Worth Report.<\/p>\n
When: Complimentary breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. Dec. 2. The discussion begins at 8 a.m. Tickets are available by clicking here.<\/a> Medical innovation in Tarrant County was not born when TechFW was founded in 1998.<\/p>\n In May 1947, Alcon Laboratories Inc. was founded as a small pharmacy in Fort Worth and began manufacturing specialty pharmaceutical products. Now, the company is a global leader in eye products, with their annual revenue this year reaching $10.185 billion.<\/p>\n In a statement to the Fort Worth Report, Alcon chief operating officer Ian Bell said the city \u201chas certainly nurtured Alcon since our founding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday, Alcon is proud to be part of an exciting expansion of Fort Worth\u2019s healthcare ecosystem<\/p>\n as it sets the pace for medical innovation,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n In the early days of the company, no other local business came close to matching the company\u2019s growth, said Thomas O. McDonald<\/a>, a longtime Alcon employee and the author of \u201cAlcon Laboratories \u2014 A Vision Fulfilled, 1947-1997.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlcon was the pioneer innovator in the medical pharmaceutical industry in Tarrant County,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cI don\u2019t know of any other company that was started shortly after the Second (World) War that became as successful and dominant in its industry as Alcon did.\u201d<\/p>\n Decades later, companies began to branch off from Alcon as its brain trust would leave to create new businesses. McDonald referenced DFB Pharmaceuticals, which was founded in 1990 by John Feik, a former Alcon employee, and Paul Dorman.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were other companies that came along later, and some of these actually came into existence because of Alcon,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n Building a long-term base<\/p>\n The turn of the century was an important inflection point for Fort Worth medical innovation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although companies in the industry had begun to call Cowtown home, local leadership started to provide support for new businesses to sprout, Boudreaux said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we certainly had medical innovation \u2014 Alcon started here, that generated a whole lot of employment in the area for a long time \u2014 but we weren\u2019t having lots of new companies start up,\u201d Boudreaux said. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t the infrastructure to help them start.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That support came with money. In 2005, the city and UNT Health teamed up to help inject TechFW with money alongside state funding. The nonprofit has supported over 200 businesses since its inception in 1998.<\/p>\n The region has recently received attention for the medical innovation work being done. North Texas was awarded in 2023 the federal designation<\/a> of Customer Experience Hub for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although no company since has been as monetarily prosperous as Alcon, the city boasts several successful medical startups. In 2020, Exact Diagnostics was purchased for $60 million<\/a>. ZS Pharma was bought<\/a> in 2015 for $2.7 billion.<\/p>\n Tarrant County companies being bought or moving from the region is not necessarily a bad thing, Boudreaux said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is what happens with that money. The people here in town who started those companies, they\u2019re Fort Worth people. They don\u2019t go buy a yacht \u2014 they invest in more companies,\u201d Boudreaux said.<\/p>\n Additional investment has come in the hospital district. The city designated the region in Near Southside as a Medical Innovation District in 2023. That formal designation allows the region to attract more businesses and research.<\/p>\n In the few years since the creation of the Medical Innovation District, TCU opened its medical school and Texas A&M University announced the planned creation<\/a> of a biomedical repository just north of the district. Alcon also announced the opening of a new research center in the district last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Research and investment will contribute to \u201csubstantial economic impact over the next decade\u201d for the region, said Dr. Dimitrios Karamichos, vice president of research and graduate studies at UNT Health.<\/p>\n \u201cInvestments in medical innovation, university research, biotech and healthcare expansions not only improve access to high-quality care but also create thousands of jobs and attract additional biotech and medical companies,\u201d Karamichos said.<\/p>\n From Boudreaux\u2019s perspective, investment into medical innovation should not and probably will not stop.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a competitive world out there. If you stop, you lose,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
Where: Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus Action Suite. Complimentary parking is available at the garage on Cherry Street and Belknap Street.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CandidConversations.jpg\")
From left to right: Dr. Kirk Calhoun, Dr. Tricia C. Elliott, Elyse Stolz Dickerson and Dr. Stuart D. Flynn will be the panelists at the Fort Worth Report\u2019s Candid Conversation event on Dec. 2. (Photo collage created by Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)
\nA storied, innovated beginning<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0930-Alcon-01-.jpg\")
Various buildings make up the Alcon compound at 6201 S. Freeway in Fort Worth on Sept. 30, 2025. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A7400472-1.jpeg\")
Fort Worth\u2019s Medical Innovation District, located just west of Interstate 35W in the Near Southside, is home to the city\u2019s major hospitals, independent health clinics and medical education institutions. (Courtesy photo | Austin James, Near Southside Inc.)<\/p>\n
![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cc-by-nd-4.0.png\"\/)
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