Healthcare & Biotech

Sacramento – September 15, 2026 -- Health Net, a Medi-Cal managed care plan and Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) subsidiary, has invested $2 million in Stanislaus Equity Partners (STEP) to provide gap financing for 50 shovel-ready affordable housing developments in Stanislaus County.

Multi-year grant targets funding shortfalls blocking ready-to-build projects

The multi-year grant will be deployed by STEP through a mix of grants, forgivable loans and low-interest loans, structured to unlock additional public and private capital for developments that are otherwise stalled by financing gaps. STEP said the flexible tools are intended to accelerate delivery of affordable units and reduce displacement risk for residents across the county.

Uniondale, N.Y. – September 15, 2026 -- Marquis Who's Who has included Monib A. Zirvi, MD, PhD, in its biographical volumes, recognizing more than two decades of work in dermatology and diagnostic genetics as a related patent dispute involving Illumina Inc. reaches final resolution.

Zirvi Has Practiced Dermatology at Summit Health Since 2004

Dr. Zirvi has served as a dermatologist with Summit Health and as an attending physician at Atlantic Health System's Overlook Medical Center since 2004, focusing on general dermatology, skin cancer detection and hair and nail disorders. Summit Health named him among its 2026 Castle Connolly Top Doctors. He is board certified by the American Board of Dermatology and holds a courtesy instructor appointment in microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine, where he earned his MD and PhD.

Palo Alto, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- UpDoc has been selected by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as lead performer in the Agentic AI-Enabled Cardiovascular Care Transformation (ADVOCATE) program, securing an award of up to $9.2 million. Microsoft, OpenAI and NVIDIA are joining the UpDoc-led team as supporting partners.

United States – September 15, 2026 -- Hyundai Motor America has committed more than $300 million to pediatric cancer research since 1998 through its Hope on Wheels program, a figure the automaker is now amplifying with a new national campaign, The Mark of a Warrior, timed to National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September.

Hyundai ties campaign launch to a diagnosis every 36 minutes

One child is diagnosed with cancer every 36 minutes in the United States, according to Hyundai, underscoring the urgency behind a 28-year fundraising effort that has supported research benefiting more than 40,000 children. The company, its dealer network and buyers of every new Hyundai fund the program.

New York – September 15, 2026 -- Marwood Group, a healthcare-focused advisory and consulting firm, has secured a strategic investment from Lee Equity Partners to fund acquisitions and senior team hires as it expands beyond its core policy and reimbursement advisory business.

Chris Librizzi departs EY-Parthenon to take Marwood's CEO role

Librizzi joins Marwood after five years leading EY-Parthenon's US strategy consulting business. He previously built and led EY's firmwide corporate strategy function and sat on the company's US Board and Executive Committee. At EY-Parthenon, he oversaw diversification into new customer segments and offerings, developed new products and client solutions, and led senior hires and acquisition integrations.

El Segundo – September 15, 2026 -- JAANUU, the physician-founded medical apparel brand, has expanded its sponsorship deal with the Los Angeles Kings for the 2026-27 NHL season, adding a dedicated Healthcare Professionals Appreciation Night to the partnership.

Kings and JAANUU add themed game night on October 13

The expanded agreement, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, will see the LA Kings host the Edmonton Oilers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. for the inaugural Healthcare Professionals Appreciation Night presented by JAANUU. Every ticketed guest at the game will receive a co-branded foam puck, while JAANUU will run interactive activations, giveaways and contests throughout the arena.

New York – September 15, 2026 -- Global Action to End Smoking has issued a grant to The University of Chicago to expand smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction support for prospective living kidney donors, aiming to increase the pool of eligible donors amid a severe organ shortage.

Kidney demand vastly outstrips supply as nearly 4,000 died waiting in 2023

More than 109,000 people are on the U.S. organ transplant waiting list, with roughly 95,000 awaiting a kidney, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations reported that nearly 4,000 individuals died in 2023 while waiting for a kidney donation. Because donation centers typically require donors to abstain from smoking before surgery due to elevated complication risks, tobacco use disqualifies otherwise willing living donors.

Arlington, Va. – September 15, 2026 -- Daniel H. Gillison, Jr., CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), has been named to The NonProfit Times 2026 Power & Influence Top 50 list, an honor tied to a $59 million gift secured from donor MacKenzie Scott. Gillison will be recognized at the 20th Power & Influence Top 50 Gala on September 17 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

NPT credits Gillison with modernizing NAMI's crisis infrastructure

The NonProfit Times stated that Gillison "modernized the nation's largest grassroots mental health nonprofit, built cross-sector coalitions and secured investments from donors, including MacKenzie Scott, who gifted $59 million." Under his leadership, NAMI launched the National Collaborative for Crisis Systems Innovation, a hub designed to align and strengthen behavioral health crisis care, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis helpline program.

Washington – September 15, 2026 -- Donation after circulatory death (DCD) heart transplantation expanded rapidly across the United States between 2019 and 2024 without any measurable decline in early clinical outcomes, according to research published in the September 2026 issue of the Journal of Cardiac Failure (JCF).

Registry data on 1,489 patients show no rise in graft failure or mortality

Investigators analyzed U.S. registry data covering 1,489 adult DCD heart transplant recipients, comparing the early adoption period of 2019-2021 with the national expansion period of 2022-2024. The analysis found no significant differences in one-year graft failure, mortality, need for renal replacement therapy, re-transplantation or hospital length of stay between the two periods. Outcomes remained consistent even among higher-risk recipients, as DCD transplantation spread to a growing number of transplant centers nationwide.

Newark, N.J. – September 15, 2026 -- NovaOne has launched a modular healthcare platform that merges preventive, curative and specialty behavioral health services into a single contract, aiming to eliminate the fragmented vendor stacks that health plans and employers have relied on for years.

Platform cuts time-to-care from 50 days to under five

Members are screened across more than 15 clinical risk areas and routed to in-network providers proven effective for their specific conditions, reaching evidence-based care in under five days on average, compared with a national average exceeding 50 days.