By Darbi Durham, Director of Communication and Advocacy
Illinois Chamber Board Member and Founding President and CEO of Assurance Health, Jason Crites, began his journey a couple of years ago, forming his own trusted third-party data platform. Assurance Health Data allows universities and hospitals to safely, securely, and in a privacy enabled fashion, share data to help find answers to complex scientific problems while allowing them to monetize their stranded data assets. While working for his previous employer, Jason received a call from his mother that his nephew was in the hospital with a diagnosis they found to be non-curable and a very rare disease.
‘Leigh’s syndrome became an obsession of mine to bring disparate data together to help scientists find cures for cancer and rare diseases,’ said Founding President and CEO Jason Crites. With his desire to find answers to help his nephew and his family, Jason discovered it was difficult for researchers to obtain data in a quantity and quality required manner to find insights necessary for discoveries.
‘We found it was very difficult for researchers within the same university to share data and nearly impossible to share with other universities or pharmaceutical partners,’ said Crites. Not just the large amount of time spent obtaining funding for new and existing research, but data assets also created are often not monetized. ‘I am passionate about utilizing ethical data capture and use as core competencies and competitive advantages vs. the cost of doing business in the “land grab” approach to data acquisition and analytics,’ says Crites.
Assurance Health Data works with some of the world’s most advanced universities, biotech, pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies, enabling them to solve complex scientific problems around all things cancer and rare diseases. With the personal experiences Jason has faced, his father’s stage four prostate cancer, to his nephew’s non-curable disease, Jason knew he had to create a platform that was able to share and find answers to complex scientific problems. Crites responsibilities at Assurance Health Data are the overall strategy and execution of this startup company. ‘I have a passion for the ethical use of data and technology to advance precision medicine,’ said Crites.
There are many positive benefits to locating Assurance Health within Illinois. Not only is downstate Granite City, Illinois where Jason Crites grew up as the proud son and grandson of steel workers, ‘Illinois has some of the greatest universities, engineering, and technology talent,’ said Crites. ‘Being able to go to a world-renowned University, UIUC – Civil Engineering,’ provided several opportunities throughout Jason’s career to stay in Illinois and allowed him numerous opportunities Chicago has to offer.
The global pandemic hit the nation hard in many ways. For many, it left people and businesses in a sudden pause as everyone began to transition into a virtual business environment. For Assurance Health Data, Jason notes their clients stayed initially distracted while the company stayed active with key projects the company had been working on. ‘We are cautiously optimistic about the return to normal business as our state and nation becomes herd immunity in sufficient numbers,’ says Crites.
“It gives me great satisfaction to ensure all citizens of our state have a voice during our Chamber board meetings,” Jason finished. “The work the Illinois Chamber does is very important and I am proud to help share that message.”