Health IT

Civic Innovation Lab funds MedCity News

MedCity News received $30,000 and two mentors from the lab, which helps fresh ideas for the region.

Starting in Northeast Ohio, MedCity News will report on innovation, influence and community in the medical industry – a major driver of the region’s economy. For media companies that are challenged to stretch resources as never before, MedCity News offers trusted reporting at a fraction of the cost of producing it themselves.

Thomas Mulready, founder of CoolCleveland, and Earl Pike, chief executive of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, will mentor MedCity News for the Lab. MedCity’s advisers include serial technology entrepreneur Christopher Celeste, and media analyst Lauren Rich Fine. Its technology partner is thunder::tech.

“The lab’s endorsement is a testament we’re heading in the right direction,” Seper said. “Our board and technology partner show we’re dedicated to forging an innovative path in journalism.”

Seper also worked as an assistant metro editor at The Plain Dealer, where as a reporter, he won several awards for his coverage of technology and energy. Before coming to Cleveland, Chris worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and also wrote for The Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor while working as a journalist in Cambodia.

Vanac covered the business of medicine for The Plain Dealer for three years. A career business writer in Northeast Ohio, she joined the Plain Dealer in 2000 after reporting at the Akron Beacon Journal. She, too, has won many journalism awards during her 19 years in the business.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.