Our 40 Under 40 Healthcare Innovators of 2015

8. Cris DeLuca 

Building relationships, taking risks and trying to keep things in balance – that’s been the key to Cris De Luca’s current success. As the new head of digital innovation for the Boston-based Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center, DeLuca sees himself as a matchmaker first, marrying innovative new medicines with consumer products and devices.

“I’m personally monitoring the moves of big tech companies as they continue to make their foray into healthcare,” he says. “This can have important implications for life sciences.”

How does one infuse the nimbleness of innovation into a traditional organization? DeLuca credits Robert Urban (IC Head), with this idea: “It’s one thing to throw the term innovation; but it’s another to actually carry a creative culture and open thinking.”

A family man, DeLuca is amazed by how much you can learn from kids. He spent his summers in Southern Italy growing up, and even considered following in his grandfather’s footsteps and producing wine and olive oil. “I was always enchanted by the creation of amazing products from the land,” he says.