20 Aug ITHS Biomedical Entrepreneurship Training Series a Major Success
From January to May of this year, the ITHS Technology Development Center brought together seven groups of panelists for a series of hour-long discussions on what it takes to make it as an entrepreneur in the field of biomedicine. The Biomedical Innovation Fireside Chat Series was designed to be a friendly introduction to the essentials, and featured a wide selection of entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts, sharing their journeys and their knowledge. Each session was hosted by a leader from Pacific Northwest regional health sciences program and included time for questions from an eager audience.
Dr. Terri Butler, the Technology Development Center’s Associate Director of Entrepreneurship Training & Commercialization, helped design the series and moderated the first session. “I was amazed at how many people signed up and how engaged they were during the sessions,” she told us. “It was motivating for me because I could tell there was a hunger for information about entrepreneurship in the life sciences field. It’s great to be able to feed that curiosity and help people on their learning journey.”
More than 250 people signed up for the events, and 100% of those who filled out feedback surveys said they would recommend the series to others. Community and academic entrepreneurs from all over the region and even as far as Connecticut tuned in for the free, virtual events.
One highlight of the series was in the first session when Sahil Diwan, CEO of SafKan Health, told the story of his company’s ear cleaning medical device, which came out of his brother’s personal need and idea. Diwan went from being an undergraduate biomedical engineering student, 3D printing prototypes with a few friends, to winning $100,000 in angel investment, to being the head of a company selling the product to hundreds of audiology practices. Another memorable moment came during the session on Therapeutic Product Development, when Dr. Bonnie Ramsey discussed the remarkable nature of the partnership between academia, a non-profit foundation, and industry that worked together over many years with her on her pioneering cystic fibrosis research.
Terri Butler
Dr. Butler is already finding panelists for next year’s series, expected to begin in January 2025. In addition to such subjects as intellectual property strategy, funding and the importance of building a team with a variety of strengths and expertise, she plans to put the spotlight on entrepreneurs working on up-and-coming technologies and those working to address unmet needs in areas where healthcare resources are not widely available. She also hopes to have panels of experts who can give advice about how to navigate the difficulties of working in the US healthcare system.
If you missed any of the events of the inaugural series, you’re in luck, as each session was recorded. You’ll find the recordings along with a full list of the panelists archived on the ITHS website here. The topics of the discussions include:
- Biomedical Entrepreneurship and Its Unique Challenges
- Biomedical Business Models and Funding Sources
- Legal Issues and Intellectual Property
- Pacific Northwest Regional Resources for Biomedical Entrepreneurs
- Regulatory Strategy
- Medical Device Product Development
- Therapeutic Product Development
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