A joint partnership between UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School in Worcester, M2D2 is a business incubator that helps medical-device and biotech startups bridge the gap between idea and market.
Supported by a $7.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), M2D2 will establish a new center to assist inventors pioneering promising new point-of-care devices and technologies for patients with heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. Innovations aim to help patients with these health concerns better manage their well-being wherever they are, seeking to reduce in-patient hospital stays and improve quality of life.
Taken together, heart, lung and blood diseases account for 41 percent of deaths in the United States and lead to more than $400 billion in health-care expenses and lost income to patients and caregivers, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Fact Book for Fiscal Year 2012.
The new initiative, called the Center for Advancing Point-of-Care Technologies (CAPCaT), will be driven by the talent and aspirations of participating entrepreneurs, along with the expertise of scientists, business developers, legal experts and resources available at UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School in collaboration with industry partners. The center is one of four being launched with support from the NIH to help revolutionize patient care and will provide entrepreneurs with seed funding and access to an array of stakeholders including patients, caregivers and clinicians.
Examples of innovations to be developed at the center include:
- Portable devices and sensors that measure the amount of medication in a patient’s blood
- Products that use smart devices to record heart or respiratory rates
- Technologies that alert patients to health changes
The center also seeks to support technologies that promote holistic methods to managing diseases, including devices that measure stress levels or promote mindfulness.
“The new center will address the urgent need to bring to market medical technologies and devices that can be used to provide fast, accurate information to patients anywhere they are, empowering them to better monitor their conditions and get on with their daily lives,” said M2D2 Founder and Director Stephen McCarthy, chairman of UMass Lowell’s Biomedical Engineering Department, who will co-direct CAPCaT.
Entrepreneurs working on innovations that are close to being tested in clinical settings are invited to apply to join the new center. Applicants may be physicians, doctorate-level faculty from any U.S. college or university, or an officer of a small business based within the United States.
Successful applicants will receive seed funding and the support of M2D2’s medical, business and legal experts; professionals in the private sector; and staff from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Entrepreneurs, engineers, inventors and scientists interested in more information should email M2D2@uml.edu.
See also:
M2D2 Chosen to Help Startups Develop Cures for Pandemic Flu, Sepsis
DRIVe: Accelerating National Health Security Innovation
Five Competitors Will Vie for Funding at M2D2 Medical Device Innovation Competition