On Thursday, October 17, 2019, the Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI) hosted “Innovation Jam 2019,” as part of the School of Medicine’s inaugural Research Week. Innovation Jam is an annual event that offers Duke’s brightest minds an opportunity to pitch ideas to improve patient care and health at Duke to Duke Health leaders. Some of the ideas may also have the potential for commercialization. Manesh Patel, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiology and co-director of Duke Heart Center, facilitated the event and led investment selection discussions.
Six teams of faculty members, trainees and students presented their ideas for the development and commercialization of new devices, diagnostics, and digital therapeutics.
Two innovation ideas won awards from Duke Institute for Health Innovation which include funds to pursue the projects:
- “The First Synthetic Biomimetic Osteochondral Graft for Knee Cartilage Repair,” proposed by Benjamin J. Wiley, PhD, associate professor of chemistry; Jonathan Riboh, MD, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; and Ken Gall, PhD, professor of Mechanical Engineering and Material science.
- “ReadyView: Increasing Access to Laparoscopic Surgery,” proposed by Tamara Fitzgerald, MD, assistant professor of surgery, Jenna Mueller, PhD, postdoctoral associate in biomedical engineering; Sarah Dunn Phillips, senior manager of engagement at the Duke Global Health Institute; Natalie Rozman, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering; and Duke undergraduate students Aryaman Gupta and Samantha Kost.
The winner of the Microsoft Innovation Award was:
- “SafineAI—Intelligent Microscopes for Automated Pathology,” proposed by Kanghyun Kim, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering; Amey Chaware, a graduate student in electrical and computer engineering; Pavan Chandra Konda, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in biomedical engineering; Roarke Horstmeyer, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; and Pratik Bokadia, a graduate student in biomedical engineering.
“This year’s Innovation Jam saw an exceptional group of innovators present ideas that all have the potential for high-impact on patient care and more generally, on health,” said Suresh Balu, director of the Duke Institute for Health Innovation, and associate dean of innovation and partnership in the Duke University School of Medicine. “The DIHI team is proud to advance Duke Health’s ambitious goal of being at the forefront of real-world, implementable health innovation and in supporting our outstanding faculty, staff and students in doing so.”