News that’s out of this world is making headlines this week at SXSW.
On Monday, MMW learned that Rice University and Energizing Health have announced a new health innovation platform grant awarded from the NASA funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH).
The grant funds the Collaborative Health Innovation Platform (CHIP) which will enable users from government organizations such as NASA, academia, and industry to connect with a global network of entrepreneurs and researchers. CHIP matches technologies and qualified start-ups with healthcare organizations with defined pain points to personalize innovation outcomes.
“While startups affecting space-health may have the most inventive products, they may also be the most capital constrained. We want CHIP to help us find and fund technologies for space, but then connect them to healthcare organizations on Earth that can optimize and extend their reach,” says Dorit Donoviel, Director, Translational Research Institute for Space Health. “Eventually, we intend for CHIP to be a unique one-stop-shop of collaboration, investment, and incubation for all biomedical technologies.”
CHIP was introduced during SXSW to over thirty of the nation’s health innovation leaders at a private Sunday morning gathering. Prior to the announcement, several of the executives had already been reviewing how the CHIP platform could be leveraged on behalf of their healthcare organizations.
“Investors and funding organizations can use CHIP to engage with cutting-edge health technologies being developed by innovators in universities, hospitals, research institutes, or industry startups,” says Yael Hochberg, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Rice University. “The platform will allow for corporations and other large organizations to use the knowledge we have gained from this project to more easily identify and partner with startups.”
“The CHIP platform is not just about research – It has implications for the global health and medtech startup community,” says Brian Lang, CEO, Energizing Health. “Our research with Rice will arm us with better knowledge about the needs of startups and large organizations. CHIP can then integrate those insights in a constantly growing machine learning environment that can be made available to large organizations who are looking for startups with specific technologies or solutions.”
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