The Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) of Southeast Wisconsin will be holding a Health care Innovation Pitch Event modeled off of the ABC Network show “Shark Tank.” The event will be done in collaboration with the Wauwatosa-based Bridge to Cures Inc.
Selected applicants will be able to pitch their ideas to a panel of life science venture capitalists from across the country in December. Top overall health care innovation startups presented at that event will be eligible for prizes valued at more than $100,000.
Prior to the pitch event, applicants will submit ideas this summer for consideration. Selected applicants will participate in a free mentoring boot camp, where they will learn how to turn their idea into a commercial plan around which a business could be formed, create a business plan and participate in networking events.
“Health care costs continue to rise, and yet many health care needs remain unaddressed. There is a pressing need for new medical interventions as well as more efficient and effective ways to deliver health care in the U.S. and globally,” said Daniel Sem, president and chief executive officer of Bridge to Cures. “The academic institutions in southeastern Wisconsin are home to technical and business innovators in drug and device development, diagnostics and informatics; this event provides opportunity to be a catalyst for health care evolution.”
The application deadline is July 15, and the final pitch event is scheduled for Dec. 4.
Affiliated with the Medical College of Wisconsin, CTSI is part of a national consortium of top medical research institutions. Working together, the CTSI institutions are committed to improving human health by streamlining science, transforming training environments and improving the conduct, quality and dissemination of clinical and translational research. The CTSI program is led by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Bridge to Cures has formed a partnership with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and six southeastern Wisconsin research institutions, leveraging over $150 million in annual health care research. This partnership provides access to regional discoveries, scientists, physicians and health care entrepreneurs.
In other CTSI news, it will be hosting a lecture and luncheon on Monday at 11:45 a.m. in the Medical College of Wisconsin Alumni Center. Dr. Chris Austin, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS, will address the state of clinical and translational research in the country and NCATS’ vision for the future of translational sciences.
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