The Rosenman Institute, a medical technology partnership between California Institute for Quantitative Bioscience (QB3), the UCSF Department of Surgery, the UCSF Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences (BTS), and Friends of Dan Rosenman, was conceived and started development last fall. It will be launching a symposium this Wednesday, June 4th with the purpose of introducing the Rosenman Institute to the Bay Area medical device community and raising awareness among surgeons/clinicians and bioengineers of what the Rosenman Institute can do for them. There will be a panel discussion with the Rosenman Fellows to better understand the breadth of experience the Rosenman Fellows offer that can help bring your ideas to commercialization. The other event speakers include experts on innovation, entrepreneurship, and finance in the medical device field.
We took the chance to interview Christine Winoto (QB3 Assistant Director) to learn more about the plans for the Institute.
Janelle Chang, Medgadget: What is the focus of the Institute and what does it hope to accomplish in the first few years?
Christine Winoto: Our mission is to drive medical device innovation and education at UCSF and improve patient care by helping entrepreneurs develop technologies from concept to commercialization. Entrepreneurs may come to us from the university or the wider Bay Area community (similar to QB3’s interaction with biotech entrepreneurs in general). In the first year we plan to spin off two device companies a year, ramping that up to ten a year within three years.
Medgadget: When was the inception of the institute and can you share the story behind it?
Christine Winoto: QB3 has been known to be successful in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in drugs, diagnostics and industrial biotechnology. Now, with the encouragement and support of the UCSF Department of Surgery and the Department of Bioengineering, we are addressing the opportunities to do the same in the medical device space. It is natural to have this initiative here at UCSF, where it has some of the best surgeons in the world and a leading bioengineering program. Many of Dan’s friends and former colleagues are experts in different aspects of the medical device field, have volunteered to serve as Rosenman Fellows, a vital and novel component of the institute to honor Dan and continue his legacy. The Rosenman Fellows are a group of sophisticated leaders from the medical device arena committed to give at least one day per month of their time to mentor in engineering, business creation, regulatory policy, reimbursement possibilities, and other challenges faced by new medical device entrepreneurs/companies.
The institute is named for the late Daniel Casper Rosenman, who dedicated 25 years to the field of medical devices. Dan was an innovative designer of novel medical technologies serving diverse clinical areas including cardiology, cardiac surgery, urology, general surgery, and ophthalmology. He led R&D efforts from the initial founding, to financing and through commercialization in multiple startups. Dan was inventor or co-inventor on 40 U.S. patents and co-founded BioCardia, an interventional cardiology device company. His passion was not only the rapid design of innovative products, but also bringing them to clinicians and patients within a short time period and in a way that focused on the human factors, as well as clinical utility. He was known not just as a brilliant and innovative designer and inventor, but also as a person with a strong moral compass and a genuine focus on human healing and care.
Medgadget: Who comprises the management team and what is their specific roles in the development of the institute?
Christine Winoto: The model is that concepts will be developed by surgeons/clinicians from the Department of Surgery and other department in UCSF. Engineers will come from BTS, coordinated by UCSF professors Shuvo Roy and Tejal Desai. Entrepreneurship support will come from QB3 (we’re looking at converting our original incubator at UCSF, the “QB3 Garage,” to an all-medical-device startup lab). Advice at all stages will be provided by the Rosenman Fellows. Operations will be managed under QB3 at this time.
Medgadget: What programs will the Institute focus on initially? What will be the basis for selection?
Christine Winoto: We don’t discriminate within the medical device field. Proposals will receive support depending on how viable the concepts are from the engineering, regulatory, and market standpoints. The go/no go decision will be made by our advisory committee—largely formed by Rosenman Fellows.
Medgadget: How is the institute currently being funded?
Christine Winoto: Operations of the Rosenman Institute itself are funded through the University of California. Legal support will be pro bono from law firms. Pre-commercial support for research may come from the Rogers Family Foundation of Oakland. Seed investments may come from QB3’s venture arm, Mission Bay Capital.
If you are in the Bay Area and would like to attend the launch, please stop by Byers Auditorium, Genentech Hall, UCSF Mission Bay on Wednesday, June 4, 2014 between 1:00 and 5:30pm.
For Agenda and registration, visit http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rosenman-institute-launch-symposium-empowering-the-next-generation-of-medical-innovators-tickets-11174484183
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