Innovation Ecosystem Resources

This course is designed to build skills in academic entrepreneurship for post-doctoral and clinical subspecialty fellows. It takes place in Fall 2023 during seven weekly, 3-hour, in-person skill-building sessions. All CHOP Faculty, Staff, and Personnel are eligible to apply.

During this course, students will be exposed to the fundamentals and general process of academic entrepreneurship in the context of pediatric medical device development and will work with tools and skills that can be broadly applied to other entrepreneurial uses and to general research in the future.

Students will participate in self-reflective exercises and be exposed to potential future collaborators and mentors in academic entrepreneurship-- gaining insights about themselves and their own interest in being an academic entrepreneur. CHOP & University resources will be shared throughout the course to help guide participants on their journeys beyond the course. Learn more detail about the course.

This awareness and skill building 1-hour session shares the exciting stories of academic entrepreneurs, describes potential MD and PhD career paths in Academic Entrepreneurship and highlights CHOP-Penn resources to support you on this path. This class also provides a preamble to the full professional development course and is held few times a year with speakers and stories varying session-to-session. Sign up to receive IE's invites and newsletter for alerts about this class.

Innovation Pathway Curriculum Modules

These 12 MyCareer Learning modules can be reviewed independently, in teams, or with a facilitator. They progress through steps of innovation and creative problem solving using tools like Design Thinking and Quality Improvement frameworks. The modules were developed by the Department of Nursing and Clinical Care Services alongside the Innovation Ecosystem team CHOP employees can access modules from MyCareer's Learning.

Recorded Presentations on Innovation

• "Introduction to Academic Entrepreneurship Career Paths". Katie Reuther, PhD, MBA, Executive Director at Penn Health-Tech. April 11, 2023. Innovation Learn and Connect Series
• "Navigating Conflict of Interest in Academic Entrepreneurship." Dr. Flaura Winston, Director, Innovation Ecosystem; Scientific Director, CIRP; Zev Sunleaf, Vice President, Technology Transfer, Commercialization and Research Contracts; Patrick Egan, Senior Director, Compliance Operations and Conflict of Interest; Janet Holcombe, Vice President, Chief Compliance and Privacy Office. October 12, 2022. Innovation Learn and Connect Series
• "FDA Roundtable: demystifying the FDA for Biologics Development." Dr. Stephan Grupp, PhD, MD, Director of Translational Research in the Center for Childhood Cancer Research; Sarah McCague, MS, Clinical Research Program Manager Clinical In-Vivo Gene Therapy Team; Dr. Chip Smith, DVM, MS Technical Director of the Comparative Medicine Services Core. May 11, 2022
• "Early Innovation Funding: Intro to NIH Small Business Grants." Nalaka Gooneratne, MD, MSc, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Director- Masters in Translational Research - Entrepreneurial Track. April 2022. Innovation Learn and Connect Series
• "Creating a Triple Win for Your Innovative Ideas: A Framework for Strategic and Business Planning." Linda Miller, PhD, Vice President Strategy & Business Innovation Brendon Ardieta, Esq. Assistant Vice President, Strategy. February 22, 2022. Innovation Learn and Connect Series.
• "Creating a “triple win” for your innovative ideas: a framework for strategic and business planning".
  Linda Miller, PhD, Vice President Strategy & Business Innovation Brendon Ardieta, Esq. Assistant Vice President, Strategy. February 22, 2022. Innovation Learn and Connect Series.
• "Commercialization and Intellectual Property: IP Intro for the University Entrepreneur". Cynthia Dahl, Esq., Director of the Detkin Intellectual Property and Technology Legal Clinic at Penn Law. October 12, 2021. Innovation Learn and Connect Series. (Note: this video presentation is embedded within Cynthia Dahl's chapter in Intellectual Property in Academic Entrepreneurship for Medical and Health Sciences.
• "Innovation in Informatics: Navigating from Academia to Business". Marc Tobias, MD, CEO & Founder Phrase Health. DBHI Health Informatics Presenters Series
• "From Problem to Impact: Toward and Innovation Ecosystem". Daria Ferro, MD & Flaura Winston, MD, PhD. November 28, 2018. DBHI Healthcare Informatics Presenters Series

Grand Round Presentations on Innovation

• "Crafting a Career in Innovation at the Intersection of Technology & Healthcare." Adam Glasofer, MD, Global Head of Healthcare for Public Sector Venture Capital and Startups at Amazon Web Services.  July 13, 2022. Pediatric Summer Grand Rounds.
• "Design Thinking and Community Partnership". Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD, CHOP and Sarah Rottenberg, MA, Penn. August 21, 2019. Pediatric Grand Rounds.
• "Pushing Boundaries and Achieving Impact: A Career in Traffic Injury Prevention". Flaura Koplin Winston, MD, PhD CHOP. March 13, 2019. Pediatric Grand Rounds.

Readings below come from Academic Entrepreneurship for Medical and Health Scientists, a eBook edited by experts from CHOP and UPenn that provides a collection of quick start guides to help navigate the process of translational research through to commercialization and impact. View the full textbook and browse topics: https://academicentrepreneurship.pubpub.org/

I'm new to all of this, where do I start?

• Resources at Academic Entrepreneurship Centers
• Identifying Unmet Needs: Problems That Need Solutions

I'm new to drug development

• Overview of Drug Development
• hFDA Drug Regulation: Investigational New Drug Applications

I'm new to device development

• Overview of Device Development
• Surgical Device Development
• FDA Device Regulation: 510(k), PMA

How does entrepreneurship fit in with my academic career?

• The Promotion Process: Academic Entrepreneurship Career Tracks
• Careers in Academia and Industry: Transitions and Challenges
• Marketing in an Academic Institution
• Forming and Maintaining Meaningful Partnerships between Academic Scientists and Corporations

I have an idea, what do I do next?

• Rapid Prototyping Strategies
• Working with the University Technology Transfer Office
• I-Corps as a Training Tool for New Technology Development

I want to build a team

• Building a Successful Startup Team
• Negotiation Strategies
• A Seat at the Table: Special Considerations for Women and Underrepresented Groups in Academic Entrepreneurship
• Startup Company Formation and Management

How can I fund my work?

• Accelerators and Incubators
• SBIR/STTR Grants: Introduction and Overview
• Nonprofit and Foundation Sponsored Research: Developing New Models of Collaboration for Research and Development)
• Clinical and Translational Science Awards

I run a pilot funding program; what should my award recipients read first?

• Working with the University Technology Transfer Office
• Does My Invention Already Exist? Conducting a Patent/Prior Art Search )
• Rapid Prototyping Strategies
• Overview of Device Development
• Overview of Drug Development
• Digital Health: Software as a Medical Device
• Understanding Conflict of Interest for Academic Entrepreneurs

I run an I-Corps program; what should my teams read first?

• I-Corps as a Training Tool for New Technology Development
• Human-Centered Design: Understanding Customers' Needs through Discovery and Interviewing
• Rapid Prototyping Strategies

What should people read before they meet with Tech Transfer staff?

• Working with the University Technology Transfer Office
• Does My Invention Already Exist? Conducting a Patent/Prior Art Search
• Intellectual Property: Ownership and Protection in a University Setting
• Intellectual Property: Commercializing in a University Setting

Numerous programs at CHOP provide support in terms of funding, business planning, technical and analytical support. To see which ones fit your needs best, employees can review a comparative listing of programs.