The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s Eshelman Institute for Innovation and UNC’s Innovate Carolina, a university-wide initiative to promote entrepreneurship, came together to host the Device and Diagnostics Summit on Oct. 10, at the Rizzo Center in Chapel Hill.
The summit brought together people from UNC and the pharmaceutical industry to share and learn about new research in medical devices and diagnostics, and to talk about bottlenecks facing industry. The schedule also included breaks for group networking. Additionally, the summit introduced John Bamforth, Ph.D., new director of the Eshelman Institute for Innovation.
“The summit provided a great forum for faculty to engage with industry experts and obtain insights into research collaboration and business building opportunities in this space,” said Bryant Moore, director of strategic partnerships in the UNC Office of Technology Commercialization.
The agenda featured presentations on innovations in the field, such as smart devices. Ross Meisner, managing director of life science practice at Navigant Consulting, Inc., presented on the growing value of medical technologies and the possibilities for new market potential.
The day ended with a panel between four of the speakers on the future economics of device and diagnostics. Panel moderator Stephen Eckel, Pharm.D., the School’s associate dean for global engagement, asked how to combine health care education with entrepreneurship and device development. The panelists supported ways to engage students with “real-world training,” and teach them how to be innovative in the healthcare field.
“One of the things that we should be doing is to bring awareness of entrepreneurship and owning small businesses into the entire medical curriculum,” said Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP, co-director of the UNC Kidney Center.