Medical innovation is alive and well in NYC.

I had the pleasure of serving as a judge at the Bench to Bedside Initiative Practice Round “Pitch” Event at Weill Cornell Medical College this week.  The Bench to Bedside Initiative is a collaboration among Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Rockefeller University.  Post-doctoral fellows and Ph.D. students are given the opportunity to build a business plan around some of the amazing medical innovations being developed in the labs of these world-class institutions.

They then “pitch” their plan to the judges who provide feedback. Nineteen teams participated in the event. Many of the plans were quite refined and would be financeable in “the real world”. It was wonderful to see these young scholars show their passion for their work and for making it commercially available.

I'll be a judge for the elimination round on November 14 with the top ten teams moving on to the “finals” on December 12. Judges for the last event will be the staffs of the tech transfer offices of the three participating institutions. Please call my office (844-256-5891) if you'd like to receive an invitation to either or both events. You'll see some amazing medical technology!