A five-year-old Yale program that has helped dozens of drug and medical device companies get their ideas off the ground is now looking to help birth more university spinouts in a new field — digital health and health care IT.
The Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale said it is setting aside “a significant portion” of the $2.6 million it plans to award in 2021-2022 for new projects in those areas.
The program, funded by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, began in 2016 as a way to help Yale researchers with new discoveries to fund early-stage studies needed to prove their commercial potential to investors. Since its inception, the fund has awarded more than $10 million to 33 therapeutic and medical device projects.
This is the first time the fund is specifically seeking applicants in the data sciences space, officials said. In the past, funded projects have been in the areas of new therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices or research instruments.
“The data science portfolio at Yale is full of promising applications, software and other technologies,” Bill Wiesler, director of the fund, said in a news release. “If given the monetary and business development support the Blavatnik Fund offers, these nascent projects have the potential to positively impact patient outcomes.”
Yale Vice Provost for Research Michael C. Crair said the university is “anxious to build upon Yale’s established innovation footprint by funding projects in this impactful space.”
Applications are limited to researchers from Yale and are being accepted through Nov 1. Award recipients will be announced next spring.
Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com
