Contact:Barb Pruitt, Kauffman Foundation, 816-932-1288,
bpruitt@kauffman.org
Jennifer Yuan, associate director of development communications, Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, 650-498-2597,
jennifer.yuan@lpfch.org
Dana Pace, director of major gifts and senior associate campaign director, Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, 650-724-5005,
dana.pace@lpfch.org
Collaboration with Stanford Biodesign Program and Institute for Pediatric Innovation will help Fellows surmount traditional challenges in bringing pediatric medical devices to market
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) July 21, 2009 – The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation announced today that it is partnering with the
Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health in awarding a grant to create a Pediatric Medical Device Innovation fellowship team at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The team is comprised of two fellows, an engineer and a surgical resident, who will explore innovative ways to bring pediatric medical devices to market.
"One of the biggest challenges of pediatric health care is that much of the equipment and technology that was originally developed for adults simply does not fit children," said David Alexander, president and CEO of the Lucile Packard Foundation in Palo Alto, Calif. While pediatric versions of technologies like cardiac valves and aortic stents have the potential to save children’s lives, manufacturers often feel that the market for these devices is too small to justify the cost of product development.
"An entrepreneurial approach is needed to overcome the barriers posed by the traditional business model," said Sandy Miller, a director in Advancing Innovation at the Kauffman Foundation. "We hope the Pediatric Device Innovation team will develop new and sustainable business models for delivering pediatric-relevant devices to the children who need them."
The Pediatric Device Innovation team consists of engineer John Avi Roop and surgical resident Kevin Chao, MD. The two will begin the yearlong fellowship by conducting an assessment of pediatric clinical needs at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford under the mentorship of Thomas Krummel, MD, the Susan B. Ford Surgeon in Chief at the Hospital and co-director of the Stanford Biodesign Program at the School of Medicine.
Once the team has identified the most pressing needs, it will develop medical technologies to address them, using prototyping studios and other facilities on the Stanford University campus. The Stanford Biodesign Program's broad community of mentors, who have a long track record of training medical device innovators and entrepreneurs, will mentor the Fellows throughout the innovation process.
In commercializing these technologies, the team will collaborate with the
Institute for Pediatric Innovation (IPI), a nonprofit collaborative founded in 2006 with seed money from the Kauffman Foundation. IPI works to translate the needs for new pediatric products into viable commercial opportunities, through programs such as the Pediatric Pharmaceutical Reformulation Program. Under its guidance, the Fellows will develop new business models that will eventually lead to products on the market.
"Making pediatric-relevant medical devices readily available on the market is crucial to improving the accessibility of children's health care," said Alexander. "The products created by the Pediatric Device Innovation team will change the practice of medicine in pediatric hospitals."
