ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

Although there has been significant and large production of medical evidence in the past two decades, only a small fraction of research evidence has genuinely translated into viable products to the public. Also, clinicians often have great ideas to improve outcomes in healthcare, but their ideas never get tested. This program aims to address these critical gaps as to inspire participants to consider this challenging but rewarding pathway to becoming an entrepreneur in healthcare.

This program will introduce the process of translation from academic research to treatments and products that may go to the market. In this process, we will discuss the main principles that include rigorous scientific testing, leading to business model strategies. The goal of this program is to inspire participants to optimize their ideas and projects, providing a framework that participants can use to design a blueprint to test and turn their ideas into products in healthcare. The program will promote active discussions between researchers, academic societies, industry partners, investors, and regulatory agencies to enhance learning in this critical field.

During the program, participants will develop an idea and plans for testing and the initial business plan for that idea. At the end of the program, participants will pitch this idea to the program faculty and invited leading experts in the industry as a real potential idea to be commercialized. The ultimate goal of this program is to get participants to understand the pathway for commercializing science and high technology truly.

Although there are several similar programs, our program is uniquely designed in the power of collaboration (suing the learning methods developed by Prof. Fregni and others) to learn more effectively.

PROGRAM FACULTY

Besides the faculty involved in the creation of the program who have extensive experience in how to design robust clinical trials to validate an idea, this program will also have invited speakers with extensive industry experience in this area of innovation in health care.

FELIPE FREGNI, MD, PHD, MPH, MED

Program co-founder and co-director

Prof, Fregni is a world-renowned scientist in the area of developing and testing novel medical devices to enhance neuroplasticity. He has more than 500 peer-reviewed published articles and currently is a Professor of PMR at Harvard Medical School and directs a large neuroscience laboratory at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. One of his aims is to inspire future scientists to develop novel treatments that are cost-effective in Medicine.

TIAGO LAZZARETTI, MD, PHD, MSC

Program co-founder and co-director

Dr. Tiago Lazzaretti Fernandes is a Collaborative Professor and orthopedic surgeon at the Sports Medicine Division at the University of São Paulo Medical School. He co-coordinates the Regenerative Tissue Engineering Core at Sírio-Libanês Hospital and seeks to develop these new technologies for clinical practice. Dr. Lazzaretti has finished his post-doctorate program with a research fellowship from Harvard Medical School and did his doctorate with a fellowship from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He collaborates with Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital and is a site director of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health - ECPE - Principles and Practice of Clinical Research Program (PPCR).

PROGRAM MAIN SCHEDULE

Main Module Content

TUTORIAL CLASS

Introduction and Planning of the Program

Initial remarks
Organization and educational goals of the program
Why, What and How (Presentation of Innovative Process and Final Pitch)
Learning the "elevator pitch"

Main task: Participants will choose their groups to work

MODULE 1 - CREATIVITY AND THE IDEATION PROCESS

Creating great ideas

Is a creative mind different than a non-creative one?
How to enhance creativity?
The Source of Ideas: how to come up with great ideas
Methods to Develop your Idea
Defining your problem well

Main task: Participants will need to share their main idea

MODULE 2 - THE STAKEHOLDERS AND YOUR TARGET MARKET

Finding your stakeholders: a non- so obvious search

1. What is the importance of stakeholders in the creation process

2. Who are the main stakeholders in healthcare?

3. Who are the main stakeholders in other start-up companies?

4. What do stakeholders look for?

5. How to estimate your market size?

Main task: Participants will need to identify their stakeholders

MODULE 3 - THE SOLUTION AND TESTING YOUR SOLUTION

Developing and testing your solution

Learn to develop your solution based on your idea and the stakeholders
Testing your idea and developing a plan for testing (clinical research trials)
Understanding the regulatory barriers for your idea and testing of your idea
Finding a researcher partner or becoming a researcher-entrepreneur?

Main task: Participants will need to develop their solution

MODULE 4 - CREATE THE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND ASSESSING YOUR COMPETITION

Basics of Developing a Business Plan

Why do 90% of startups fail?
Developing a plan to fund your business (initial and long-term)
Develop a strong and realistic market research
Costs for research and development
Traction plan: plan for the growth of your company
Securing your intelectual property
Who if your competition: a very important step to be successful

Main task: Participants will need to develop and present their business plan

MODULE 5 - PUTTING ALL TOGETHER: YOUR PITCH

Developing a great final pitch

1. Pitch as a storytelling

2. Why is so difficult?

3. Changing the pitch: how often?

4. Pre-pitch evaluation

Main task: Participants will present their pre-pitch

MODULE 6 - FINAL PITCH

Final Pitch

Students will present the final project as the "final pitch"
Closing remarks

DATES AND FORMAT

Dates

Live-online (for online participants) activities on Tuesdays from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm Boston Time (EDT) for the main activity and 6:30 pm to 7 pm for peer-group activities.

September 14th, 2021 to October 26th, 2021

Format

Blended format with online live classes on Tuesdays during the program and off-line collaborative activities.
Off-line collaborative activities: discussion forum and material reading and posting, group project development.
Live activities: during the live activities we will discuss one of the components of the pitch and using examples from participants for learning what is essential when developing that component for a successful start-up in health sciences. Mentors will follow group projects during the seven weeks. Participants will be divided into groups according to their background and expertise to ensure diverse groups.

Pitch

Groups of 8 to 10 participants will work on a project to develop a product or process related to health innovation that will be presented as a Final Pitch at the end of the course for invited specialists.

Mentors

Mentors will guide teams for product/process development according to design strategies for the final Pitch presentation