Fall 2019
Experience highlights
Process this phase
Innovating for healthcare impact
The Fall 2019 Cohort will participate in a 14 week immersive experience to develop research project proposals with high potential for healthcare impact. Participants will work closely with a cross-disciplinary team of faculty mentors in a highly networked community of engineers, scientists, businesspeople, and clinicians. Using the Catalyst methodology for innovating for impact, participants work through a structured process to consider real-world needs, plausible solutions, and viable action plans to develop proposals that, if successful, will lead to a clear and specific benefit.
Selected project proposals have the potential for follow on funding.
The focus for the Fall 2019 cohort is on identifying opportunities to improve the quality of life, autonomy and societal inclusion for people with Down syndrome.
Cohort partners
“linQ brings together many passionate, creative and brilliant people. Real things happen, and we have great fun along the way.”
Peter Bryant, linQ faculty and Professor of Entrepreneurship at IE, Madrid
Experience highlights
Nucleate original need-driven research and venture opportunities with high potential to achieve health impact and without the constraints of a single lab or organization
Process driven by you. What you and your team develop during the spring is just the beginning. Past teams have launched start-ups, established new lines of research, and embarked on new career trajectories.
Mentored by cross-disciplinary experts from academic research, industry, and clinical care
Selected projects progress to Phase II in which scaling and commercialization are explored.
Aimed at healthcare impact
A focus on Down syndrome
Open to ALL in the Greater Boston area who are able to attend weekly Tuesday afternoon sessions on the MIT campus.
We seek a multi-talented cohort, including:
- Early stage professionals, postdocs, fellows, graduate students, clinical, and other professional degree candidates, advanced undergraduates, etc.
- Engineers, scientists, clinicians, designers, entrepreneurs, MBAs, etc.
- Anyone with interest and willingness to spend time in research, innovation, and health. No need to know anything about Down syndrome.
Who should join
Open to ALL in the Greater Boston area who are able to attend weekly Tuesday afternoon sessions on the MIT campus.
We seek a multi-talented cohort, including:
- Early stage professionals, postdocs, fellows, graduate students, clinical, and other professional degree candidates, advanced undergraduates, etc.
- Engineers, scientists, clinicians, designers, entrepreneurs, MBAs, etc.
- Anyone with interest and willingness to spend time in research, innovation, and health. No need to know anything about Down syndrome.
Details
- Weekly sessions: Tuesdays from 2pm to 5pm
(2–4pm mentored session; 4–5pm team work) - September 10th–December 10th at MIT
- Expected time commitment 10-12 hrs/week
- HST.S98 course credit available for MIT students
Application dates
- Applications due September 8, 11:59pm ET
- First Session September 10
- Information session September 3, 4–5pm
The process this phase
Proof of Need
Identify, evaluate, and document unmet medical needs. Visit laboratories, talk with clinicians and explore the literature to create problem and need statements.
Proof of Opportunity
Identify and evaluate opportunities (need & solution idea). Work in teams for an in-depth analysis. Develop and document your opportunity.
Project Proposal
Develop a plan to launch a research project which outlines the milestones in a 12-18 month time frame. Present your project proposal (orally) to an Independent Advisory Panel.
Outcome
Portfolio of 1-4 validated research opportunities, with real opportunity to transition to Phase II—exploration of funding and commercialization opportunities.
2019 Fall Cohort
Fellows
Fatema Abdurrob
Technical Research Associate, MIT
Jason Chang
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Koch Institute at MIT
Fatima Clouser
Clinical Research and Development Technician, Massachusetts General Hospital Wellman Center for Photomedicine
Joseph Doherty
Manager, Business Logistics, IS&T, MIT
Francisco
Research Machine Learning Engineer, Boston Children’s Hospital, HMS
Ruyi Gong
Visiting undergraduate at Wellman Center
Sarat Gundavarapu
Research fellow at MGH/HMS with expertise in optical imaging and integrated
photonics
Jim Lee
Healthcare Technologist, Data Science & Product Management
Dominika Lyzwa
Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT
Nick Mukhitov
Postdoctoral Associate, MIT, Biological Engineering and Synthetic Biology Center
Camila Maciel Oliveira
Global CoCreation Lab, MIT IMES
Bahar Rahsepar
PhD Candidate in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University
Jessica Sanders
Neurodevelopmental disabilities physician at Boston Children’s Hospital
Tsung-Hsien Tsai
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Faculty
Lars Frølund, PhD
Research Director, MIT Innovation Initiative
Visiting Fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management
Karen Golmer, MBA
Innovation Manager MIT Desphande Center for Technological Innovation
Martha Gray, PhD
Director, MIT linQ
Jacob Hooker, PhD
Phyllis and Jerome Lyle Rappaport MGH Research Scholar
Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
Andy Levine, MS
CEO and President, Conformal Medical
Fiona Murray, PhD
Associate Dean for Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management
Co-Director of MIT Innovation Initiative
Emily Niederst, PhD
Director of Scientific Initiatives, Alana Down Syndrome Center
Tim Padera, PhD
Associate Professor in Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School
Shriya Srinivasan
Doctoral Researcher, Biomechatronics Research
Ben Vakoc, PhD
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Independent Advisory Panel (IAP)
Allyson DeNoble
Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress Honorary Board of Directors
Julie Greenberg
Director of Education, Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences & Technology and MIT IMES
Hampus Hillerstrom
President and CEO of LuMind IDSC Foundation
Stacy Lindborg
Executive Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Research at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics
Dava Newman
Apollo Professor of Astronautics and Engineering Systems at MIT
Brian Skotko
Emma Campbell Endowed Chair on Down
Syndrome at Massachusetts General Hospital
Frances Toneguzzo
Intellectual Property and Business Strategy Consultant
Doug Vincent
President & CEO at Design Mentor, Inc. and at VENTRIFLO™ True Pulse Pump
Catalyst projects
Catalyst projects involve Fellows and their international teams of collaborators. They focus on identifying unmet medical needs that can be addressed by new biomedical technologies. Successful Catalyst projects demonstrate a real potential for healthcare impact.