2023 was a year of new projects, new fellows and collaboration.
RESEARCH TO BUSINESS
During the spring our fellows Wycliffe Raduma, Tanja Tervonen, Hanna Catren-Niemi and Annika Järvelin focused on finalising their Biodesign concepts for Research to Business funding call with the research partners they had found during their fellowship. Three applications were made and to our delight all were successful! A total of 2 million euros in funding was raised for follow up projects: Otos (novel hearing screening), Inga (smart induction of labor) and Daring Birth (better birth experience).
CLINIC'S IMPACT
Hanna and Annika (project leaders for Inga and Daring Birth) also delivered new self measurement illustrations to Helsinki's Child and Maternity clinics (Neuvola). The effort supports communication in multicultural settings.
NEED-DRIVEN EDUCATION
During the spring we joined forces with Terkko X pre-incubator programme by organising a Biodesign workshop for aspiring healthtech entrepreneurs. The workshop was attended by 30 individuals interested in the subject.
At the joint Aalto University and University of Helsinki's Lifetech course we provided the students selected healthcare needs / challenges from biodesign and previous R2B projects.
The highlight of the spring teaching was the joint Biodesign basic course by Aalto University and the University of Helsinki, with 24 participants. Observations practice took place at Metropolia's simulation hospital, with the participation of 15 nursing students from Metropolia. As a result of the training, two teams engaged in discussions with a Fiban business angels about potential next steps.
During spring 2023, we have built collaboration with Fiban to enhance funding opportunities for Biodesign-based innovations.
We also started to digitalise our education, starting from a regulations course with Innokas Medical.
COLLABORATION
During the spring Biodesign Finland visited Stanford Biodesign together with Spark Finland and Spark Norway. Many lessons were learned about the future of Biodesign and the opportunities in the Bay Area Innovation ecosystem. Special thanks to Pasi and Anu from Spark Finland for organising the trip!
During the summer we furthered our collaboration with Biomedical Design Novo Nordisk. A new master's thesis on the topic of "Medtech Sustainability" is currently underway, with supervision provided by both Aalto University and BMD. Welcome to the team Tekla!
It was also a great pleasure to meet regional innovators in our national workshop.
2023 FELLOWSHIP
The fall started with the arrival of our new fellows Tuomas, Alec, Timo and Sebastian. Their clinical immersions were hosted at the HUS lung unit and in the acute medical transportation unit and the home hospital unit.
Since then our fellows's have selected needs and are now developing concepts for further need-based research commercialisation.
All this was made possible by our partners, funders and our ever active mentors.
Thank you for 2023. We wish you a relaxing and festive holiday season and a Happy New Year!
