Israeli startups to collaborate with Thomas Jefferson University on healthcare
Israel Innovation Authority will give four startups total of $1 million to develop healthcare tech that will be tried out at the Philadelphia university’s hospital
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
The Israel Innovation Authority will award four Israeli companies a total of $1 million for research and development for healthcare-related technologies that have a potential for global impact in partnership with Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University (TJU).
“The combination of Israeli innovation and Jefferson’s clinical experience, expertise and facilities will enable the creation of cutting-edge solutions that will prove instrumental in laying the groundwork for the future of healthcare and providing superior personalized medical care,” said Ami Appelbaum, chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority, in a statement Sunday announcing the collaboration.
The joint project will allow the Israeli companies to test their concepts in a real lab setting, and give them access to TJU’s clinical services and administrative staff across a variety of care settings, including inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory, urgent care, rehabilitation and community outreach services.
“The goal is to co-develop, test and pilot impactful technologies, products, services and devices within the rich environment that exists at Jefferson, which then would be translated to other sites and settings,” said Dr. Zvi Grunwald, the James D. Wentzler Professor and emeritus chair of anesthesiology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, part of TJU.
In June, TJU opened the Jefferson Israel Center to boost partnerships and collaborations between the university and Israeli academia.
“The project and partnership are a result of the newly formed Jefferson Israel Center,” said Grunwald, who serves as the center’s executive director, “and the University’s and Israel Innovation Authority’s mutual interest to source, develop, deploy and commercialize innovative technologies, products, services and devices within the healthcare sector.”
A recent report by the Brookings Institution on the commercial outcomes of downtown research universities ranked Jefferson 12th best overall and eighth for startups. The 2019 Bloomberg Innovation Index named Israel the fifth most innovative economy in the world.
The Israel Innovation Authority is in charge of setting out the nation’s innovation policies and fostering the development of industrial R&D and innovative technologies in Israel and in partnership with companies and institutions globally throughout the world.
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