Program Curriculum
BOOTCAMP AT WORLDISCOVERIES
Western Research Park
- Three weeks of an educational and hands-on ‘boot camp’
- Experienced speakers with diverse backgrounds (academic researchers, clinicians, industry representatives, entrepreneurs, investors)
- Training on medical innovation, prototyping, intellectual property, regulatory affairs, and business strategy
- In depth instruction on policies, procedures, and intellectual property and regulatory guidelines in Canada, at Western, Lawson Health Research Institute and their research partners
- Five day design sprint
Clinical Immersion
London Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph's Health Care London, and BrainsCAN for cognitive neuroscience
- Shadowing of clinicians in operating rooms, clinics, and imaging suites to identify unmet clinical needs
- Start with pre-selected areas of high potential for commercial development, but free to move to any topic the team feels could yield an innovation
- As a team, fellows study and evaluate various projects within their chosen areas and pursue those with the highest commercialization potential
- Areas of focus will be set on an annual basis and can be expanded based on the number of fellows
- For MIFs exploring innovations in the area of cognitive neuroscience, BrainsCAN infrastructure and expertise will be made available
Design and Prototyping
Across all partner sites
- Begin research and development, collaborating with appropriate clinicians and researchers to create new devices and software to meet clinically identified needs
- Refine ideas, assess potential markets and evaluate capacity for intellectual property creation, filing a Report of Innovation with WORLDiscoveries for each promising innovation
- Use existing services and facilities (e.g., at Robarts, Western and Lawson) to design, prototype and test technologies
- Leverage connections within the London and Ontario Life Sciences communities to further refine ideas and evaluate potential international markets