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Innovation Initiatives

Read about INVO and Northwestern efforts to nurture innovation. Some of the newest initiatives include the NCAI-CC partnership and INVOForward mentorship program.

INVOFoward mentorship program

INVOForward is a Northwestern mentorship program to accelerate biomedical commercialization, such as medical devices, therapeutics, and Health IT, on both Evanston and Chicago campuses. It is designed to increase entrepreneurship by helping potential or current biomedical entrepreneurship teams focus on the customer discovery process. Through their discovery, the teams test and identify their market fit and assess the level of impact of their business proposition.  INVOForward is modeled after, and will expand upon programs like the NIH I-Corps and University of Michigan’s Fast Forward Medical Innovation (FFMI). See the INVOForward webpage for more information.

First cohort of teams starting this September, open to teams commercializing medical devices.  To apply, complete our online application.   

Any questions can be sent to INVOForward@northwestern.edu.

Partnership with NCAI-CC funding emerging technologies

INVO is pleased to announce a new Northwestern partnership with NCAI-CC (NIH Center for Accelerated Innovations at Cleveland Clinic). 

NCAI funding is available for promising emerging technologies in clinical domain areas: heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. Projects may include technologies such as therapeutics (e.g., drugs and biologics), diagnostics, diagnostic systems, devices, tools, etc., to facilitate their translation to commercialized products.

Further details for this funding opportunity, including Request for Applications (RFA) and the required content for Letters of Intent, are attached and may found at the NCAI-CC website.

If you have any questions, please contact Dimitra Georganopoulou or Vara Prasad Josyula.