Boston Children’s Hospital has selected three top finalists for its first “Innovation Tank,” which will doll out $30,000 to the winner. The winner will be named on Oct. 31 at the hospital’s Global Pediatric Summit and Awards, Taking on Tomorrow.
The finalists include:
CareAline Products, founded by Kezia and Mike Fitzgerald. The couple created CareAline Sleeves and Wrap for their daughter, Saoirse, who was battling neuroblastoma and undergoing chemotherapy at Dana Farber Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. The sleeves and wraps are line management systems for various catheters and central lines. The wrap is designed to keep lines off of the skin. The lines are often taped to the patient, which is no doubt uncomfortable.
HubScrub, founded by Sarah Goldberg, MD and Ali Ataollahi, PhD, of Boston Children’s Hospital. The startup focuses on curbing hospital-acquired bloodstream infections from central-line catheters — a major yet preventable cause of pediatric complications that often result in significantly higher costs and mortality rates.
The HubScrub is a cordless device that will effectively automate and standardize sterilization of the external connector of the central line, called the hub, with the potential to greatly reduce the source of potentially life-threatening infections in children.
And Kurbo Health, founded by Joanna Strober and Thea Runyan. Kurbo Health is a mobile weight loss program designed for kids and teens ages 8 to 18, offering an engaging mobile app to help young people make healthier eating choices and lose weight. The app is supplemented by weekly personal coaching via phone and text aimed at supporting kids to learn healthy habits for a lifetime. The Kurbo program is licensed from the Lucile Packard Weight Control Program at Stanford University.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The judging panel includes: Leonard Zon, MD, the founder and director of the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and a pioneer in the use of zebrafish as a platform for drug discovery; Bob Davis, a general partner at Highland Capital Partners; Santo Politi, a founder and general partner of Spark Capital; Ivan S. Salgo, MD, MBA , who currently serves as senior director, Global Cardiology, Philips Ultrasound; and Halle Tecco, a founder and managing director of Rock Health.
The panel will be moderated by Daymond John, founder of the sportswear brand FUBU, who is also on the show Shark Tank.
