MSFHR has announced 11 award recipients in the first Innovation to Commercialization (I2C) competition. These awards will help BC health researchers bridge the gap between discovery and practical application to improve health outcomes in BC.
The I2C Program is designed to help researchers advance discoveries or inventions towards commercialization by supporting commercialization activities that strengthen the value of their intellectual property, facilitate collaboration and attract future investment.
“We are delighted that this new program received such strong interest from the BC health research community,” says Dr. Bev Holmes, Interim President & CEO. “The number of high quality applications is a great indication of the amount of innovative research taking place in our province, and the potential of this research to improve the health of British Columbians. We look forward to working with this cohort of innovators as they move their products toward commercial implementation.”
MSFHR actively works with partners to increase the number of awards we can offer and we are pleased to be partnering with the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD) to co-fund an MSFHR/iCORD I2C award.
The 11 award recipients, selected through MSFHR’s rigorous peer review process including national experts from academia and industry, are working on products and technologies that range from a liquid skin substitute for wound healing, to a treatment regimen to enhance the effectiveness of cancer radiotherapy, and an organ preservation solution to better protect donor organs in preparation for transplant.
“As with all our funding programs, we review both the program and competition to ensure the program is meeting its goals and that, overall, our programs are meeting the needs of the BC health and health research community,” says Holmes. “In this inaugural I2C competition we’ve observed opportunities to build capacity around the strength of commercialization plans, as well as opportunities to strengthen geographic and gender diversity among our applicants. We look forward to working with our stakeholders as we continue to grow the program.”
The I2C Program is one of eight MSFHR funding programs designed to attract, nurture and retain BC’s health research and innovation talent and contribute to addressing BC health system priorities.