Children’s Hospital Boston today named the recipients of its annual Technology Development Fund grants.
The funding supports the advancement of clinical and research innovations, according to the hospital’s Technology and Innovation Development Office, which administers the program.
This year the institute will infuse more than $1.3 million into 11 Children’s Hospital-based projects developing technologies ranging from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to software.
The TDG program, which is in its second year, structures its funding around milestones met by researchers over a year-long period. TIDO bases its decisions on the significance of the medical need that applicants’ technologies would serve, with a preference towards pediatrics. The technology must also not have any large barriers to commercialization.
TIDO technology development manager Monique Yoakim-Turk told MassDevice that there can’t be existing intellectual property that competes with the the applicants’ technologies, which must also have a "clear path" to market.
"We realize we’re not going to be giving a lot of money, but we don’t want the amount to be a drop in the bucket," Yoakim-Turk said, so products needing 510(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration (versus pre-market approvals, which can take several years) are much more likely to be considered.
This year, the scientists receiving the award will be working on projects including a prolonged-duration local anesthetic, software for assessment of early autism and a medical device for the diagnosis of dehydration.
Children’s TIDO last week launched a blog to highlight its scientific and clinical innovations.
