Innovation Fellows Program

Fellows gain exposure to disciplines required to take a product idea to market. The Innovation Fellows Program's (IFP) foundation is project-based, hands-on learning. Fellows learn by collaborating on project teams. They observe patient care, and interview clinicians and other stakeholders to understand clinical needs. They iterate prototype solutions over a series of experiments. They learn from each other, through guided assignments, and weekly didactic sessions covering pathophysiology, epidemiology, market research, patent mapping, study design, financial analysis, and other topics. Readings, engagement with subject matter experts, case studies, and homework impart a toolkit for med tech innovation.

Fellows work in teams of two or three on their primary project, supported by University of Minnesota (UMN) faculty experts and business advisors. Fellows may secure non-dilutive grants from the UMN and external translational grants from the NSF, NIH, DoD, SBIR, and foundations to support their work.

The IFP capitalizes on the full resources of the UMN, including the Medical School, the School of Nursing, the School of Dentistry, the Carlson School of Business, the College of Science and Engineering, and the College of Design, as well as the M Health Fairview healthcare system. Fellows will also build relationships within the extensive Minnesota health technology environment that includes some of the world’s largest medical technology companies, a robust startup ecosystem, the Medical Alley Association, and seasoned medical technology entrepreneurs. The IFP takes advantage of experiential courses from MIN-Corps, NSF Innovation Corps, Great Lakes Hub, Technology Commercialization, the Medical Industry Leadership Institute, and the Technology Leadership Institute. 

The IFP lasts for approximately 10 months. Fellows pitch VC investors and successful entrepreneurs describing their need, solution, data, and path to key milestones such as FDA approval, reimbursement, and adoption. Fellows interested in achieving further project milestones may apply for a second year for continued mentoring and access to the UMN ecosystem.

Fellows are selected to ensure a diverse group, including diversity in education and experiences. We seek trainees with the following interests:

• Research: UMN research faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, or those in similar positions. They may be connected to an early-stage medical technology solution that comes from their research lab.
• Clinical Medicine: UMN clinical faculty or trainees in a residency or fellowship program. Past fellows have met their training program's research requirement through active participation in the Innovation Fellows Program. 
• Industry: "Rising stars" may join as a part time volunteer researcher. Companies may sponsor an employee to explore a clinical area of interest through sponsored research; this would provide the sponsor with an option to license technology resulting from the project.
• Entrepreneurship: Individuals with product development or leadership experience interested in starting a company based on University technology.

Danny Sachs, MD
Director, Innovation Fellows Program

Danny founded or co-founded a dozen start-ups that have raised over $1 billion from venture capital and strategic investors. Their approved products are changing medical practice in a variety of specialties. Among his companies, four have been acquired and three completed IPOs. He is an inventor on over 100 U.S. patents and applications.

Danny serves as CEO of a funded start-up, Director on the Board of Nortech Systems (revenue $139 M), and Advisor to Discovery Capital (UMN VC fund). He previously served as Instructor in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an investor with two venture capital firms, and Research Associate in Discovery Targeting at Eli Lilly. He has served on the board of directors of twelve companies.  

He led the Innovation Fellows Program as co-Director in 1999 and Director since 2000. Since joining, nine projects conceived by Innovation Fellows have been selected by the NSF to participate in the Innovation Corps program, and many projects have received grants or licensed IP to start-ups. 

Danny earned BA and MD degrees from The University of Michigan, Board Certification from the American Board of Emergency Medicine after his residency at Christ Hospital (Cook County, Chicago), and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Hubert Lim, PhD
Director, Bakken MDC

Hubert Lim is a Professor in the Biomedical Engineering and Otolaryngology Departments at the UMN and was hired as an Institute for Translational Neuroscience Scholar. He is also the Endowed Lions Professor in Otolaryngology, Director of the Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center and Co-Director for the Center for Neural Engineering.

At the UMN, his lab’s research focuses on neural engineering, therapeutic stimulation devices, sensory neuroscience, neural plasticity, neuro-immune physiology, and integrative health approaches with the aim of developing new device treatments for hearing disorders, pain, and inflammatory conditions in collaboration with multiple clinicians and companies.

Dr. Lim has been awarded the Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award in Neuroscience from the Society for Neuroscience, the Institute for Engineering in Medicine (IEM) Faculty Career Development Award, and the IEM Outstanding Service Award. Outside his academic activities, he is currently involved with three start-up companies, serving as the Chief Scientific Officer of Neuromod Devices (developing a tinnitus treatment device), Chief Scientific Officer of SecondWave Systems (developing a wearable phased-array ultrasound device for various health conditions), and Chief Technology Officer of NeoAcoustics (developing new hearing technologies).

He completed a BSE in Bioengineering at UC-San Diego, followed by a dual Masters in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and then a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Our alumni forge impactful careers that improve healthcare at scale across a variety of organizations.  

Examples of job titles include Founder, CEO, President, Chief of Staff, Head of Strategy, Chief Medical Officer, VP R&D, Chief Technology Officer, VP Technology Innovation, Head of Analytics, Venture Capital Partner, Director of Business Development, Principal Scientist, Program Manager, Innovation Manager, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Patent Agent, Director for Performance Improvement, Associate Chair for Research, Investigator, Professor, Manufacturing Engineer, Accelerator Entrepreneur in Residence, User Experience Designer, Director of Digital Products, . . . and more.

Ability Interactive
John Ferguson, PhD
Computerized cognitive assessment tools
Awarded $499,000 SBIR grant
Launch MN SBIR matching grant $27,465

Aria CV
Treatment for pulmonary hypertension
John Scandurra, DVM and Karl Vollmers, PhD
Winner of TCT Pitch Competition
VC Funded

ArteMedics
Ben Arcand
Devices for pet health

Aurora CTS
Wearable concussion therapy system
Doug Devens, Kevin Smith, Shannon Smith
FDA Breakthrough Device Designation

BGK
Matt Kudek, MD
Intraoral drug delivery

Cerovations
Hydrocephalus catheter
Tom Viker
SBIR $553,000
PDIC

Faberge Fertility
IVF technology
Dan Broberg and Gwen Fischer, MD
TPDF $193,000
Foundation grant $25,000

Glimpse Diagnostics
AI for home diagnosis of pediatric ear infections
Courtney Hill, MD
Winner of MN Cup Healthcare Division 2023

Glome Health
Dialysis technologies
Ibrahim Yekinni MD and Tom Viker
STTR $314,000
TPDF $321,000
NSF PFI $250,000
NSF I-Corps $50,000

Hybridge Medical
Felix Laendata, Roy Cho
Lung biopsy tool

Identity Health (formerly Ascension Medical Devices)
Solutions for transgender health
Lyndsey Calvin
Division Winner, Walleye Tank
Semi-finalist, MN Cup

Interventional Pulmonary Solutions
Felix Landaeta, Roy Cho, Doug Devens

Invisian
Laura-Lee Brown, Alan Johnson, Samuel Levine, Christopher Roffas
minimally invasive jaw fixation

Physioaroma
Beth Groenke, DDS
Pain therapy

Prescix Medical
Doug Devens
Sterilization of endoscopes

Soundly
Mobile phone app to reducing snoring
Brian Krohn, PhD and Adam Black, PhD

StimDia
Device to promote weaning from the ventilator
James Krocak, MBA, Jesus Cabrera, MD, PhD, and John Ballard, PhD
VC Funded

Vista BioMedical
Population-based screening of common disorders of aging
Joe Weber, PhD, Beth Groenke, DDS, and Sandy Liu, MD

Point of care dialysate
UMN Center for Global Health ($25,000)
UMN COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant ($15,000)
PDIC ($169,000)
NSF I-Corps ($50,000)
NSF PFI-TT ($249,884)

Lymphedema therapy
NSF I-Corps ($50,000)
NSF PFI ($266,000)
TPDF ($320,000)

Premature infant care (NurseAide)
PDIC ($50,000)
Foundation Grant ($25,000)
UMN MVP Challenge ($4,900)

Blood pressure therapy (Arteriopulse LLC)
UMN Early Innovation Fund ($10,000)
UMN Medical School ($70,000)
NSF I-Corps ($50,000)
Foundation Grant ($25,000)

Oral care
Foundation Grants ($50,000)
UMN MVP Challenge ($5,000)

Treatment of chronic pain by olfaction (PhysioAroma)
TRFP

Smartphone based screening for chronic diseases
TRFP

NG Tube confirmation in neonates
TRFP

Capillary refill time measurement using smartphone
PDIC

Novel portable device for treatment of lymphedema
TRFP

A novel steerable microcatheter to Improve COVID19 stroke outcomes
TRFP

Device for neonatal cord management to support kangaroo care
PDIC

Rapid, on-demand peritoneal dialysis fluid compounding for low resource settings
PDIC

Instrumented external ventricular drain
PDIC

Reducing infection risks in pediatric patients on peritoneal dialysis
PDIC

Targeted cardiocerebral extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (TC-ECMO) system
TRFP

Cleft palate closure device
PDIC

Development of interactive software for use in pediatric stroke rehabilitation
PDIC

Multi-compartment syringe for endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration
TRFP

Qp:Qs monitor for single ventricle post-surgical monitoring
PDIC 

Optimizing infant nutrition through breastmilk device
PDIC

Dental fear and anxiety
PDIC

Optimizing infant nutrition with breastmilk device
PDIC

Blood-pressure monitoring cuff to accurately capture blood pressure data in pediatric patients
PDIC

Wearable device for eczema to provide improved options for home-based treatment
PDIC

Seizure monitoring device for care takers to detect non tonic-clonic seizures in children
PDIC

App to reduce anxiety of children prior to visiting the dentist (Yonder)
MNDrive Brain Fellowship
PDIC

*TRFP = Translational Research Funding Program

NSF = National Science Foundation

NIH = National Institutes of Health

MNDrive = Minnesota’s Discovery, Research, and InnoVation Economy

SBIR = NIH Small Business Innovation Research

STTR = NIH Small Business Technology Transfer

*PDIC = Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium

I-Corps = NSF Innovation Corps

*TPDF = UMN & Mayo Clinic Translational Product Development Fund

PFI = NSF Partnerships for Innovation

TT = PFI Technology Translation Track

*administered by the University of Minnesota's Office of Discovery and Translation Funding Program