Representatives from Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, regarded as one of the top four hospitals in the US, visited NUI Galway this week as part of the BioInnovate Ireland initiative.

Intent on driving medical device innovation, BioInnovate Ireland is a specialist training programme modelled on the Biodesign programme offered at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. The Fellowship programme, which commenced last August, has recruited two elite multi-disciplinary teams, each of four high-calibre Fellows, which includes experienced medical, engineering, business, technology and law graduates.

“NUI Galway and BioInnovate Ireland are delighted to receive representatives from the Cleveland Clinic and Senior Executives from the US Medical Devices Sector to NUI Galway. This is a unique opportunity for NUI Galway and the Galway med tech community to bring together clinical, academic and industrial leaders to discuss the capabilities for the emergence of a world centre for medical device innovation within Ireland”, said the Programme Director, NUI Galway’s Dr Mark Bruzzi,

It is envisaged that the BioInnovate Ireland Fellowship Programme will act as a catalyst for enhancing innovation in medical device development within Ireland.

The two teams are undertaking an intensive clinical immersion in teaching hospitals to help identify potential medical device development opportunities. Throughout a 10-month period, they will avail of the expert advice, direction and guidance from dedicated industrial mentors and serial entrepreneurs, along with clinicians with an interest in enhancing patient care through medical device innovation.

The key benefits of the programme is the establishment of a network of clinical, academic and industrial leaders focused on medical device innovation and to contribute to the future of the medical device technologies sector in Ireland.  The primary output from this programme is the next generation of specially trained Fellows and skilled graduates from the BioInnovate class.

BioInnovate Ireland is being offered by: NUI Galway, DCU, UCC, UL and RCSI, with the support of the IMDA, SFI, Enterprise Ireland, IDA, Medtronic, Creganna, Steripak, Lake Region Medical and a team of clinicians nationally.

Recruitment for the Fellowship year 2012 will start in November 2011 with an expression of interest form available for download from www.bioinnovate.ie

ENDS