Biomedical commercialization has big year at U-M

Fast Forward Medical Innovation — also known as FFMI — at the Medical School recently released its 2016 Impact Report, shining a spotlight on the milestones achieved in biomedical commercialization across the university.

Highlights of the year included increased funding for the MTRAC Innovation Hub, with $4 million allocated to expand FFMI’s funding, mentorship and commercialization education programs both universitywide and statewide. This strategic opportunity was made possible by a renewed grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the partnership between FFMI and U-M Tech Transfer in the program’s implementation.

Other high points for FFMI in 2016 included garnering more than $80 million in industry funding and 169 invention reports from biomedical innovators across campus. FFMI’s commercialization education program continues to expand, with 1,500+ innovators across campus participating in training to date.

“Our initiatives and programs, with important collaborators across the U-M campus and the state of Michigan, are uniquely integrated,” said Kevin Ward, M.D., executive director of FFMI. “The result is another high-impact year in 2016, and we look forward to continuing to help biomedical innovators accelerate their research onto viable commercialization paths, with the ultimate goal of getting new life science innovations to market where they can positively impact human health.”

Click here to view FFMI’s complete 2016 Impact Report. Questions about biomedical innovation at the U-M? Contact ffmioffice@umich.edu.

Website: https://research.medicine.umich.edu/sites/default/files/res_ffmi_2016impact.pdf