Medical innovation hub concept spreading | Biomedical research at Pitt | Cancer research

Medical innovation hub concept spreading

Fast Future COUNTRY–Partly because of pandemic-related pressures, healthcare and hospital systems are devoting resources to creating their own innovation hubs, aiming to improve care wherever it is delivered. Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh has invested $5 million in AlphaLab Health, giving lab space and funding to startups. Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin created Inception Health and have grown the annual budget to $10 million. And the Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center is operated by OSF HealthCare in partnership with the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. The facility holds seven labs along with simulation spaces, including an operating theater and a home environment with an ambulance.

Biomedical research has new home at UPitt

PITTSBURGH, PA–The University of Pittsburgh’s new biomedical research facility, The Assembly, was developed with the participation of Wexford Science and Technology, LLC, to serve as an epicenter of innovation in life sciences. The Assembly will be anchored by leading scientists in cancer research and immunology, including several Pitt investigators from the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Department of Immunology, and Institute for Precision Medicine. The Assembly is housed in an historic building originally used to manufacture Ford Model Ts.

Healthcare data analytics solution garners innovation award

OVERLAND PARK, KS–Health and community care technology company WellSky has won the Healthcare Analytics Innovation Award in the sixth annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards program, conducted by MedTech Breakthrough, for its WellSky CareInsights product. With the CareInsights data analytics solution, clients report being able to enhance care operations, accelerate growth, and improve organizational culture. WellSky is a repeat winner; it was recognized in 2020 and 2021 with the Best Predictive Analytics Solution award.

New modeling refines eye lens implant performance projections

LINCOLN, NE–Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have developed a model to improve predictions of how an implanted AIOL, or accommodative intraocular lens, will perform. AIOLs implanted in order to improve near vision in older patients, on average, restore only 20 percent of accommodation in the muscles and tissue around the eye lens. The new 3D model allowed the researchers to assess AIOL performance by simulating interactions between an implanted AIOL and the post-surgery lens of a 65-year-old.

Two cancer drugs better than one in colorectal study

CLEVELAND, OH–Treatment with a combination of two drugs for a specific type of colon cancer involving a mutation of the PIK3CA gene is expected to begin in human patients later this year. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine combined Apelisib and Tazemostat to treat the mutations, finding evidence of efficacy. About 25,000 of colorectal patients in the U.S. are affected by this mutation each year.

New urinary stent achieves FDA milestone

CLEVELAND, OH–A new urinary stent invented by Lee Ponsky, MD, Chair of the Department of Urology and the Leo & Charlotte Goldberg Chair in Advanced Surgical Therapies at University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland, in collaboration with Dean Secrest, recently achieved a major milestone by securing its FDA 510k clearance. This FDA clearance means the Relief Stent can be marketed in the United States for patients suffering from kidney stones and other issues causing difficulty with drainage of the kidney. More than 3 million ureteral stent placements occur annually worldwide.