Fighting Cancer with Open Innovation: Healthymagination Cancer Challenge
The first five winners of GE and partners healthymagination challenge are preparing to take their concepts to the next level after being picked out from the more than 500 ideas that were submitted to the first stage of this $100 million open innovation challenge.
The challenge focused on early-stage breast cancer breakthroughs in detection and diagnostics.
The five innovation winners have the potential to help doctors detect cancers earlier, provide more accurate diagnoses and select the best course of treatment and medication based on a patient’s unique cancer.
In addition to $100,000 seed funding each winner will be given support to develop their ideas with access to GE researchers and industry thought leaders.
“We launched the Challenge as a call to action for oncology researchers, businesses, and other innovators around the world to accelerate innovation and help stop this deadly disease,” Beth Comstock, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, GE.
“It is often challenging for early stage research to grab the attention of seed investors. The Challenge has shown us that there are a remarkable number of breakthrough ideas out there that deserve promotion, investment and incubation.”
The five winners were:
- MyCancerGenome- Personalized Approach to Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
- Creating Safer & Stronger Breast Implants with Cancer-fighting and Healing Properties: The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio.
- Identifying a Predisposition to Cancer Spread: Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.
- Saving Lives in Developing Countries: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington and Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) in Kampala.
- Moving to Personalized Therapy for Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
More information about the winners and their approaches is available at www.healthymagination.com
The “GE healthymagination Cancer Challenge” launched in September 2011 and is part of GE’s healthymagination commitment to accelerate cancer innovation by investing $1 billion in cancer technology research and development, as well as improving care for 10 million cancer patients around the world by 2020.
Although phase one of the competition has now closed additional challenges will follow.
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