CIMIT Innovation Congress 2008 Conference Proceedings

The attendance numbers broke records, the keynote speakers shattered expectations for provocative messages, and the electricity throughout the two-day CIMIT Innovation Congress 2008 made it one of CIMIT’s most effective productions ever.

In short, the Congress (Oct. 28-29) was rewarding to guests, participants, sponsors, clinicians, researchers, business executives, investors, military officials and students.

“This was a very informative and energetic Congress,” said CIMIT Executive Director John Parrish, MD. “Each year it gets better, and I believe this 2008 program was extremely constructive for everyone. Participants learned, networked, and witnessed an exciting overview of CIMIT and the innovation we are helping to foster.”

More than 600 attended, including 161 from non-profits (academic, government), 130 from science-related fields (CIMIT investigators, collaborators and students), 108 from industry, 92 participants in the Exploratorium, 74 speakers and contributors, and close to 35 others. Registrants represented seven countries and 20 states.

The theme of the event was “Forging Partnerships in Healthcare, Academia, Government and Industry.” The opening keynote speech was given by Elias Zerhouni, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health. Though he was scheduled to leave his post at the end of October, Dr. Zerhouni was resolute on the need to support medical research in the future. “We are heading into a difficult financial time,” said Dr. Zerhouni. “But we must continue to push for financial resources to develop better care for patients. In the end, medical innovation will be well worth the investment.”

The Exploratorium – a “patented” CIMIT event – opened Tuesday at 5 p.m. Close to 80 demonstrations were accessible, from low-tech infant care (with incubators made of spare auto parts for villages in emerging countries) to sophisticated presentations of the latest in cardiovascular devices.

The Power of Virtual Experience (also unique to CIMIT) demonstrated how video games and interactive presentations can help clinicians and patients deal with medical challenges.

CIMIT, a pioneer in innovation for soldier medicine, hosted two powerful keynote speeches by Army officers: James B. Peake, MD, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Maj. Gen. George Weightman, commander, Army Medical Research and Material Command. Both spoke of the need to provide the best medical care to soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and to veterans of past conflicts.

Focus sessions that embraced soldier medicine included, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury: Controversies in Screening, Diagnosis and Therapy,” and “Trauma and Critical Care – Bleeding after Trauma and How to Stop It; Methods, Gadgets and Innovations.”

Other presentations included, “Innovations in Elder care: Preparing for the Demographic Tsunami;” “Neurotechnology: Brain-Machine Interfaces;” and “Open Innovation Meets Medical Challenges: Case Studies from the Trenches.”

Stephen Oesterle, MD, senior vice president, medicine and technology, at Medtronic, Inc., and Thomas Miller, CEO, Workflow and Solutions, Siemens Healthcare, presented stimulating addresses about fostering partnerships in the private sector.

The Innovation Congress is the event at which some key CIMIT awards are announced, and winner of the Edward M. Kennedy Award for Healthcare Innovation went to the Cancer Advanced-Technology Team led by Yolonda Colson, MD, PhD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Mark Grinstaff, PhD, of Boston University; and John Frangioni, MD, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Winners in CIMIT’s annual research grant program to graduate students at MIT and Boston University were made public. Second-year grantees at MIT are Benjamin Rapaport and Faisal Kashif. First-year winners at MIT are Tsung-Han Tsai and Christopher Pritchard.

Second-year recipients at Boston University are Jane Yuqian Zhang, Pui Leng Leong, and Burkay Birant Orten. First-year grantees are Katherine Calabro and Peng Zhang.

Winners of the poster contest were Jane Zhang of Boston University in the category of Most Innovative Research; Yanmei Tie of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the division for Greatest Potential for Patient Benefit; and winner of the top student poster was Shelten Yuen, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Children’s Hospital.

In addition to the excellent keynotes and educational program, new features in 2008 were a Friends Lunch - for donors to CIMIT - and a special tour of the Exploratorium for CIMIT consortium institution executives and conference faculty.