Fast Forward Medical Innovation
We offer programs and courses in collaboration with the renowned Frankel Cardiovascular Center.
The goal of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center (FCVC) Innovation Program is to foster a culture of innovation through education, funding, and mentorship for FCVC faculty, staff, trainees, patients, and families.
By providing these resources, the FCVC aims to empower those within its ecosystem to create new or different systems and products that fundamentally change the existing system.
The FCVC Innovation Program comprises the FCVC Innovation Challenge, the Aikens Innovation Academy, and other workshops and resources.
Fast Forward Medical Innovation offers a comprehensive collection of educational programs and training tailored for busy faculty, students, clinicians, and researchers across the University of Michigan, and across the state, region, and nation.
The following resources are available at U-M to help biomedical researchers move their project down the commercialization path.
Annual competition for up to $100K to test and implement cardiovascular innovations
- Faculty, staff, trainees, and patients
- Timeline varies; in-person or virtual
Project-based course, mentorship, and funding for academics with cardiovascular innovations
- Faculty, staff, and trainees
- 12 weeks; in-person or virtual
Collaborative workshops designed to develop solutions that positively impact patient care.
The Frankel Cardiovascular Center (FCVC) Innovation Challenge is designed to empower our community of trainees, faculty, staff, patients, and families at the CVC to propose, test, and implement new innovations. Innovations can be in the form of changes to patient care or potential new products.
The 2025 FCVC Innovation Challenge will take place on Thursday, May 8, from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM.
The Innovation Challenge awards up to $100,000 to one or more winners pending results of the competition and budget. Winners are also provided education and mentorship to support them on executing their projects. In addition, Just Do It Awards are selected for low-cost, low-complexity ideas.
Congratulations to the 2024 Winners!
Internal - Quality Improvement/Clinical Process Track Winner
Building a Billable and Sustainable Remote Patient Monitoring Program for Hypertension Patients
Jeff Kullgren, MD, MPH; Paul Schenk, MSN, RN; Matt Konerman, MD, MS; Monika Leja, MD; Valerie Gavrila, MPH
External - Commercial Device or Product Winner
BoneDry – A Novel and Improved Sternal Closure System
Gardner Yost, MD, MS; Jeff Plott, PhD; Jonathan Haft, MD; Gorav Ailawadi, MD
Have an Idea?
Ideas are welcome from anyone in the FCVC community: faculty, staff, trainees, and patients. Cardiovascular innovations in AI are encouraged for submission tot he 2025 Innovation Challenge.
Submissions will open on Monday, January 6, 2025, through text or video format.
Please email FCVCInnovation@umich.edu with any questions.
Now Accepting Applications! Do you have a groundbreaking idea that could make a difference in patients' lives, but need guidance on a successful path to make that idea a reality? The Aikens Innovation Academy is a program designed to create, nurture, and support a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship through education and mentorship customized for Frankel Cardiovascular Center faculty, staff, and trainees. The Academy is designed to support both clinical value and entrepreneurial innovations.
The Aikens Innovation Academy offers a unique set of educational and project development activities for all cardiovascular innovators, including:
• Clinical and research faculty
• Clinical, research, and administrative staff
• House staff, trainees, and medical students
• Nurses, technicians, and other FCVC staff
In this exclusive program, you’ll receive:
• In-depth education on innovation, including communicating value to stakeholders and how to pitch your idea for resources
• An opportunity to develop innovative biomedical technologies, as well as impact clinical technologies and processes
• Guidance on your implementation strategy and business case
• Connections to relevant stakeholders, including departmental and university resources, industry, and investors
• Mentorship from seasoned innovators
• …and more!
Contact Ashley Schork, FCVC Innovation Program Manager, at ashlscho@umich.edu to arrange a consultation about your idea and learn about education, funding, and mentorship opportunities.
Don’t have an idea? That’s okay, it’s not required! You’re welcome to attend and learn about the innovation process. The program will help you match with a project team of like-minded innovators and an innovative technology.
Aikens Innovation Academy Winter 2025 Course
The 2025 Academy will run from Tuesday, February 4 until Tuesday, April 22. Participants will present at the Aikens Innovation Academy Pitch Showcase on Thursday, May 8, 2025. The showcase will feature presentations from the participants as they pitch for development funding and additional support from the FCVC Innovation Team. Enroll here.
Learn how the Aikens Innovation Academy helped Gardner Yost, M.D., M.S., and his team take the next steps to move their project towards successful commercialization. The article gives an inside look at the key takeaways participants will get when they complete the course.
We offer a variety of educational opportunities to promote and explore cardiovascular innovation, including a unique Innovation Webinar Series and Design Thinking Workshops.
The FCVC Innovation Webinar Series aims to educate our community on topics of interest regarding cardiovascular innovation, encourage innovative thinking, and connect the community with resources to help further the advancement of ideas.
See below for a list of upcoming webinars, as well as recordings of past webinars.
For more information, visit the FCVC Innovation Program website.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (EST)
Carmen Carmichael, Senior Procurement Agent at Michigan Medicine
Pete Bryant, RN, Value Analysis Manager at Michigan Medicine
Nicole Black, PhD, Program Director, MedTech Innovator
Carmen Carmichael has 20 years of progressive procurement and contract management experience in an academic medical center. She has significant experience in high-level negotiations and a thorough knowledge of contract law. She has a proven track record in identifying and implementing cost-saving initiatives and standardization to accomplish system-wide goals and strategic missions. She is skilled in sourcing, project management, enterprise-wide negotiations, and cross-team collaborations.
Carmen will present on the procurement process for cardiovascular products at Michigan Medicine, such as; regental delegation of authority, Bid/RFP process (including price analysis and benchmarking), and supplier relationships.
MedTech Innovator is the world’s largest and most successful accelerator and ecosystem for the most promising medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies. Graduates have brought 350 products to market, raised over $8B in follow-on funding, and transformed millions of lives. MedTech Innovator seeks early to mid-stage start-ups in the medical device, diagnostic, or digital health/health IT spaces. Applications for our 2025 cohort will open in Fall 2024 and close on January 31, 2025.
Dr. Nicole Black will present on MedTech Innovator and the importance of a MedTech startup considering value.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (EST)
David Prim, PhD, Principal at Broadview Ventures
Moderator: Sarah Jameson-Valencia, MBA, Associate Director of Ventures, Life Sciences at the University of Michigan
Broadview Ventures is a mission-driven investment organization. Their goal is to improve human health in cardiovascular disease and stroke. They define success as improving human health by bringing innovative technologies to patients.
David Prim shares responsibility for the day-to-day investment activities at Broadview Ventures, including identification and screening of new opportunities, due diligence, negotiation of deal structure, and portfolio company board involvement.
Before joining Broadview, David was a Senior Associate at Locust Walk. At this global life sciences transaction firm, he led engagements for biopharma and medtech clients guiding corporate development strategy and supporting sell-side, buy-side, and financing deal execution. Previously, David was a consultant at ClearView Healthcare Partners, a premier life science strategy consulting firm, where he supported the completion of high-impact strategy projects for a broad range of industry clients across all aspects of the product lifecycle, including new product planning, R&D, commercial, medical affairs, market access, and lifecycle management.
David earned a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, where his research focused on vascular grafting. His research projects covered a wide range of vascular mechanics, hemodynamics, and tissue engineering, with a specific focus on understanding and improving the remodeling of coronary artery bypass grafts. David also holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of South Carolina with honors from the South Carolina Honors College.
David serves on the Board of Directors for CorFlow Therapeutics and is a Board Observer to Puzzle Medical Devices and Vascular Graft Solutions.
Before joining Innovation Partnerships, Sarah spent 3.5 years as a Senior Associate on the investment team at Arboretum Ventures, an Ann Arbor-based healthcare venture capital firm. Prior to Arboretum, Sarah spent 8 years as a field clinical specialist and field clinical engineer supporting cardiac medical devices at Boston Scientific, Sorin, and Biosense Webster (J&J).
Sarah holds a BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology and an MSE in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, as well as an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Biomedical Engineer/Lead Reviewer at U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Clinical Research Program Director, Regulatory
University of Michigan
Professor and Chair of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
Professor Medicine at Harvard Medical School
Co-Chair of Innovation, FVC Innovation Program
Assistant Professor, Cardiac Electrophysiologist at U-M
Clinical Instructor, Cardiovascular Medicine at U-M
Professor of Medicine and Director of the Caring Wisely Program at UCSF Health
Vice Chair for Research in Cardiovascular Research
Associate Professor of Surgery at the Mayo Clinic
Partner at MedTech Advantage Fund
Assistant Director for Cardiac Ablation, Mapping, and Imaging Devices at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Office of Cardiovascular Devices, Division of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Diagnostics, and Monitoring Devices
Regulatory Affairs Lead at Google
Design Thinking is a process of creative problem solving that engages the people that will be most affected by the solution; in healthcare, this is often patients and family members. Design Thinking workshops utilize the collaboration of faculty, staff, trainees, patients, and families to develop solutions that better patient care.
We are happy to talk further about how the concepts of Design Thinking can be utilized in your area of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center. Contact FCVCInnovation@.umich.edu to start a conversation.
Cardiovascular Electrophysiology
Edward B. Dietrich Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering
Clinical Cardiology Pharmacy Specialist, U-M Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy