Ten Years of Innovation Celebrated at the Frankel Cardiovascular Center

The Frankel Cardiovascular Center (CVC) and Fast Forward Medical Innovation (FFMI) recently celebrated a full decade of funding cardiovascular care innovation through its annual pitch competition on Thursday, May 7, in the Danto Auditorium. Part of the Frankel CVC Innovation Program, the Frankel CVC Innovation Celebration is a day of events highlighting groundbreaking ideas in cardiovascular care.

The day kicked off with the 8th annual Aikens Innovation Academy Pitch Showcase, featuring presentations by current academy participants seeking development funding and additional support from the Frankel CVC Innovation Team. The Aikens Innovation Academy is an education and mentorship program customized for Frankel CVC faculty, staff, and trainees. After their pitch, the participants received feedback on their projects from the day’s panel of expert judges, Zachi Attia, PhD, MBA, Mayo Clinic; Ellie Huff, MSN, RN, FACC, Baylor Scott & White Health; Allen Keel, MBA, MSBME, Edwards Lifesciences; Simin Lee, MD, MBA, Mass General Brigham and Systole Health.  This year’s Aikens cohort included: 

• Brittany Baur, PhD, Assistant Research Scientist, Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation, Michigan Medicine
• Jeanne duFay de Lavallaz, MD, PhD, Fellow, Electrophysiology
• Daniel Ehrmann, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, University of Michigan Medical School
• Ashley Hesson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Cardiovascular Medicine; Director of Research, University of Michigan Cardio-Obstetrics Program
• Matthew Hodgman, PhD Student in Bioinformatics
• Andrew Huang, MD, House Officer, Integrated Vascular Surgery
• Daniel Meier, MSc, Robotics Lab Manager
• Ricardo Vinuesa, PhD, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering

Following the Aikens Innovation Academy Pitch Showcase, the event featured Grand Rounds with Dr. Zachi Attia, who presented the Mayo Clinic’s study of AI-enabled detection of cardiovascular disease.

The 10th annual Frankel CVC Innovation Challenge took place in the afternoon. This exciting pitch competition allowed multidisciplinary teams to win funding for their cardiovascular care innovations. Awards were given to the following teams:

Commercial Product/Service Winner: EndoPatch: A Novel Endovascular Closure System for ECMO Decannulation

• Sikandar Raza, MD, Resident, Cardiothoracic Surgery and Fellow, Surgical Innovation
• Louis Beardell III, BS Student, Engineering
• Alvaro Rojas-Peña, MD, Associate Research Scientist, Surgery
• Kristopher Deatrick, MD, Assistant Professor, Cardiac Surgery
• Andrew Zhang, PhD, Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) Lab Engineer

Artificial Intelligence Winner: Coronary Arterial Blood Flow Quantification Using 4D Color Flow Ultrasound

• Oliver D. Kripfgans, PhD, Associate Professor, Radiology
• Jonathan M. Rubin, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Radiology
• Atefeh Abdolmanafi, PhD, Research Fellow, Radiology
• Neal Murari Duggal, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
• Mehran M. Ebadi Tehrani, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology
• Eric Cantey, MD, Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine
• Davy Hamilton, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Cardiology
• Matt Konerman, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor

In addition, “Just Do It” awards were selected for low-cost, low-complexity ideas. The winners were:

• Improving Heart Failure Transitions of Care Through a Standardized Discharge Documentation Tool—submitted by Noor Suleiman, MD, House Officer, Internal Medicine
• Cardioshock AI—submitted by Scott Ketcham, MD, Fellow, Cardiology Critical Care, Internal Medicine
• Helping Hearts and Minds Rest: White Noise to Reduce Delirium in the CVICU—submitted by Caitlin Brown, BSN, RN, CCRN, CSC, Cardiovascular Care Unit / CVC4 Staff Nurse
• Herbs and Greens Gardens—submitted by Amber Spencley, MS, RDN, Registered Dietitian Nutrition, and Beverly Kuznicki, MS, RDN, Registered Dietitian Nutrition

The Frankel CVC Innovation Program is a unique resource for promoting, developing, and advancing new cardiovascular care ideas and projects to the next level. “It was refreshing to see real innovation culture as opposed to innovation theater, commented Simin Lee, event judge. “The Frankel CVC is building the program thoughtfully, and it was truly energizing to see firsthand.” 

Ellie Huff, another judge at the event, stated that “the Frankel CVC]continues to foster a culture that not only embraces innovation but actively challenges the boundaries of what is possible in cardiovascular medicine.” 

The Frankel CVC Innovation Program is thankful for the continued support of the Frankel CVC and FFMI in advancing the transformational ideas from the Frankel CVC community.

The Frankel CVC and FFMI would like to acknowledge and thank the Aikens, Stolzenfeld, and the Danto families for their continuing support and patronage. Their generosity enables the Frankel CVC Innovation Program to continue growing and introducing the future of cardiovascular innovation to the University of Michigan community and beyond.

Questions about the Frankel CVC Innovation Program? Visit the website to learn more.