McGowan Institute Faculty Receive Pitt’s Center for Medical Innovation Awards

The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Medical Innovation (CMI) awarded grants totaling $60,000 to three research groups through its 2020 Round-1 Pilot Funding Program for Early Stage Medical Technology Research and Development. Two of the three project teams funded include McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty members. They are:

“Targeted removal of cell-free plasma hemoglobin in extracorporeal therapies” – For an extracorporeal hemoperfusion device that removes plasma hemoglobin from a blood column using treated porous beads.

Nahmah Kim-Campbell, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine and Pediatrics
William Federspiel, PhD, Professor of Bioengineering and Director of the McGowan Institute Medical Devices Lab
Ryan Orizondo, PhD, Researcher in Bioengineering and Member of the McGowan Institute Medical Devices Lab

“Individual Biocontainment Unit for Reducing Viral Transmission to Healthcare Workers and Patients” – For the expedited development, approval, and manufacture of a novel device for use with ICU patients to reduce contamination by aerosolized particles.

David M. Turer, MD, MS, Independent Resident, Department of Plastic Surgery, UPMC
Heng Ban, PhD, Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, Swanson School of Engineering
J. Peter Rubin, MD, Chairman, Department of Plastic Surgery, UPMC

CMI, a University Center housed in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering (SSOE), supports applied technology projects in the early stages of development with “kickstart” funding toward the goal of transitioning the research to clinical adoption. Proposals are evaluated on the basis of scientific merit, technical and clinical relevance, potential health care impact and significance, experience of the investigators, and potential in obtaining further financial investment to translate the particular solution to healthcare.

“This is our eighth year of pilot funding, and our leadership team could not be more excited with the breadth and depth of this round’s awardees,” said Alan Hirschman, PhD, CMI Executive Director and a McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member. “This early-stage interdisciplinary research helps to develop highly specific biomedical technologies through a proven strategy of linking UPMC’s clinicians and surgeons with the Swanson School’s engineering faculty.”

Congratulations, Drs. Federspiel, Rubin, and Orizondo!

Illustration: University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Medical Innovation.