Skills Development

The overall goal of MN-REACH is to translate promising technology into useful drugs, medical devices, and therapeutics. Achieving this goal requires critical skills for entrepreneurship, connections to resources and networking opportunities.

The skills development program for MN-REACH consists of a three-stage skills development process. The Bootcamp is a one-day course for academic innovators and is open for undergraduates, graduate students, post doctoral associates, staff and faculty. It is designed to expose innovators to the process of translating scientific discoveries into therapies to improve human health. Topics will include identifying a commercializable solution, intellectual property, product market fit, market size, commercial and regulatory milestones, and academic roles in commercialization.

The next phase of the skills development includes a series of half-day workshops on Value Proposition Design. These workshops address topics such as product market fit, customer discovery, and the path to commercialization and market assessment. This workshop series is intended for teams that have an innovation and are interested in moving those innovations toward commercialization.

Strategy clinics will be held once a month and help innovators with MN-REACH funding to continue their progression toward commercialization.  The clinics are driven by innovators and their teams and will address topics including: advanced regulatory issues, clinical trials, reimbursement, Start up 101, assembling a pitch deck, SBIR/STTR applications, licensing your innovation or finding strategic partners and business plan basics.

Mr. Shaye Mandle, President and Chief Executive Officer, LifeScience Alley.
Presenter, MN-REACH Medical Technology Boot Camp, August 26, 2015.