The 2021 IDea Incubator was hosted in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS and took place virtually during the IDWeek conference. The event featured innovators across all fields, from infectious diseases professionals to entrepreneurs.
A pitch-style competition, IDea Incubator encourages innovators and early-stage ventures with original inventions, products and ideas with the potential to improve ID care to share their ideas with the ID community and judges in the business, medicine and technology industries. New this year, IDea Incubator applicants were considered for BLUE KNIGHT™ residency through JLABS.
Are you interested in the latest innovations in the field of infectious diseases? Watch the 2021 IDea Incubator competition on demand!
competition rules
- The IDSA Foundation, its affiliates and sponsors are not responsible for any intellectual property submitted and/or presented at any time for its IDea Incubator program during IDWeek 2021. Any individual, group, organization or company is solely responsible for securing intellectual property protection. Learn how to secure your intellectual property by reviewing our resources below.
- IDea Incubator applicants are not required to be registered for IDWeek. Finalists are required to register for IDWeek once they have accepted to participate in the live IDea Incubator session. This includes scientific attendees, exhibitors, invited speakers and guests.
- Applications will be reviewed after the application cut-off date. An incomplete application will be disqualified. See the important dates section.
- Accepted presenters will be notified by the week of Aug. 16, 2021. This information will include the presenter(s) rehearsal and presentation times. If accepted but unable to present, then a 30-day notice is required.
- Presentations will be up to 5 minutes in length, followed by a 5-minute-long question and answer period with the judges.
- A winning idea will be chosen by the judges. Cash prizes will be awarded to all finalists. 1st place will receive $10,000, 2nd place will receive $5,000 and 3rd place will receive $2,500.
- New this year, up to three IDea Incubator applicants may be selected for BLUE KNIGHT™ residency through JLABS, either at select physical JLABS locations or virtually.* Applicants selected for BLUE KNIGHT™ residency may differ from IDea Incubator finalists.
- Through Blue Knight, JLABS is collaborating with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to spur innovation in mutual areas of interest.
- Companies selected for Blue Knight may have access to unique benefits including fee assistance, access to JLABS space, dedicated mentorship from BARDA and the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and dedicated equipment at select JLABS locations.
- * Subject to the execution of an award agreement with JJI and other agreements as are necessary and required for residency at a JLABS location or a JLABS virtual agreement to become part of the JLABS and Blue Knight networks.
JUDGEMENT CRITERIA
- The statement of the problem/unmet need is well defined and articulated (scale of the problem, quantified number of patients, money spent on health care costs, societal costs).
- The target population is clearly defined and quantified.
- The innovation has the potential to solve the problem/meet the needs of the target population. The solution is economically viable (i.e. won’t be too expensive to be accessible).
- The expected health impact is reasonably estimated. The solution to the problem is novel and innovative.
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IMPORTANT DATES
- Applications Open: Tuesday, May 4, 2021
- Applications Close (now extended!):
Wednesday, July 28, 2021 - Applicants and Finalists Notified: Week of Aug. 16, 2021
- LIVE 2021 IDea Incubator Competition (Virtual): Tuesday, Sept. 28th from 5 to 6 p.m. ET. Watch on demand!
SECURING YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The following articles may assist with securing intellectual property. Many other sources are available on the internet:
- “How to Protect Your Product or Idea When Pitching It to a Company.” The Wall Street Journal, 3 September 2008, http://guides.wsj.com/small-business/running-a-business/how-to-protect-your-product-or-idea-when-pitching-it-to-a-company/
- Fitzsimmons, Kelly. “10 Ways to Protect Your Intellectual Property.” Inc., 19 September 2012, https://www.inc.com/kelly-fitzsimmons/ten-ways-to-protect-your-intellectual-property.html
WATCH the 2020 idea incubator
ON DEMAND
AWARDEES
Sanjay Jain, MD
Filipa Mota, PhD
Alvaro Ordonez, MD
1st place: Molecular imaging of bacterial infections
Sanjay Jain, MD, Filipa Mota, PhD, and Alvaro Ordonez, MD, of Johns Hopkins University took home the grand prize for their innovation Molecular Imaging of Bacterial Infections. The team developed F-FDS, a patent-pending, bacteria-specific PET imaging technology that differentiates Gram-negative bacterial infections from other diseases, such as cancer metastases and tumors. Unlike more traditional approaches for diagnosing infections, F-FDS does not require surgery or biopsy, it has nearly 100% specificity, and it can detect infections anywhere in the body with rapid results available within the same day. READ MORE
Sofia Mavrikou, PhD
Spyridon Kintzios, PhD
Kyriaki Hatziagapiou, MD, PhD
2nd place: Cell-Based Bio-Electric Biosensor for the Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S1 Spike Protein Antigen
Kyriaki Hatziagapiou, MD, PhD, Spyridon Kintzios, PhD, and Sofia Mavrikou, PhD, received second place for their innovation Cell-Based Bio-Electric Biosensor for the Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S1 Spike Protein Antigen. The team developed a low-cost, easy-to-use test that uses bioelectric recognition assay technology to provide a fast and accurate diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens with results provided within three minutes.
Josh Odrich
David Kaufman, MD
3rd place: Neonatal Antibiotic Stewardship App (NASA)
David Kaufman, MD, and Josh Odrich, both from the University of Virginia, received third place for the Neonatal Antibiotic Stewardship App (NASA). The free web-based app offers 24/7 evidence-based guidance for neonatal providers to stop or narrow the spectrum of antibiotics that are prescribed in neonatal intensive care units with the hopes of reducing infants’ risks for lifelong adverse effects.
Holly Frost, MD
Sonal Munsiff, MD
1st place: Outpatient Automated Stewardship Information System (OASIS)
Doctors Frost and Munsiff were awarded the 2020 grand prize for OASIS, which will help health care systems implement the CDC Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship in a cost-effective manner that requires substantially less time than traditional methods. READ MORE
Farrukh Jafri, MD
Taylor Freeman
2nd place: PPE VR Training Simulator
Dr. Farrukh Jafri and entrepreneur Taylor Freeman received the second-place award for their virtual reality program to train people how to properly don and doff PPE.
Vidya Atluri, MD, PhD
Lahari Rampur, MD
Paul Pottinger, MD, DTMH, FACP, FIDSA
1st Place
Awarded the grand prize for the OPAT monitoring device were Sai Dodda, Pharm.D., clinical coordinator, and Chris Sleckman, M.S., engineer, both of HIVE, a student-run biotech startup at Washington University in St. Louis.
The winning innovation is a sensor that detects when IV medication is connected to a patient’s peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line, meaning the patient is beginning therapy. The data is then sent in real time to the patient’s doctor and home health agency to help them monitor use and intervene when patients aren’t compliant.
Additionally, health care providers are alerted if the medication is not administered at the correct time. Because OPAT is significantly less costly than in-hospital therapy, the researchers estimate the device would prevent $2,000 in costs for every day of hospital readmission avoided. READ MORE
2nd Place
Mark Sendak, M.D., MPP, of Duke Institute for Health Innovation and Cara O’Brien, M.D., of Duke University, were awarded second place for Sepsis Watch, a software model that predicts sepsis within four hours of a patient being admitted to the emergency department to ensure timely delivery of treatment. It is being used in several hospitals and preliminary research has shown a 15% improvement in 3-hour sepsis treatment bundle compliance.
3rd Place
Juan Walterspiel, M.D., FAAP, a pharma, biotech and medical device consultant and inventor, was awarded third place for his passive solution to prevent CLABSI, which leads to 10,000 deaths every year. The innovation is an inexpensive sleeve that fits over the end of the valve connector of the line to prevent contamination.
Honorable Mention:
Ige George, M.D., M.S., and Gerome Escota, M.D., both of Washington University School of Medicine, were awarded fourth place for their Twitter-based platform, @WuidQ, which is the first free open-access medical education resource to provide review of infectious diseases through board-style, multiple-choice questions.
1st Place
Audrey R. Odom John, M.D., Ph.D., chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the winner of the inaugural IDEA Incubator for her “malaria breathalyzer” diagnostic tool.
The prize money enabled her team to build a prototype to bridge the gap and secure $500,000 in National Institutes of Health funding to move the project forward with the goal of eventually using it to improve patient care.
2nd Place
Qassim Mian, M.D., a third-year pediatrics resident at the University of Alberta won second place for a global development project that focuses on designing and implementing solar-powered oxygen systems in Uganda as a reliable and cost-effective measure to treat hypoxemic children with pneumonia. This project will be undergoing a transition-to-scale over the next few years and Qaasim is involved in developing, implementing and monitoring these systems.
3rd Place
Ana Luisa Neves, M.D., a Research Fellow at the Institute of Global Health & Innovation at Imperial College of London, co-developed momoby, a finger prick test aiming to bring healthcare to remote areas in low-income countries.