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Ranganathan, Cortes-Briones Honored with YNHHS Innovation Award

June 12, 2024

Mohini Ranganathan, MD, associate professor of psychiatry, and Jose Cortes-Briones, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, were recently honored with a Yale New Haven Health Innovation Award.

Their team was among five awarded $100,000 to bring groundbreaking projects to life. The ceremony, held in June, was the highlight of the 10th annual Yale Innovation Summit, a gathering that convenes the innovation and entrepreneurship community for two days of impactful conversations, networking and pitch competitions.

The event, hosted by Yale Ventures, drew over 2,200 entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders from around the world to New Haven, connecting innovators with partners, ideas and capital to help them succeed.

Learn more about the Ranganathan/Cortes-Briones team project:

Simulated Psychedelic Immersive Experience (SI-PHI): Healthcare Intervention for Depression is a cutting-edge tool using hi-definition, immersive visuals and audio to create a simulation of the effects of psychedelic medications to treat depression. SI-PHI hopes to provide the benefits of psychedelic medications without the side effects that make them difficult for patients to tolerate.

The potential impact of using extended reality interventions is significant given the large patient population who may benefit, while avoiding the high costs and challenges associated with medications. In addition to winning a YNHHS Innovation Award, the team also pitched and won a prestigious Blavatnik Accelerator Award at the Summit receiving an additional $30,000 to further advance their innovation.

Read more about the YNHHS Innovation Award Ceremony.

Submitted by Christopher Gardner on June 12, 2024