Innovation to Impact at Yale (i2i), a program that trains substance abuse researchers in entrepreneurship, has selected its second cohort of 30 i2i fellows.
This year's class is very diverse: fellows come from 30 institutions across the U.S., Canada, and Russia, and 57 percent of the fellows are female. An overwhelming majority, 76 percent, have doctoral-level (PhD, MD) degrees, and most fellows have spent decades building their research programs. Their innovative work focuses on diagnostics, prevention, and treatment. Fellows now seek to translate their research from the lab to the U.S. market.
The program is funded by The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and is administered by Yale University. It is open to any researcher who is interested in developing substance abuse-related innovations that will be launched in the United States.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 20.8 million Americans have a substance use disorder and the NIH is expected to spend $1.137 billion on drug abuse research in 2019. Much of this funding goes to researchers to develop scientific innovations to fight drug addiction; however, these innovations do not always advance beyond the lab.
i2i is addressing this gap by connecting some of the top researchers in the world to rigorous entrepreneurship training. “The interest from such a talented and skilled group of participants who are making this commitment is further evidence of the broad-based interest in bringing new innovations to help combat these difficult healthcare problems,” said Seth Feuerstein, MD, JD, Lecturer and Faculty Advisor for Innovation in Healthcare at the Yale School of Medicine and Principal Investigator/Program Director of i2i.
The selected innovators arrived at Yale on April 1 for five days of entrepreneurial training. The curriculum includes lectures by entrepreneurs and educators who are skilled in advancing early technologies to the market. After the week-long training session, the program will continue to support i2i fellows with on-going mentorship.
The interest from such a talented and skilled group of participants who are making this commitment is further evidence of the broad-based interest in bringing new innovations to help combat these difficult healthcare problems.
Seth Feuerstein, MD, JD, Lecturer and Faculty Advisor for Innovation in Healthcare at the Yale School of Medicine and Principal Investigator/Program Director of i2i
Patricia Simon, PhD, Associate Research Scientist in Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Program Director of i2i notes that “i2i is excited to continue building an ecosystem of individuals passionate about bringing innovations to the public.”