Ohio Organizations Team Up to Develop Child Sized Medical Devices
Post Date: February 27, 2024 | Publish Date:
Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium (MPDC) kicks off at Rev1 Ventures in Columbus
Cincinnati Children’s is joining forces with Nationwide Children’s, The Ohio State University, Cleveland Clinic, CincyTech, Ohio Life Sciences and many other academic and industry leaders to advance pediatric medical device innovation. This collaborative effort, known as the Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium (MPDC), leverages the region’s rich expertise and resources by stoking the innovation ecosystem with funding, resources, networking, clinical trials infrastructure and a commitment to underrepresented populations.
A $6.95 million grant from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the first of its kind in Ohio, backs this effort. The consortium includes two leaders from Cincinnati Children’s Innovation Ventures commercialization team: Todd Ponsky, MD, interim vice president, and Aniruddha Puntambekar, PhD, MBA, senior acceleration manager, who serves as the principal investigator for the Cincinnati Children’s MPDC site. They will play pivotal roles in fostering the industry partnerships needed to develop these technologies.
Representatives from Cincinnati Children’s Innovation Ventures including Puntambekar, Ginny Van Horne, project manager, and Deb Neyer, communications consultant, attended the MPDC kickoff event at Rev1 Ventures in Columbus on Feb. 15, 2024. This event featured inspiring words from the consortium’s founders Cory Criss, MD, chief operating officer of the Consortium and pediatric surgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and David Eckmann, PhD, MD, chief executive officer of the consortium and the founding director of the Center for Medical and Engineering Innovation at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The event culminated with an address from Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted praising the MPDC’s potential impact on economic growth and the health and wellbeing of children across the globe.
“Everything from the food you eat to the cars you drive, to the trucks that deliver it, to the airplanes that fly, to the cloud that connects us all, to the chips that power our devices and the medical innovations and discoveries that are improving the quality of life for people all over the planet are happening right here in Ohio,” said Lt. Gov. Husted.
