Pediatric Device Competition Oct. 8

The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) will award up to six innovations as much as $50,000 each during the "Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!" competition on Saturday, Oct. 8.

The competition will take place as part of the nation's leading pediatric innovation symposium, hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Health System.

The FDA-funded consortium, led by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, invites proposals from innovators – researchers, entrepreneurs, and clinicians – with a pediatric medical device concept that lends itself to commercialization. In addition to the prize money, winners will receive consultation services from NCC-PDI. Additional details about the competition are available online.

“This year, we are combining our annual FDA-funded consortium pitch competition with our Institute’s annual symposium to bring greater attention to promising devices and give competition participants more exposure to investors, policy makers and children’s hospital executives that evaluate pediatric innovations,” said Kolaleh Eskandanian, PhD, Executive Director of the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and NCC-PDI. “Our goal is to bring needed devices to children faster and to focus greater attention to helping bridge the gap that often follows the prototyping phase in the device development life cycle.”

Competition finalists will pitch their medical device to a distinguished panel of judges at the Sheikh Zayed Institute’s fourth annual Pediatric Surgical Innovation Symposium, “Helping Kids and the Economy Grow Stronger Through Innovation,” at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC. The one-day conference will bring together innovators, local economic development strategists, investors, patient advocates, and policy makers to stimulate pediatric device innovation and bring solutions to market faster.

For symposium agenda and registration, visit www.pediatric-surgery-symposium.org.

Published October 5, 2016