Innovation Resources at Penn

Innovators Across Penn

Schools and entities represented on this list include: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Penn Carey Law, Penn Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), School of Dental Medicine (Penn Dental Medicine), School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering), School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), and The Wharton School (Wharton).

Health care innovation is practiced and supported by:

• Center for Health Care Transformation & Innovation (CHTI) — Penn Medicine
  “The Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation (CHTI) facilitates the rapid, disciplined development, testing, implementation, and scale of new strategies to reimagine health care delivery for dramatically better outcomes, value, experience, and equity.”

• Center for Health Care Innovation at Lancaster General Health — Penn Medicine
  Shares a mission in extending the reach of Penn Medicine CHTI to the Lancaster General Health community.

• Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) — Penn
  “We leverage insights from behavioral economics to help promote smarter health choices and policy.”

• Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry (CiPD) — Penn Dental Medicine and Penn Engineering
  “The CiPD is bridging Penn Dental Medicine and Penn Engineering with cutting-edge research, training, and entrepreneurship to accelerate the development of new solutions and devices to address unmet needs in oral health, while also recruiting the next generation of leaders in these fields.”

• Center for Practice Transformation (Radiology) – Penn Medicine
  “The Center for Practice Transformation (CPX) facilitates the development, testing, and implementation of initiatives to re-imagine care delivery to patients in radiology, improve patient outcomes, optimize patient and clinician experience, and decrease the cost of care.”

• Community Collaboratory for Co-Creation: Designing Technology for Social Justice & Health (Penn4C) — Penn Nursing and Penn Engineering
  An initiative “based on the recognition that technological solutions should be designed with active engagement of marginalized communities with the explicit goal to challenge rather than reproduce or exacerbate structural inequalities as technology often does. Penn4C focuses on the health care needs of low-resource high-need populations and marginalized groups.”

• Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative — Penn Nursing
  “The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania cultivates and engages emerging and experienced leaders from community, academic, civic and business spheres to create innovative solutions for the LGBTQ+ community. We use social enterprise, community engagement, education, and research to further the sustained well-being of the LGBTQ+ community.”

• Institute for RNA Innovation — Penn Medicine
  A research hub “dedicated to the understanding and development of all aspects of RNA from basic to translational science.”

• Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Penn LDI) — Penn
  “Penn LDI is dedicated to improving health and health care by catalyzing collaborative, multidisciplinary research that influences policy and practice. We connect all twelve of Penn’s schools, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia through our more than 500 affiliated researchers.”

• Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technology (PennAITech) Collaboratory for Healthy Aging – Penn Nursing
  “The overarching goal of the Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technology (PennAITech) Collaboratory for Healthy Aging is to identify, develop, evaluate, commercialize, and disseminate innovative technology and artificial intelligence (AI) methods and software to support older adults and those with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) in their home environment.”

• Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation (PC3I) — Abramson Cancer Center, Penn Medicine
  “Our mission is to make cancer care better for patients, clinicians, and communities. Our work spans the cancer continuum, from screening and prevention, to diagnosis and treatment, to survivorship, palliative care, and end of life care.”

• Penn-CHOP Kidney Innovation Center  — CHOP and Penn
  “The Penn-CHOP Kidney Innovation Center is a research collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia focused on transforming patient care by early detection, prevention and treatment of kidney disease and its complications across the life course."

• Women’s Health Center for Clinical Innovation (WHCCI) — Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn Medicine
  ​​​​​​​“WHCCI’s vision is to drive improvements in patient health and healthcare delivery by utilizing innovative approaches including rapid cycle iterations, digital health and implementation science.“

Business and entrepreneurship support is provided by:

• Academic Entrepreneurship — CHOP and Penn
  “Academic Entrepreneurship eBook is a free open education resource that seeks to build a diverse community of empowered professionals who know how to bridge the worlds of academic research and commercialization to better help ideas and discoveries turn into innovations that provide value to patients, providers and healthcare systems, thereby realizing full market potential and societal impact. This book is a repository of tools, advice, and best practices that establishes a foundation for academic researchers and innovators wherever they may reside.”

• CHOP Office of Entrepreneurship & Innovation (OEI)  — Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  “Our Office of Entrepreneurship & Innovation provides a launchpad for researchers and innovators who pioneer cutting-edge solutions for challenges facing pediatric medicine and healthcare.”

• Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) — Penn
  “The Penn Center for Innovation consolidated and unified the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Technology Transfer with other Penn commercialization resources, allowing for a more streamlined experience for Penn researchers and potential business and industry partners.”
• Pennovation Center — Penn
  “…a business incubator and laboratory that aligns and integrates researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs for the commercialization of research discoveries. Intended to marry entrepreneurs with an expert workforce and scientifically advanced facilities, key features of the Pennovation Center are the common creative spaces, including coworking areas, a cafe, and a venue for events and programs.”
• Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance — Wharton
  “The Stevens Center champions research, collaboration, and global impact in FinTech—the intersection of finance and technology. By engaging students, faculty, and industry, we are uniquely positioned to prepare world leaders for the future of finance.”
• Mack Institute for Innovation Management — Wharton
  “At the Mack Institute for Innovation Management, we foster industry and academic communities to transform our innovation research into real-world impact.”
• Venture Lab — Wharton
  “Venture Lab is the entrepreneurship center at the Wharton School that serves all students and alumni across the University of Pennsylvania who are interested in entrepreneurship and innovation. We maximize the ability of our students and alumni to address important challenges through entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking.”

Resources for health care innovation education and practice include:

• Design Thinking for Health – Penn Nursing
  “An online platform that teaches nurses a new framework to tackle the complex challenges they see in their practice. The open source curriculum may be used or adapted by any nurse or nursing program to support nursing-driven innovation.”

• Innovation at PSOM
  A web page with links to centers, institutes, and education programs for health care innovation at the Perelman School of Medicine.

• Master of Health Care Innovation
  An online degree program from the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy in the Perelman School of Medicine, designed to “forge a diverse network of innovative thinkers and leaders passionate about improving health care.”
• Penn Center for Health, Devices, and Technology (Penn Health-Tech) — Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Engineering, and the Office of the Vice Provost of Research
  “Penn Health-Tech connects innovators across the University system and facilitates innovation in medical devices and healthcare technology.”
• Penn Nursing Innovation
  Resources and opportunities through Penn’s School of Nursing

Support for innovation intersecting the arts, community, and law include:

• Center for Technology, Innovation & Competition (CTIC) — Penn Carey Law
  “CTIC’s mission is to forge a collaborative community of innovative researchers and students committed to learning and advancing the discipline of law and technology. CTIC focuses its work in six areas: Competition Law, Intellectual Property, Internet & Privacy Law, Emerging Technologies, Health Care & Life Sciences Law, and Entertainment & Media Law.”

• Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic’s StartUp Kit – Penn Carey Law
  “These files were created and vetted by students and supervising attorneys at the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic (the ‘ELC’) applying Pennsylvania law. They are intended to educate and inform the early stage start-up.”

• Penn Center for Inclusive Innovation & Technology (PCIIT) — Penn SP2
  “At the Penn Center for Inclusive Innovation & Technology (PCIIT), we are a dedicated hub transforming how future-facing ideas and policies are imagined, designed, and implemented. We focus on the lived experiences of Philadelphians and unite practitioners and partners to build an investable innovation ecosystem rooted in care, justice, and well-being."

• The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation — Penn
  “The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation’s mission is to support and inspire creative practice and practitioners across the university—in all twelve schools, in the university’s artistic and cultural centers, and through the many partnerships and collaborations that connect Penn to the world at large.”