They Went from Bench and Bedside — to Business Plan

Two RI investigators share how they are taking steps to commercialize their research.

Listen to Sean Monaghan, MD, and Jonghwan Lee, PhD discuss how they transformed their research ideas into competitive business plans on The Rhode Pod's MedTech Monday series.

Drs. Monaghan and Lee completed Advance-CTR's Planning Pitch Deck and Immersion Program where they worked one-on-one with NEMIC's MedTech experts over the course of 10 sessions. When they entered the program, both investigators were in the early stages of their technology development and were new to entrepreneurship.

NEMIC guided them through the stages of translating their research into a business plan and planning pitch deck, anticipate challenges and investor questions, and take into account intellectual property considerations.

The program helped me think beyond just gathering data for publications. Now, my lab considers how the data we gather will contribute to product development and FDA approval.

Jonghwan Lee, PhD Assistant Professor of Engineering

Some of the best advice I received was from a patent attorney I met through the program. As researchers, we're trained to write up our research and have people learn from what we're studying. I found out that in commercialization, you might lose the patent protection you would have gained if you have already put your ideas out there.

Sean Monaghan, MD Assistant Professor of Surgery

The investigators sat down with The Rhode Pod to discuss their experiences, what they learned, and what's next for their ventures. Gabby Stranieri, communications manager for Advance-CTR, also discusses what Advance-CTR has to offer RI investigators at the top of the episode.

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