Boston Children's names three finalists for "Innovation Tank" competition

BOSTON, Oct. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Boston Children's Hospital today announced the three finalists selected to compete for $30,000 and investment advice from industry leaders in the hospital's first "Innovation Tank" to be held Friday, Oct. 31, 2014, at Boston Children's Global Pediatric Summit + Awards, Taking on Tomorrow (#PedInno14), at the Seaport World Trade Center.

Finalists include:

• CareAline® Products, LLC  (Kezia and Mike Fitzgerald)
  Kezia and Mike Fitzgerald are parents who innovated out of necessity and created CareAline® Sleeves and Wraps for their daughter, Saoirse, who was battling neuroblastoma and undergoing chemotherapy at Dana Farber Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. CareAline® Sleeves and Wraps are unique line management systems for PICC and central lines, PEG and G-GJ tubes and various other catheters. The CareAline® Wrap is tubular, keeping lines off of skin and bypassing the need for tape or makeshift devices to hold lines in place.
• HubScrub (Sarah Goldberg, MD and Ali Ataollahi, PhD, Boston Children's Hospital)
  Hospital-acquired bloodstream infections from central-line catheters are a major—yet preventable—cause of pediatric complications, resulting in significantly higher cost of care and mortality rates. The HubScrub is an innovative cordless device that will effectively automate and standardize sterilization of the external connector of the central line, called the hub, with the potential to greatly diminish this source of life-threatening infections in children and free the caregiver to focus on other time-sensitive tasks and patient care.
• Kurbo Health (Joanna Strober and Thea Runyan)
  Kurbo Health is a mobile weight loss program designed for kids and teens ages 8 to 18. Kurbo offers a fun and engaging mobile app to help young people make healthier eating choices and lose weight. The app is supplemented by weekly personal coaching via phone and text aimed at supporting kids to learn healthy habits for a lifetime. The Kurbo program is licensed from the Lucile Packard Weight Control Program at Stanford University.

A panel of venture capitalists, clinicians/researchers and industry leaders will consider pitches from the three finalists who seek investment for their business or product solution designed to improve pediatric care. Judges will decide how to "invest" $30,000 of funds sponsored by Philips Healthcare and will provide valuable insights to the presenters and audience on accelerating innovations and bringing them to market.

Judging panel and moderator include:

• Daymond John (moderator): Entrepreneur Daymond John, founder of the sportswear brand FUBU, is also an author, consultant, motivational speaker and television personality on ABC's critically acclaimed reality business show Shark Tank.
• Leonard Zon, MD (judge): Dr. Zon is the founder and director of the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital and a pioneer in the use of zebrafish as a platform for drug discovery.
• Bob Davis (judge): Bob Davis is a General Partner at Highland Capital Partners.
• Santo Politi (judge): Santo Politi is a Founder and General Partner of Spark Capital.
• Ivan S. Salgo, MD, MBA (judge): Dr. Salgo currently serves as Senior Director, Global Cardiology, Philips Ultrasound.
• Halle Tecco (judge): Halle Tecco is a Founder & Managing Director of Rock Health.

For more information about Taking on Tomorrow and the Innovation Tank, visit takingontomorrow.org.

Boston Children's Hospital's Global Pediatric Innovation Summit + Awards 2014, Taking on Tomorrow, takes place October 30 - 31 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. It provides an engaging forum to build partnerships, accelerate innovations and help reshape the future of pediatric medicine. The dynamic and comprehensive agenda gathers innovators and thought leaders from across the globe to examine clinical, informatics and business opportunities in pediatric innovation.

Taking on Tomorrow features IBM as its premier sponsor. Additional corporate partners, include Philips Healthcare, Genzyme, Claritas Genomics, Deloitte, Verizon, RCN, Alere Analytics, Siemens Healthcare, American Well, Cerner Corporation, Shire, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Alexion, Cisco, Presidio, AstraZeneca and Pfizer's Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI). Summit Association Partners include the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI), The Institute for Pediatric Innovation, The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC) and Mass Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC). Media partners feature Modern Healthcare, Boston Business Journal, WBUR-90.9 FM (Boston's NPR News Station), MIT Technology Review, Clinical Informatics News, and Bio-IT World.

Follow the Summit online @BCH_Innovation #PedInno14.

About Boston Children's Hospital
Boston Children's Hospital is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 1,100 scientists, including seven members of the National Academy of Sciences, 14 members of the Institute of Medicine and 14 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's today is a 395-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. Boston Children's is also the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

For more information about research and clinical innovation at Boston Children's Hospital visit: http://vectorblog.org

To learn more about pediatric health visit our Thriving blog: http://childrenshospitalblog.org

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Contact: 
Meghan Weber, Boston Children's Hospital
617-919-3110 | [email protected]

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SOURCE Boston Children's Hospital

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