Newswise — The inaugural cohort of innovators has been selected to participate in UCLA Health’s new TechQuity Accelerator. The class represents pre-seed through Series A-stage companies that are championing health equity-driven innovations across the life sciences, spanning the medical device, digital health, diagnostic, and biopharma sectors.
The companies are developing solutions that address respiratory illness, chronic disease management, and healthcare accessibility for vulnerable populations.
The UCLA Health TechQuity Accelerator, provided in partnership with UCLA Health Biodesign and BioscienceLA, is uniquely focused on supporting teams that have innovative concepts and a firm commitment to improving long-term community health resilience. Launched in response to COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities, the UCLA Health TechQuity Accelerator is designed to be sustainable beyond the pandemic, providing better health security by targeting four thematic areas: prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and community impact.
“This cohort represents the type of patient-centered innovation we seek to support: early-stage companies driven by a mission to develop inclusive technologies and accelerate health equity within diverse populations,” said Jennifer McCaney, executive director of UCLA Biodesign and assistant director of the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute. “We’re fortunate to be able to tap into the LA region’s rapidly growing tech ecosystem and its diverse talents, assets and infrastructure.”
The 2022 cohort includes:
- Aevice Technologies – AeviceMD is a remote patient-monitoring solution utilizing a proprietary AI algorithm to identify acoustic digital biomarkers remotely in chronic respiratory diseases.
- Amptron Medical – Amptron Medical is developing a cost-effective respiratory care device designed to keep patients off critical care ventilators and increase access to lifesaving respiratory care.
- Etude DX – Etude DX is developing Quantavir, a sensitive and precise microfluidic-based point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test, uniquely capable of producing viral concentration results quantitatively in low-resource settings.
- IHP Therapeutics – IHP Therapeutics is developing a home-based rescue therapy to address systemic gaps in sickle cell pain crisis utilizing a glycobiology-targeted platform.
- Ioncell – TruePass is a pandemic management platform that facilitates patient access to relevant community medical resources, including social services for care delivery and wellness.
- Shared Harvest – myCOVIDMD is a mobile platform that enables rapid testing, tethering, and telehealth for vulnerable populations in real time.
- Telebionix – Remosense is an AI-enabled, fully integrated end-to-end health ecosystem designed to capture and relay remote patient data to doctors in real time, aiding in chronic disease management for elderly and rural populations.
The four-month TechQuity program provides founders with personalized mentorship, access to clinical expertise, and product development support. It culminates in a final pitch showcase featuring UCLA Health leaders and community stakeholders.
Accelerator companies are paired with student interns subsidized by BioscienceLA through its BioFutures Internship Program. This is part of a UCLA Health, UCLA Biodesign and BioscienceLA commitment to build a diverse life science workforce by providing career-building opportunities for people from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
BioscienceLA is a major catalyst for innovation in the life sciences and health in the greater Los Angeles region. The independent not-for-profit organization was seeded by LA County and is backed by numerous companies, hospitals and organizations. Its mission is to ensure that Los Angeles has a collaborative, well-coalesced ecosystem and to advance the region’s capacity and pace of innovation by harmonizing the efforts of all stakeholders.
UCLA Health is an emerging leader in innovative equity-focused health care delivery. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UCLA Health’s infectious disease experts and clinical professionals, uniquely positioned to support the fight against the disease, have taken a leading role with federal, state and local public health and government officials.
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