About:
This workshop will be very useful to learn about the SPARK programs to facilitate faculty to move ideas into products (therapies, diagnosis, devices) with actual funding. SPARK initiative started in Stanford, but many institutions in different countries worldwide have established individual SPARK programs and we are now moving to Global SPARK. We established SPARK at the University of Vermont 4 years ago and the number of faculty who have entered the entrepreneurship area has markedly grown.
Speaker Bio:
Michael Wallach, Ph.D., has over 30 years of experience in molecular parasitology with a wealth of experience in both academic and industrial science. He was the inaugural director of a key research institute, Institute for the Biotechnology of Infectious Diseases, at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in 2002. In 2008, Michael established a new course in Bio-Innovation and Entrepreneurship where graduates work in small teams to form creative innovative ideas for medical health products. This course has been given locally and internationally culminating in 2016 with a course given at the Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2013, he was appointed as the inaugural director of the SPARK Sydney program, which was established by UTS and the University of Sydney, to emulate the Stanford SPARK program. Furthermore, Michael played a key role in building SPARK Global, which is expected to be formally established, with the participation of 10 countries, in 2017.