Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur has introduced an academic and training program in Medical Technologies in collaboration with All Indian Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS Jodhpur). The program was initiated in July 2020 with the Philosophy of Biodesign at its core. As an extension of this collaboration, a Biodesign Bootcamp was being organized jointly by Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, IIT Jodhpur, AIIMS Jodhpur and JCKIF at Jodhpur Club on IIT Jodhpur Campus.
As part of this program, doctors and engineers were co-mentored by a team of faculty colleagues at IIT Jodhpur and AIIMS Jodhpur, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders. The aim was to build an ecosystem that would foster multidisciplinary deep-tech entrepreneurship in healthcare.
The Bootcamp Invited Speakers, Dr. Anurag Mairal (Professor of Medicine and the Director, Global Outreach Programs at Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, Stanford University) and Dr. Ayesha Chaudhary, (Advisor, Stanford University, Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, India program, Adjunct faculty IIT-J) introduced faculty members and students from AIIMS Jodhpur and IIT Jodhpur to the process of Biodesign.
This boot camp created a common platform for physicians and engineers to validate real-world medical needs, invent new health technology products to address them and plan for their implementation into patient care. The boot camp included, a hands-on team activity:
- From clinical need statements to successful start-ups-Drafting and finalising need statements based on the clinical gap and market feasibility.
- A talk on the best practices of Faculty and student joint start-ups through Biodesign.
- A brainstorming session on introducing biodesign philosophy for undergraduate students of IITJ and AIIMSJ.
Dr. Anurag Mairal said “I was impressed by the interdisciplinary nature of training at IIT Jodhpur. Faculty participants from IITJ and AIIMSJ were open and enthusiastic about learning the Biodesign process and working together as part of the joint programs in MedTech. It was exciting to see the projects arising from local needs that may ultimately provide global solutions”. He further added, “India would be seeing novel medical technologies and future MedTech entrepreneurs emerging out of this joint program.”
Prof. Santanu Chaudhury, Director, IIT Jodhpur in his address to the participants, highlighted the importance of the Biodesign process and philosophy of entrepreneurship and how it is encapsulated within this Medical Technologies academic programs, jointly offered by IIT Jodhpur and AIIMS Jodhpur, making it unique and successful.
