Graduate students in this novel program learn key aspects of medical device commercialization in a team environment through cross-disciplinary instruction that spans the technology and business realms including such topics as: clinical needs assessments, intellectual property, market analysis, pre-clinical study planning, clinical study design, FDA approval processes, biomedical startup company financial models, reimbursement, and corporate exit strategies.

Last year Purdue received a $100M endowment from the Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Biomedical Engineering to create an institute for the development of biomedical devices and products.  Located in Purdue’s Discovery Park, the Mann Institute is already translating early-stage discoveries through technology development teams.  Promising biomedical technologies are advanced for the market by first creating prototypes and undertaking in vitro and pre-clinical testing.  The Institute is expected to form partnerships with medical centers such as the Indiana University School of Medicine for the clinical evaluation of the most promising technologies, as well with Indiana medical device companies for their subsequent manufacture and commercialization.   The resources and capabilities of the Mann Institute are significantly increasing the number of Purdue faculty members and students involved in translational research activities and the number of innovations that achieve clinical impact.