Fogarty Institute for Innovation

Thanks to a generous matching grant of $10,000, your donation will go twice as far – helping us spur medical innovation that will reduce suffering and save lives.

Who we are: The Fogarty Institute for Innovation (FII), an educational nonprofit, is where medical innovation happens and where companies that solve some of the most critical health issues are born. The Institute was founded in 2007 by world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon Thomas J. Fogarty, M.D., to spearhead medical advancement that benefits patients and targets unmet needs.

Our motto: At FII, we ascribe to Dr. Fogarty’s simple philosophy that “there has to be a better way.” We have a rigorous selection process that helps us handpick innovators whose ideas have significant technical merit and high likelihood of “finding a better way” to cure dire health issues. 

Reinventing healthcare: The Institute currently incubates 13 early-stage companies – each focused on critical health needs. Their technologies are targeting education, maternal, neonatal, pre-neonatal, surgical and vascular healthcare. We help these startups bring their product to market by offering mentorship, access to expert intellectual and development resources, and physical and financial support.

Focus on women and infant healthcare: There is a tremendous need in women and baby healthcare, and ironically, this field has historically been underdeveloped and underfunded in terms of medical innovation. Every year, globally, more than 3 million babies die on the day they draw their first breaths, and 300,000 women perish in the process of delivery. We are working to drastically lower these numbers. We identified five entrepreneurs who had the best new ideas, and brought them to the Institute to benefit from our resources and bring their products to market faster. Our in-residence companies are creating technology to treat some of the most common, and deadly, health problems, including:

• Early detection of ovarian cancer, perhaps the biggest unmet need in all of women’s health.
• Post-partum hemorrhaging prevention, the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, taking the life of one woman every four minutes.
• Drastically improving newborn monitoring and resuscitation. Sadly, over 1 million babies die annually from birth asphyxia.

Our accomplishments: Since our inception, we have already experienced strong success and are making headway on important healthcare issues. Highlights include:

• We successfully spun off three companies (HeartFlow, Niveus and PQ Bypass).
• Several of our in-residence startups are raising Series A funding and initiating clinical trials.
• Two of our entrepreneurs where among a select group of women recognized in Forbes’ prestigious “30 under 30” list for shaping the future of healthcare.
• We are collaborating with national and international companies to teach the value of early-stage innovation and mentorship.

Developing the next generation of innovators: As Dr. Fogarty has said, “Unlike some things that can be learned from a classroom and a book, the only way to learn how to innovate, is to innovate.” We have a hands on approach to train and develop the future leaders of medical device companies.  Our educational activities include medical fellowships, internships and workshops.  

Join our cause to “find a better way” to develop technology that directly benefits us, the patients!

Learn more about us at www.fogartyinstitute.org, an educational nonprofit 501(c)(3), and Like us at facebook.com/fogartyinstitute