BARDA and TMC Innovation Institute’s Partnership will “DRIVe” Innovation.

The Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute will work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to identify solutions to emerging health security threats as part of a new partnership.

The TMC Innovation Institute is a unique learning environment aimed at impacting the health care industry through the collaboration of medicine and cutting-edge technology from around the world. It supports firms as they navigate the research, development, and regulatory pathway.

The new partnership is initially focused on two specific challenges. The first is “pre-symptomatic” detection of illness, or detecting illness in patients and suggesting treatment before they even begin to show symptoms. The second is addressing sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to infection. Sepsis is one of the most expensive conditions U.S. hospitals treat, and it hospitalizes 1.7 million Americans annually.

The effort is led by a new HHS unit called DRIVe, the Division of Research, Innovation and Ventures part of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) at the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. The program was created to address the 21st Century Cures Act that aims to accelerate innovation in health security technologies. TMC is one of eight accelerators across the country joining the effort.

Officials with HHS visited the Texas Medical Center’s Innovation Institute this past July and toured its state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot facility and discuss the new partnership, which includes a $96,500 grant from the agency.

About the TMC Innovation Institute:

The TMC Innovation Institute is shaping the future of health care by uniting promising innovators with the best minds in academia, science and medicine. Its programs help startups streamline the