A health-minded business accelerator program debuts

10 Mar A health-minded business accelerator program debuts

Computer wonks are not the only ones who can come up with good ideas for new technology and companies.

So can doctors, nurses and medical school students.

That’s the idea behind a new accelerator on the UW-Madison campus that is designed to move inventions specifically from UW Health or the UW School of Medicine and Public Health to the market.

The Isthmus Project — named through a vote by UW Health and School of Medicine employees and students — will be like other business accelerators where entrepreneurs get specialized assistance in learning how to develop and market their products. What will make it different is the focus on improving patients’ health on a broad scale or on solving problems facing UW Health patients and personnel, organizers say.

Thomas “Rock” Mackie, who has been named to lead the accelerator, said the Isthmus Project will be a “one-stop shop hub for medical technology.”