KGI Students Help HMRI Determine Viability of Patented Research

This story from Kevin Smith originally appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Pasadena Star News on Dec. 14, 2016.

Innovation is vital in the medical world, but how can you effectively gauge the market potential of new products and treatments?

That’s the idea behind Huntington Medical Research Institutes’ newly forged relationship with Keck Graduate Institute.

The Pasadena-based HMRI, which has brought some significant scientific breakthroughs to life over the last 50-plus years, has partnered with KGI’s Master of Bioscience department in a program that provides students with real-world training in determining whether a number of HMRI’s patented research products are commercially viable.

KGI Steven Casper, dean of the School of Applied Life Sciences, split some of the students from his class into three different teams. One is evaluating the commercial potential of a test to identify the onset of Alzheimer’s disease years before it would otherwise be known. Another is addressing a wearable device that uses biofeedback to train the mind and treat sleep apnea and a third team is weighing the commercial market for a new form of anesthesia that’s designed to be safer for children.

To read the complete article, visit the San Gabriel Valley Tribune site.