Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Programme overview

This short training offers a concentrated curriculum on the fundamentals of biomedical innovation: identifying actionable research, assessing market and clinical needs, protecting intellectual property, and forming teams and business plans. Instruction typically combines seminars, case studies and guest presentations from industry, venture and technology-transfer professionals to bridge academic research and commercial development.

What you'll study

• Innovation fundamentals: problem framing, unmet clinical needs and opportunity identification.
• Intellectual property and regulation: basics of patents, data rights and regulatory pathways relevant to therapeutics, devices and diagnostics.
• Business and financing: elements of business modelling, go-to-market strategies, funding sources (grants, angel/VC, strategic partnerships) and investor perspectives.
• Product development and translation: target product profiling, preclinical to clinical transition considerations, and manufacturing or scale-up basics.
• Team science and entrepreneurship skills: leadership, team formation, pitching and communication to non-scientific stakeholders.

Entry requirements

Open primarily to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical trainees and research staff with a background in the biomedical sciences. Applicants are normally expected to have ongoing research experience or a clear interest in translating research into applications; selection may involve a brief statement of intent or nomination by a faculty member.

Career prospects

Completing this training strengthens readiness for careers at the academic–industry interface: roles in technology transfer and commercialization offices, biotech and medtech startups, product management, regulatory affairs, and innovation-focused positions within pharmaceutical companies or healthcare systems. It also equips academic investigators to lead translational projects and engage with investors or industry partners.

Scholarships & funding angle (general)

Short trainings are often supported by institutional innovation funds, philanthropy or sponsored by departments; prospective participants should check for internal fellowships, travel or trainee development awards. Applicants can also explore external entrepreneurship fellowships, small business grants and accelerator programs to support prototype development and early commercialization activities.