New Innovation Hub launches for Henry Ford + MSU partnership

Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences today announced the formation of the Innovation Hub, the partnership’s bold new initiative to accelerate commercialization of new technologies to improve health.

The Innovation Hub aims to narrow the gap between academic innovation and clinical implementation to grow early-stage companies that revolutionize care delivery, broaden health care access and enhance patient experiences.

“This is so much more than investing in startups — we’re truly investing in the future of patient care,” said Bob Riney, president and CEO, Henry Ford Health. “The Innovation Hub represents a bold step toward, transforming breakthrough ideas into real-world solutions that will shape the next era of medicine right here in our own ecosystem. Good health doesn’t just mean medicine and doctor’s appointments — it means innovation, exploration and discovery, too.”

The Innovation Hub has three main components:

• Clinical Expertise — Clinical and subject matter expertise for technology assessment, real-world evidence and data, and pilot and clinical trial sites.
• Entrepreneurial Support — Access to experienced health care entrepreneurs and suite of startup programming including customer discovery, validation and vast network of services.
• Venture Investment — Initial $10 million venture fund dedicated to investing in early-stage companies, including those in digital health and artificial intelligence, medical devices and diagnostics, care delivery innovations and clinical workflow improvement.

Founding members Henry Ford Health, Michigan State University and MSU Research Foundation are providing the initial $10 million in capital for the fund, with the goal of investing about $2 million a year over roughly the next five years.

“Bringing new innovations to market is incredibly complex. It takes deep domain expertise, strategic partnerships, capital, and relentless execution to navigate the path from idea to impact,” said Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., president, Michigan State University. “Our teams have long-standing track records of doing just that: turning promising innovations into market-ready solutions that improve lives and deliver real value.”

It is expected the collaboration will lead to:

• launching and scaling high-potential startups through venture creation and investment;
• supporting innovators, clinicians and faculty in translating ideas to impact;
• fostering public-private partnerships to drive clinical validation and market adoption;
• cultivating talent and infrastructure to grow Michigan’s life science and innovation economy.

Those interested in exploring collaboration opportunities including, but not limited to, entrepreneurial support, customer discovery, venture investment, clinical pilot studies and co-development of intellectual property can visit the Innovation Hub website to learn more.