In laying the groundwork for a new Biomedical Institute of the Americas (BMIA), the MCA Foundation held a series of meetings earlier this week, including a meeting with a few members of the Camino Real Angel Network and a meeting with researchers and clinicians from the region.
In the MCA’s first meeting, a handful of Camino Real Angel investors came to an agreement that they will organize a new angel network focused on biomedicine and biotechnology. Representatives of the group, which met June 18, said they would commit to participating in a Paso del Norte Biomedical Angel Network on the understanding that all proposals brought to the network are well-vetted by the BMIA as market-ready. The new network is part of a larger plan by the BMIA to launch the BMIA Commercialization Center, which will need high volume and high quality biomedical deals in order to be successful.
In order to generate high volume, high quality biomedical deals, the BMIA is creating the Translational Research Collaborative, or TRC. The TRC was the reason for the MCA’s second meeting on June 19 with about 20 researchers and clinicians from El Paso and Las Cruces. Discussion centered on the creation of cross-institutional, multi-disciplinary innovation teams focused on the area of mobile health, which includes topics such as telemedicine or mobile medicine. The teams would work collaboratively to take their already-developed basic research, move it toward real-world applications and commercialize it for market – giving patients access to the technology developed. Taking research from bench side to bedside is a process called translational research. With the help of the BMIA, the innovation teams will have doors opened to them for new grants, and they will benefit from streamlined processes designed to help them navigate through compliance requirements, legal complexities, business agreements and other hurdles that can impede the efficiency of their work. The ultimate objective would be to affect positive change on the health of people and communities in the region and around the world.
The BMIA is a 501(c)3 formed by the MCA Foundation, also a 501(c)3. The BMIA’s first board meeting took place in March. The institute is overseen by a five-member board, which is mostly comprised of MCA Foundation board members. The MCA Foundation expects to formally announce the launch of the BMIA later this year after the institute has its programs in place. Currently, the BMIA shares office space with the MCA Foundation in the Chase Tower, downtown El Paso.
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