Parthvee Jain Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Disruptive Technologies to Save Environment

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 10:57:37 +0000

This is the age of Disruption, Sebastian Thrun, computer scientist says, and hits bull’s eye.

On 7th April 2018, a gush of fresh air of innovative ideas buffeted gently a modest wood-paneled auditorium in central Delhi as two enterprising innovators unveiled their ongoing disruptive technologies – based projects to depollute air and save thousands of litres of water as well as million units of electricity.d save thousands of litres of water as well as million units of electricity.
As audience clung to these innovators’ narratives in rapt attention, another eminent speaker Denny John dwelt at length on an absorbing theme of how to assess a healthcare technology for the larger interest of society. “Mine is a disruptive technology”, a lanky but hefty new age entrepreneur stole the limelight at the meet as he, in his baritone voice, said as an industry always have the tremendous appetite for future technologies and thereby revolutionize deliverable. He was Monish Bhandari of OptiMaser™ which works for disinfection of hospital wastes including many other things.
An engineer, who appeared firmly grounded and did not betray any sign of tremendous potential his “Shudh Vayu” and “Swasthgram” campaign holds for the society by cleaning tons of carbon in air by a simple filter on roofs of cars threw light on his disruptive innovation for combating menace of spiking pollution plaguing many cities.
The engineer Amit Bhatnagar said 920,000 children die under 5 years due to air pollution worldwide. In Delhi, it is 3000 in 365 days, almost 8 deaths per day, according to UNICEF report. Air Pollution inhaled during pregnancy can cross the placenta and affect the developing brain of a fetus.
Swasthgram and Shudh Vayu were founded by Mr. Amit Bhatnagar and his common friends. Mr. Amit Bhatnagar is an IITian turned into the social entrepreneur. He did his M.S. in Bio-Engineering from Penn State (US) in 2007 and B.Tech in Mechanical, Hollywood (USA). After relocating to India, he started envisioning his life’s goal and along with common friends established Swasthgram in 2012. He uses disruptive technology, innovated & specially designed to cater to all healthcare needs.
Also Read: Cyber-Biosecurity: Are we ready?

The Saturday morning’s meet was a gathering of young innovators and industry experts in a conference hall in the national capital’s prestigious India International Centre to learn how to assess a healthcare technology for a beneficial outcome for the society.
Marking a step forward towards its promise of providing an encouraging platform to young innovators and innovative startup of the health sector, InnovatioCuris organized its fourth IC Innovators Club meeting that day. A date well was chosen, celebrating World Health Day, InnovatioCuris called on industry leaders to stand up to the pledges and join hands to take concrete steps to advance #HealthcareForAll.
We live in a culture where everyone’s opinion, views, and assessment of situations are twisted on social media if feared and hated by environmentalists (industry name say) and the public alike. Yet many a time, the scientific assessment of technology is remarkably different and tells altogether a different story. And we all know we become what we behold, we shape our tools and then our tools shape us. So, the assessment of any new tool or technology is very important. With this agenda, Denny John addressed the listeners which within no time compelled them to shed away their morning blues. Mr. John holds an external Ph.D. in HTA from Maastricht University, the Netherlands on the cost-effectiveness of vaccines related to infectious diseases in India. He is also an adjunct Scientist with ICMR-NIMS.
Being an Associate Editor for IJTAHC and Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation journals, he has also conducted various workshops on SR, EE and HTA training for over 300 members in Nepal, Ghana, and India. Under his literature, he has 10 peer-review publications on SR, EE and HTA, 2 book-chapters on Pharmacoeconomics, and 1 book on Systematic Reviews. Co-guiding 1 Masters and 2 Ph.D. students in HTA. He is a task force member on National Registry of Injuries in India. He is also a co-researcher on cost-effectiveness analysis of glaucoma screening in cataract camps.
The interventions used to promote health, to prevent, diagnose or treat acute or chronic diseases, or for rehabilitation which includes pharmaceuticals, devices, procedures and organizational systems used in healthcare, defines healthcare technology says, Mr. John. After he made listeners to understand what healthcare technology is, he guided them to understand what exactly HTA (Healthcare Technology Assessment) is.

A systematic evaluation of the properties of a health technology, addressing its direct and intended effects, as well as its indirect and unintended consequences, to inform decision-making is HTA. He explains, not only the assessment of the technology but also the evaluation and calculation of any input that goes into the delivery of the technology will be covered under HTA.
Narrating the story about BEMPU, a hypothermia monitoring device, he made a strong point that one should practice evidence-based approach, that stating evidence is very important not only while assessment of a technology but also in day-to-day healthy lifestyle habits. This gives context-specific inputs into the decision-making process at policy and organizational levels.
Evidence-based practice, Health economic evaluation, Policy and market analysis are the formation bricks of the architecture of HTA where Social aspects is also another brick in the wall catering its stakeholders, patients, health professionals, industry, third-party players and the government with trust and a good decision-making capability. A feedback from any stakeholder is always a good approach to perform analysis of your technology says, Mr. John. Especially when it comes to the customers, patients as (here) the case is, patient engagement is a huge buzz topic and knowing your customer is a great idea to improve. Taking feedback whether they are willing and are comfortable in using the technology and how they feel about the integration of it in their life could give you the taste of your own drug.
So, what is evidence-based practice? An evidence-based approach is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of an individual. Mr. John emphasizing on the usage and reporting of the evidence says, “wherein day-to-day life reporting of evidence is weak, the evidence should be taken based on the studies from multiple trials and research studies and not from a single study or trial”.
After stressing on the importance for stating the evidence he also explained the impact and need of economic evaluation analysis which addresses the additional health benefit gained from investment in a technology, such as the cost per additional Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) gained, by comparison of that technology to a different intervention or to no intervention.
Another important component of this valuable session was Budget Impact Analysis (BIA). Mr. John told that BIA addresses the affordability of the technology, such as the net annual financial cost of adopting the technology for a finite number of years.
Also Read: Early Detection of Dengue

All this directly or indirectly contributes to the assessment of healthcare technology that one plans to adopt and present. In addition to this, he also explained briefly the ways a person can perform the economic evaluation of the technology under observation like cost-effective analysis, cost-benefit analysis or be it cost-utility analysis.
Mr. John also walked listeners through the schematic structure of Health Technology Assessment in India (HTAIn). Also, telling about how patients and consumers can be engaged in HTA, what all parameters are there on which they can evaluate the technology and how it would be beneficial for the same.
Mr. Monish Bhandari said post signing of the CITAR incubation MoU on 2nd May 2017, the entire aura of the association has fast-tracked with translating the lab research to commercial success, augmenting the brand value, potential & technical excellence of OptiMaserTM & it’s futuristic new Avatars.
OptiMaser™ potential in excess is exemplified by the fact that it can achieve systematic volumetric heating for disinfection with its mobility in any diverse industry environment. CITAR’s clinical ability to instantly establish protocols, validate clinical results has given OptiMaserTM the required thrust to develop dedicated cycles for medical waste disinfection; OT instrument disinfection; blood bag disinfection; dialyzer disinfection; linen disinfection; Bactec (BD) bottle disinfection and animal bedding (rice husk & corn cob) disinfection. He said that the technology being pursued by them, saves hundreds of liters of water and electricity consumption while disinfecting hospital wastes – many prestigious institutions are adopting the mode. The IC meeting came to an end after a very provocative question and answer session.

The post Disruptive Technologies to Save Environment appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

How to write a funding proposal?

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Tue, 01 May 2018 10:48:48 +0000

Do you have any innovative idea?
Pots of Money available for innovative projects, but Caution! No can lay hands on them without knack for saleable idea

Dr. Mukherjee holds Ph.D. in Microbiology, Degree in Law, Advance Course in Strategy Management from IIM Kolkata, Management and Leadership course from Business School University of Oxford. He has devised and formulated strategies for mitigating challenges and bridging gaps through impact funding. Before joining Wellcome Trust as Senior Strategic Advisor (India), Dr.Mukherjee was staff scientist at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). Dr. Mukherjee manages the R&D for Affordable Healthcare in India, a £30 million initiative of Wellcome Trust in India. The initiative funds translation research leading to affordable healthcare solution in India and beyond.

Parthvee Jain is an engineering graduate with her post-graduation and specialization in Food Processing and Nutraceuticals. Her interest fields include Biotechnology, Healthcare, Food Processing and Nutraceuticals. Connecting European Healthcare innovation leaders with the Indian healthcare system and pioneers, she is working with InnovatioCuris as analytical and result-driven marketing professional having experience impacting organizational performance through expert research, analysis and evaluating market and competitive conditions, current and emerging trends, and industry-specific solutions to ensure optimal position in the marketplace.

It was a crisp winter morning when a motely crowd of innovators assembled quietly in a conference hall of the national capital’s prestigious India International Center to learn craft of presenting their case before government bodies, philanthropists and other agencies for funding.

With a promise to give an encouraging platform to innovators and aspiring Startups, InnovatioCuris had organised the second IC Innovator Club meeting on November 26, 2017.

A medium height simpleton emerged on the scene and occupied center stage of the Sunday morning show, but patient listeners within split of seconds shed off doubts whether spending a precious Sunday morning in such a meet was rewarding or a mere waste.

The club meeting brought some big names of healthcare including PHFI, INMAS (DRDO), Amity University, IIHMR to name a few, under a single roof including experts from investing agencies, Startups, policy makers, academia and many more.

The members quickly envisioned pots of money for their dream projects mainly strategized to fulfill unmet needs of common people and the industry.

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One should avoid the following for a positive outcome:

Putting two different applications at the same time to same funder.
Doubling the funder (two funders for the same proposal).
Diverse and varied application should be avoided, instead thematic calls are better.

Glued to a widescreen where slides were scrolled for thumb rules while applying to such bodies for funding, innovators lent ears to Mission Director who at an ease rolled out drill for a successful applicant.

Batting with a straight blade, he minced no words to articulate the harsh reality that there was no scope to dodge funders to siphon money from them on bogus facts and figures. No cutting of corners; no double play with different funders; no concealment of facts; no new sets of facts and figures for same projects with different bodies; and no lobbying were among many during his opening remarks.

Dr. Shirshendu Mukherjee, Mission Director of Program Management Unit, jointly supported by the Department of Bio Technology, Bio Technology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) –BMGF(BILL & MELINDA GATES) Foundation and Wellcome Trust unveiled points which play crucial role in attracting funds from various bodies.

In life of a researcher or innovator one important pillar for the success of his idea is getting the right funding. Innovation is not only about ideas.It’s about making the ideas happen and sometimes difficult to convert a good idea on to a paper.

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The agenda of IC Innovator Club’s second meeting was to share the views and knowledge on how to write a research or a grant proposal so that the innovator is successful in bringing his innovation to real world by implementing ideas.

Dr. Mukherjee insisted that art of communication is trick of the trade as in the world of tearing hurry ambience and cut-throat competition no one has time to flip through bulky dossiers.

According to Dr Mukherjee, “Winning a grant is how compelling story (of your idea) you tell”. He said writing a grant application is like narrating a story with once upon a time to a happily lived ever after. By this what he meant was, it is important to narrate the beginning, ending and all the important milestones to the funding agency very clearly and in chronological order with a proper flow of events to take place for the innovation to happen.

Dr. Mukherjee beautifully divided the prospective challenges of innovation broadly under three stages: Discovery, Development and Delivery. Major challenges under the discovery stage being to understand the problem, limited market pull and push in non-commercial indications and lack of local research infrastructure. Under the development stage, he told the major challenge faced by an innovator could be the translation of the idea to the product. Adding to it, lack of local development infrastructure, complex IP and regulatory pathway also contribute to the challenges faced during the development stage of an innovation.

Dr Mukherjee also told “One should keep in mind the unmet need of the market and the funding space available for area of interest”. About the dedicated experts and advisors being appointed in the funding agencies, he advised participants to seek advice on the funding space relevance of their proposal through these experts.

According to the expert, few of the challenges that one can expect during his project/work could be regulatory, IP or IT related, business plan development challenges, challenges in developing business exit plan etc.

Dr. Mukherjee encouraged the participants by saying “A successful proposal is 60% science and rest 40% is the foresightedness” that is how accurately down the line one can see and plan.

Sharing about Program Related investments, Dr. Mukherjee made a bold statement which could make an enormous impact in the applicant’s life. He said, “The applicant should also do due diligence on the funder, it is not only the right of a funder to do due diligence on the applicant, but also the applicant should do due diligence on the funder”. He also discussed few points on how one can perform the above said task, like visiting their respective websites, noticing what they have funded in last two years and others.

Best approach for applying a grant is ‘Two funder approach’. Approach is also a crucial factor in determining the progress of the application says Dr. Mukherjee. Benefit of doubt always rests in court of applicant, meaning if one of the reviewers is in favor the application and rest are not then also the applicant would get a chance to defend his application at first.

Further discussing about the ideas and points to be taken care of while drafting the proposal application, views were discussed on how one can write a comprehensive application with a suitable title and an impactful abstract.

Budgeting is very important in every aspect of life and so is the case while writing a grant application. The budget should be exhaustive and self-explanatory says Dr. Mukherjee. One should be realistic in quoting the budget and should avoid any kind of hidden costs or inflation in costing.

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