New Fellowship Program Aims To Make Biotechnology More Diverse

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) has created a new tech fellowship to increase diversity in the industry.

NIBIB aims to transform the understanding of disease and its prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment through engineering.

Bringing new medical technologies to the marketplace is a long, expensive process that can be even more challenging for underrepresented entrepreneurs in biotech.

Recognizing the need for more biotechnology innovators from underrepresented groups and building on its history of working with leaders in the biotech industry, NIBIB created the RADx Tech DIVE fellowship program.

RADx Tech DIVE

The fellowship program provides innovators from populations historically underrepresented in biotech research the support and skills they need to commercialize their technologies.

The 28-week online course is taught by experienced health tech mentors and industry experts.

They build upon the lessons learned in RADx Tech by exploring maturity, addressing key risks, and learning how to secure funding.

The course covers developing business models, interacting with stakeholders, the patent journey, IP, regulatory, reimbursement, pitching, funding, and networking.

“We created a fellowship that would give under-represented innovators in the biotech community the knowledge and skills they need to move their medical technologies forward toward commercialization,” said NIBIB program director Tiffani Lash.

Meet The Fellows

Eydis Lima and Alania Rajagopal were among the fellows in this round, alongside Asma Mizra and Danielle Nicklas

“What I found most valuable was the mentoring and the availability of instructors who were experts in areas that we needed help with, such as reimbursement,” said Cuban-American engineer Lima.

In the final session, four fellows can win a prize of up to $7,500 to support future endeavors. 

Additionally, by the end of the program, all fellows will have these skills and receive a certificate of completion and recognition from NIBIB.

“We’re pleased with the progress the fellows made on their point-of-care technologies that can improve public health,” Lash stated.

“This fellowship opportunity is one of several programs created by NIBIB to accelerate the development of tools and technologies to improve human health and support the next generation of innovators and med-tech entrepreneurs.”