CASE BioMed celebrates ten years of BioBusiness and launches a new programme

2020 is an eventful year for the new Faculty of Biomedical Sciences. In addition to the first students of the Master in Human Medicine arriving in September, who will occupy part of the new East Campus, the tenth anniversary of the BioBusiness programme of the Center of Advanced Studies on Entrepreneurship in Biomedicine (CASE BioMed) will be celebrated. The centre bears witness to USI's commitment to supporting entrepreneurship, innovation and technology transfer, offering advanced training courses focused on the real needs and challenges of those who want to do business in a leading and constantly evolving sector such as life sciences. A training offer that, this year, will be enriched with a new course dedicated to eHealth.

Only a few months to go before the opening of the new university campus, which is ready to welcome medical students from Basel and Zurich, who will begin their Master's studies in Lugano. But if training remains at the core of a Faculty born in the first place to respond to the need to increment the number of doctors - and in particular family doctors - trained in our country, there is also a strong focus on the other two core missions: scientific research, with the doctoral programmes (MD, PhD and MD-PhD) and with the activity of the institutes, including the internationally renowned IRB and IOR affiliates; and the support to innovation in the field of life sciences with the Center of Advanced Studies on Entrepreneurship in Biomedicine - CASE BioMed - directed by Dr. Heidrun Flaadt Cervini, which is also celebrating an important milestone. "CASE BioMed has established itself from the beginning as an important component of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences. With its programmes has highlighted the attention that USI also places on the transfer of knowledge in the field of life sciences, providing specific tools to help young entrepreneurs generate marketable products and services, and thus promoting progress in the medical field," says Prof. Dr. med. Mario Bianchetti, Dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at USI.

BioBusiness was the first of the advanced training programmes offered. It focused on the field of development of new drugs for diseases that are still not treatable. Its tenth anniversary (26-30 October 2020) is a sign of its success. "The birth of BioBusiness dates back to 2010 as the first reaction to the lack of entrepreneurial training courses at university level in Europe in the field of life sciences, after a sector survey commissioned by the then President of USI Piero Martinoli", explains the head of the CASE BioMed Heidrun Flaadt Cervini. "In 2014, MedTech Business was added to this first programme, focusing instead on the development of new medical and diagnostic instruments. From the very beginning, our aim has been to provide young companies with theoretical knowledge and practical and design skills that are constantly in step with the times, thanks to programmes built around the real needs and challenges faced by a leading and constantly evolving sector such as life sciences. That's why this year we are launching a third advanced program in eHealth Business".

The first eHealth Business will be held from 25 to 29 May 2020 and will feature discussions on how to start, finance and grow a business in eHealth, how to gain insight on information and communication technologies in the health sector, the national eHealth strategy, or intellectual property.