Want to find out who will be panelists at the Symposium?  Interested in reading about the Innovators and the representatives that will be coming to the Symposium?  Need a map of where the Trent Semans Center for Health Education is?

Download the full Symposium program now!

SEAD just released a new report advising entrepreneurs on how to best pitch their ideas to impact investors. The paper focuses on funding lessons from our SEAD innovators who are working to scale their impact through ventures that include providing last mile delivery, operating hospitals and clinics, selling micro-insurance, and using technology to combat counterfeit drugs.

Next week is the Duke Symposium on Scaling Innovations in Global Health!  We're excited to be welcoming the SEAD Innovators to Duke campus and giving the community a chance to learn about the exciting work they're engaged in.

Our last blog post featured innovator attendees with operations in India. This week we’ve highlighted innovators working throughout Africa. We hope that you enjoy learning more about the organizations who will be attending the Symposium. If you would like the chance to meet these innovators in person, register for the Symposium here.

Vaatsalaya had many exciting highlights to share in their most recent newsletter, including their recognition by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum:
"The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF),  is an autonomous, not for profit society that promotes and catalyzes Indo-US bilateral collaborations in science, technology, engineering and biomedical research through substantive interaction among government, academia and industry. 

This year a joint proposal made by Vaatsalya and OneBreath for developing low cost ventilators to help save lives in resource poor setting has been chosen by IUSSTF as one of the awardees."

OneBreath ventilators cost 10% of the normal retail price of the medical device. The inventor, Matthew Callaghan, redesigned the standard ventilator machine so that it was both low-cost and suitable for a pandemic-like situation. The machine is portable, durable, and runs on battery, allowing it to be stockpiled in case of a pandemic. The ventilator can be used across patient requirements, as compared to the traditional ventilator where one machine is conventionally required per patient type.

Forbes Magazine India recently ran a story on impact investing in India. They reference Vaatsalya's success as an example of "how commercial viability cross over into social good."

We are less than a month away from the Duke Symposium on Scaling Innovations in Global Health! The office is bustling as we begin our final push to attract attendees, prepare our network of innovators for our panels, and organize the final event details.

Attendees including leading innovators within SEAD, senior leadership from our supporting organizations, Duke faculty and students, investors, and health system leaders interested in healthcare innovation will gather on Friday, April 4th to contribute to a thoughtful discussion. We hope that attendees not only leave feeling encouraged but with truly valuable connections. The Symposium includes what promises to be an engaging speech by Chuck Slaughter on creating livelihoods while scaling access to life-changing products, a moderated panel on “smart failure,” a networking reception with our 17 innovators, and much more.

Many of the SEAD innovators participating at this year’s Symposium are traveling from faraway places such as Kenya and India to highlight their innovations, tell their story, and describe the type of support they need to achieve growth to our audience. Each week, leading up to the Symposium we will highlight a small group of innovators participating this year! Round 1 is featured below and introduces innovators delivering care in India – Enjoy!

Interested in meeting our network innovators? Register for the SEAD Symposium here.

In three short weeks, it will be time for the Duke Symposium on Scaling Innovations in Global Health!  We've been hard at work bringing together SEAD innovators and global health experts to bring you a exciting mix of panels to check out.  Some of the confirmed panel topics include:

• Role of Behavior Change in Encouraging the Uptake of Healthcare Innovation
• Understanding Ecosystem Factors Fostering and Inhibiting Healthcare Innovation in India
• Fail Forward: How Successful Social Entrepreneurs Reap the Benefits of Failure

To see a full list of the panel discussions we have in store for you, check out the latest on the Symposium site.  And make sure to register today!

Nicholas Sowden, founder of Penda Health, was recently quoted in an article about impact investing and how it is key in growing industry in Kenya.  Check out the article published by The Standard Group here.

Shelly Batra, founder and president of Operation ASHA, has been invited to delivery the keynote address and be a panelist for the Institute of Competitiveness' Social Enterprise Summit being held March 4, 2014.  The event is being held in Gurgaon, India, and will feature a series of workshops and discussions on creating social enterprises, understanding their impact on communities, and best practices for sustaining the enterprises.

For more information on the Summit and the Institute of Competitiveness, visit their website.