Surgeons are natural innovators, constantly faced with opportunities to think outside the box and devise new solutions in the operating room. But they also face unique challenges to capitalizing on their creativity in the form of new devices and treatments – like lack of time, dedicated personnel, and access to the appropriate technical and development expertise. By integrating bioengineering resources into the Department of Surgery, Surgical Innovations aims to lower these barriers to enable our faculty and trainees’ inventiveness to lead to lifesaving impacts for our patients.
Our Vision:
- For the UCSF Department of Surgery to be an internationally recognized leader in medical device innovation that improves the lives of patients.
Our Mission:
- To accelerate the translation of pioneering medical devices to improve patient care by:
- Lowering the barriers for surgeon-innovators. We provide a one-stop shop to guide and support device innovators, complete with dedicated technical staff, resident and student team members, access to facilities and equipment, coordination with campus innovation programs, and a rich network of multidisciplinary experts and device industry professionals.
- Focusing on value-based solutions with market viability. Our Accelerator program vets projects comprehensively and provides seed funding, mentorship, and commercialization planning to the most promising ideas.
- Educating trainees in interdisciplinary collaboration and translation. Our Innovation Pathway provides hands-on training experiences for surgical residents in their research years to work alongside graduate bioengineering students under multidisciplinary mentorship.