Award given by Federation of Hospitals and Health Facilities of RS
Photo: Bruno Todeschini
Biohub PUCRS, a facility designed to connect talents and scholarship to generate innovative life science businesses, won the Destaque em Saúde 2019 (2019 Health Breakthrough) in the Health Innovation category. The award is given by the Federação dos Hospitais e Estabelecimentos de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul – Fehosul (Federation of Hospitals and Health Facilities of Rio Grande do Sul), and the state’s Associação dos Hospitais e Estabelecimentos de Saúde (Association of Hospitals and Health Facilities). Biohub is an initiative that was coined by PUCRS. It was materialized with the help of Tecnopuc, BraIns, São Lucas Hospital (HSL) and the University’s Academic Schools. It is committed to the development of innovation as it connects talents and scholarship to generate innovative life sciences businesses, through a number of concerted actions. The first of such actions is the Health Plus Innovation Center, an initiative designed in partnership with Grow +.
The way the Superintendent of Innovation and Development of PUCRS, Dr Jorge Audy sees it, Fehosul’s award is very important for Biohub PUCRS: “We believe cooperation will be key in the future. In this sense, in its very initial stage, the initiative embraces HSL, BraIns and Ernesto Dorneles Hospital. Also, it is open to new partners, as we are intent on improving the quality of life in our community, in view of innovation, creativity and people.”
Biohub’s first such endeavor is the Health Plus Innovation Center. This is an area that connects healthtech startups with traditional healthcare companies, such as hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies and other businesses. The initiative is a partnership of Grow + and PUCRS. It sits in an area as large as 600 m2, being home to 120 employees dedicated to co-creation, under the supervision of Cristiano Englert. Companies and startups will receive training in innovation and digital transformation, in acceleration programs, events and connections with other businesses. “This will be home to startups that will create solutions for health and innovation in this area. Health is something that has an impact on each one of us. It is this market that we are making efforts to get into to make a difference”, Englert says.
