Our Goal:
Promoting
Medical
Innovations!
We Promote Medical Innovations!
Objective of the foundation
The foundation’s objective is to enable quantum leaps of medical innovations in the pre-competitive phase, to introduce new improved and affordable technologies into practical application, as well as to create networks of engineers, physicians, researchers and companies that develop concrete solutions for breakthrough innovations. In particular young, courageous innovators who put innovative ideas into practical application, are to be encouraged.
Previous achievements
The foundation can look back on its first years with pride, having already achieved a great deal with the establishment of its subsidiary, the Medical Innovations Incubator GmbH (MII), its recent qualification program for early-stage MedTech startup projects, the “4C Accelerator” workshops, and the significant support of the development and execution of the „Life Science Accelerator Baden-Württemberg“ with two further educational programs, the “Medical Innovations Explorer” and the “MedTech Start-up School”. The structured qualification programs for startup teams have created an effective innovation culture that has already introduced more than 170 people to the world of startups and supported 85 projects to practical application. These successes are one of the reasons why in 2022 the Stiftung für Medizininnovationen was nominated for the Rudolf Diesel Medal – Europe’s oldest innovation prize – in the category “Best Innovation Promotion”.
(from left: Christian Dorn, Prof. Eberhart Zrenner, Ingo Hämmerle, Prof. Hugo Hämmerle, Dr. Alfred Stett)
Our Teams
The Team of the Foundation
Prof. Dr. med. h.c. mult. Eberhart Zrenner
Chairman of the Foundation for Medical Innovation & Advisory Board of MII
“In order to translate new findings from research laboratories into new cures for our patients as quickly as possible, a vibrant entrepreneurship culture embedded in healthcare is key to success.“
Eberhart Zrenner is the founding director of the Research Institute of Ophthalmology and senior professor at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. He is a world-renowned ophthalmologist and researcher for degenerative diseases of the retina, especially in the field of cause research and therapy development. He has made a special contribution to the development of electronic subretinal retinal implants to restore vision in the blind. He also played a key role in the development and implementation of the first gene therapy development in Germany for hereditary retinal degeneration. Eberhart Zrenner was Co-Founder of Retina-Implant AG and Chairman of its Supervisory Board until 2021 and is now on the Advisory Board of Okuvision GmbH. In 2014, he founded the non-profit Stiftung für Medizininnovationen and has been its Chairman ever since.
Networks, committees and activities alongside the SfM
- Member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina)
- Member of Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
- Member and former member of the Presidium Hector Fellow Academy
- Speaker of the Collaborative Research Center SFB 430 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
- Senator of the Max-Planck-Society until 2005
- Member of Science Council and the Health Research Council until 2009
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen(NMI)
- Reviewer on the Idea Evaluation Board of the 4C Accelerator
- Award winner: Ludwig von Sallmann Prize, Karl Heinz Beckurts-Prize, Hector Fellow Award, Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon & Graefe-Medal
Prof. Dr. Hugo Hämmerle
Deputy Chairman of the Foundation for Medical Innovation
“Innovation is the transfer and application of knowledge in practice. We help to make the transfer more successful.”
Hugo Hämmerle studied biology and chemistry. His scientific work focused on the interaction of materials with tissues, e.g. the development of neurochips such as retina implants and microelectrode arrays, as well as biochip technologies. He was Director of the NMI (Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen) for many years, Chairman of the NMI Foundation and spokesman for the Baden-Württemberg Innovation Alliance (InnBW) for 10 years. The focus of his professional activities was the biologization of medical technology, strategic R&D management and technology transfer. Hugo Hämmerle was involved in the founding of several BioTech companies and is still active on the supervisory boards of startups and listed MedTech companies and as an expert for federal ministries, universities and other public institutions.
Networks, committees and activities alongside the SfM
- Chairman of the University Council of the Albstadt-Sigmaringen University
- Jury member of the BMBF funding program GO-Bio
- Advisor at the Seniors of the Economy e.V.
- Member of the BioMedTech e.V.
- Mentor of a VIP+ translation project at TranslaTUM of the Technical University of Munich
- Chairman of the Idea Evaluation Board of the 4C Accelerator
Christian Dorn, MSc
Program Manager Foundation for Medical Innovations
“We can‘t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we
used, when we created them.“
Christian Dorn is program manager and startup coach at the Foundation for Medical Innovation. He is a Lean enthusiast and has several years of experience as a project manager in the automotive industry and in strategic design and innovation consulting.
In his role as Program Manager, he is largely responsible for the 4C Accelerator workshops, their structure and content. By continuously analyzing the needs and challanges of the already supported startup projects, he further develops the 4C Accelerator workshops and establishes new formats, such as the 4C Bootcamp.
Ikra Erten
Master’s Student in Biomedical Sciences
“Helping innovations grow means shaping the future.“
Ikra holds a bachelor’s degree in Medical Engineering and is currently pursuing her master in Biomedical Sciences. As an intern, she contributes her expertise, innovative thinking, and commitment to supporting the foundation’s mission.
Thomas Biergans
Master’s Student in Biomedical Technologies
“MedTech is full of possibilities. Let’s turn them into reality.“
Thomas is studying Biomedical Technologies at the University of Tübingen and supports the foundation as a master’s student. In his thesis, he explores how MedTech startups can develop their products to truly meet market needs – a crucial step for successful innovation in the highly regulated healthcare sector.
The Foundation’s Idea Evaluation Board
Our interdisciplinary Idea Evaluation Board, chaired by Prof. Dr. Hugo Hämmerle, reviews and evaluates founding projects that apply for the workshops of the “4C Accelerator“.
The Foundation’s Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees advises and supports the foundation’s Executive Board in strategic planning. It consists of the following members:
Annette Widmann-Mauz
Former Minister of State
Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg, Minister a.D.
Chairman of the Curatorship and the Shareholders’ Meeting of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation
Dr. Ingmar Hoerr
Founder of the Morpho Foundation
Incorporation of the foundation
Since Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Eberthart Zrenner has always been enthusiastic about the many possibilities offered by the latest technology, molecular biology and microelectronics for new therapies and aids for patients. After studying electrical engineering and medicine at the Technical University of Munich, our foundation chairman Prof. Zrenner successfully spun off several startups. For example, together with numerous partners, he developed a retinal chip that enables blind people to regain their vision to a certain degree. In implementing this idea, he experienced for himself how difficult it is to implement the technology transfer from a scientific invention to a commercially successful medical product. He also identified how much additional non-scientific “know-how” scientists have to acquire and how much courage and perseverance they need in order to successfully plan and spin off their own company.
It is a matter of concern to him to actively advancing this field as role model. That is why he established the Stiftung für Medizininnovationen (Foundation for Medical Innovations) in 2014. Therefore he donated prize money that he himself won over the course of his life through the research and development of medical technology products: the Alcon Research Award, the Karl Heinz Beckurts Award and the Euretina Innovation Award. The Foundation for Medical Innovation is also actively supported by donations from the Tistou and Charlotte Kerstan Foundation, the Hector Foundation, the B.Braun Foundation and the Hertie Stiftung as well as by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism and its Startup BW campaign.
