Every invention and every new piece of technology begins as a bright idea. But to go from mere inspiration to an actual device or real-world solution requires more than just a stroke of insight. Budding entrepreneurs need access to tools, capital, mentors, and expertise as they attempt to bring a product to the marketplace. Continue reading “Argonne’s Demo Day Provides Opportunity For Entrepreneurs To Showcase New Innovations”
Tiny but mighty, the kidneys are small, but powerful chemical factories that remove waste, balance your body’s fluids, and keep your blood pressure in check. Despite being as essential to keeping us alive and healthy, kidney health often isn’t discussed with the same urgency as heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world around us, from making our cities smarter to paving the way for faster drug discovery. As part of the burgeoning effort to connect different key players in AI, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory recently hosted the InnovationXLab℠ Summit on AI to raise the profile of the labs’ work in AIand forge new partnerships between industry and the national laboratories.
Dr. Ronald Ackerman, director of Northwestern’s Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM) and the Center for Community Health, is into making house calls, but not the traditional home visits you might have in mind. Dr. Ackerman subscribes to the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. He and his colleagues at IPHAM have devised community-based research programs to identify people at risk for diabetes and have developed programs to encourage those people to change their lifestyles to prevent the disease. IPHAM has been a powerhouse for public health and scholarship. Between 2012 and 2017, its members have published more than 15,000 articles, which have been cited more than 227,000 times, and in 2017, its centers received nearly 600 research awards totaling $130 million. Read more about Dr. Ackerman and IPHAM here.
Sumit Dhar, chair of Northwestern’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, is sounding the alarm about hearingloss and ways to prevent it through early detection. He and his colleagues have developed tests that can detect the beginning of hearingloss before a person will likely notice it. These tests can be administered to people in their twenties and can play a valuable part in treatment to prevent the gradual loss of hearing over time — intervening before the deterioration is noticeable and possibly irreversible. As Professor Dhar says: “These new treatments need to be started in a preventive way rather than waiting to fix the organ when it’s half dead.” Read more about Dhar and the tests that can make a difference in your life here.