i4KIDS Paediatric Innovation Day Returns to Barcelona

The fifth edition of the i4KIDS Paediatric Innovation Day brought together over 200 attendees, both in person and online, at the Museu de la Ciència – CosmoCaixa in Barcelona. The event reaffirmed its role as a key platform to reflect on and drive innovation in foetal, paediatric, and maternal health.

Following two international editions in Warsaw and Riga, the return to Barcelona was especially significant for the i4KIDS team, the paediatric innovation hub coordinated by the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital. The event offered a unique opportunity to connect the local healthcare ecosystem with international experts, united by the shared goal of advancing paediatric healthcare.

Paediatric Innovation: Challenges and Opportunities

The event opened with remarks by Dr Joan Comella, Director of Research, Innovation, and Education at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital. He underscored the importance of prioritising innovation and research in areas such as rare diseases, highlighting that “collaboration is the driving force for turning challenges into solutions.”

Raquel Batlle, the promoter of i4KIDS, followed with an overview of the hub’s key initiatives, including the Acceleration and Industry programmes, as well as strategic projects such as i4KIDS-EUROPE, ADD4KIDS, and i4KIDS-4RARE, which extend the network’s reach to an increasingly international and multidisciplinary level.

One of the event’s highlights was a keynote speech by Dr Janene H. Fuerch, Associate Professor of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Stanford Children’s Hospital and Director of Impact1 at Stanford Biodesign Center. She explored the need for global collaboration in paediatric healthcare, stating, “The industry spends more money developing healthcare strategies for the last month of patients’ lives than on technologies that could transform an entire lifetime.”

The event also featured the debut of the Impact4kids programme, a transatlantic accelerator connecting i4KIDS with Impact1 Stanford Biodesign to support startups specialising in paediatric and maternal health. Sofia Ferreira, Innovation Manager at SJD, and Marta Arenas-Jal, Assistant Director at Impact1, explained how this collaboration aims to bridge the gap between the European and US paediatric innovation ecosystems, providing comprehensive training and connecting innovators with international experts to expedite the market launch of new solutions.

Panels and Scientific Advances

The event included expert panels addressing key topics in the sector:

• Public Initiatives Supporting Paediatric Innovation: Featuring Robert Fabregat, CEO of Biocat, and Lluís Blanch, Coordinator of the ITEMAS Platform, moderated by Luisa Martínez, Director of Research at the Research, Innovation, and Learning Area of Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital.

• Transforming Science into Business and the Role of Impact Investment: With Marc Ramis, Manager at Montana Impact Fund; Ana García, COO at Bitsphi Diagnosi; Francesca Wuttke, CEO and Founder of nen; and Jesús Purroy, Entrepreneur and Project Director at Inveniam Group.

• Rare Diseases: Led by Peter Bischoff-Everding, Expert in the Medical Devices Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), who presented on “EU Regulations on Medical Devices and Orphan Products”. Begoña Nafria, Head of the Patient Engagement in Research Department (IRSJD), highlighted the crucial role of patients in developing innovative solutions.

Research groups within the i4KIDS network also played a prominent role, with four groups presenting their advances during this edition of the Paediatric Innovation Day:

1. “Muscle-on-a-Chip for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,” led by Javier Ramón Azcón, Group Leader of “Biosensors for Bioengineering” at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).
2. “Practical Application of Pharmacogenetic Biomarkers in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Disorders,” presented by Dr Amaia Hervás, Director of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service at Hospital Universitari Mútua de Terrassa.
3. “MyMask: Development of a Customised 3D Mask for Neonatal Non-Invasive Ventilation,” led by Nuria Massip and Berta Palomer, Industrial Engineers collaborating with the Neonatology Service at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.
4. “Artificial Placenta,” presented by Adrià Escolà, Director of Innovation and Business Development at BCNatal Fetal Medicine Research Center.

The session concluded with remarks by Núria Montserrat, Minister for Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia. She emphasised the strategic importance of supporting paediatric research in Catalonia by uniting government, researchers, innovators, patients, and families to create meaningful impact on paediatric patients’ well-being.

i4KIDS Acceleration Programme Final

A highlight of the day was the Pitch Competition, where five projects from the i4KIDS Acceleration Programme showcased their progress to an expert jury, which evaluated their clinical relevance, market strategy, and communication skills:

• “VR 4 FV & IRD” by Dr Jaume Català, Paediatric Ophthalmologist (HSJD).
• “X-TREM” by Dr Bàrbara Baro, Infectious Diseases Researcher and Scientific Lead (ISGlobal).
• “Anicare” by Clara Maspons, Co-Founder of Maternia.
• “BRAVQAI” by Sandra Bernaus, Medical Imaging Data Scientist (IRSJD).
• “NanoRett” by Alfonso de Oyarzábal, Principal Investigator in Brain Metabolism and Personalised Therapies for Paediatric Neurological Diseases (IRSJD).

The winning project was X-TREM, a biomarker-based solution for classifying the severity of infections in children, which received an award of 7,500 euros to further advance its market readiness.

Final Reflections

The day concluded with an interactive quiz on paediatric innovation and closing remarks by Arnau Valls, Director of i4KIDS. He thanked all speakers and attendees, emphasising “the enormous potential of paediatric health innovation and the strength of events like the i4KIDS Paediatric Innovation Day as platforms to foster collaboration, share knowledge, and, most importantly, fulfil the mission of transforming foetal, paediatric, and maternal healthcare.”

Image Gallery: Pediatric Innovation Day Barcelona 2024