What You May Not Know About the American Heart Association

Welcome to the American Heart Association (AHA) Health Sciences Innovation · Investment Forum Blog!  We will post weekly on a variety of topics at the intersection of innovation, investment and entrepreneurship within the health sciences ecosystem.

As an organization, the AHA is committed to building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Since 1949 the AHA has awarded more than $3.8B in research grants, the 2^nd largest source of funding behind the U.S. government. While that will continue, the organization also recognizes the need to accelerate science and technology to the commercial market.

Transforming the Continuum of Care
Open Innovation Challenge

Science and Technology Accelerator Program

We have two initiatives that highlight the AHA’s entrance into the space. For the first time through our Science & Technology Accelerator program the AHA will use donor designated dollars to make strategic equity investments that we believe help advance the mission and reach our 2020 Impact Goals: to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent and to reduce the number of deaths and disabilities attributed to cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20 percent. To date, we have made three investments and look forward to making a fourth later this year.

Hi2 Agenda

The other major initiative the AHA has begun is the annual NYC Health Sciences Innovation · Investment Forum (Hi2).  We are just one month away from the 2nd annual Hi2 Forum, set to take place on Wednesday, April 22nd at the Apella Event Space at Alexandria Center. The goal of this groundbreaking event is to bring together the brightest minds in academia, industry and investment for world class collaborative discussion and to foster key relationships that will benefit the ecosystem. This year’s event is poised to build off the success of last year’s bold beginning. For the first time in the organization’s history, last year’s Hi2 Forum brought the private equity/venture capital industry, academia and the health sciences together for an industry conference. The vision is for the Hi2 Forum to become the preeminent industry conference hosted by a health NGO of its kind.

Fireside Chat with Maria Bartiromo and Nicole Fisher

We are very excited for this year’s Hi2 Forum and pleased to announce the return of our Fireside Chat Series. Last year, we were fortunate to have noted venture capitalist Ken Langone, as well as serial entrepreneur and TEDMED chairman Jay Walker as our guest speakers. In the tradition of securing the most highly regarded experts we are pleased that this year’s fireside chat speakers include James Momtazee, Head of Healthcare Investing at KKR and J. Craig Venter, world renowned genome scientist and entrepreneur. And, we are thrilled to have Fox Business Network, Anchor and Global Markets Editor, Maria Bartiromo @MariaBartiromo and President & CEO, HHR Strategies, and Forbes Contributor, Nicole Fisher @nic_fisher, as our hosts of the Fireside Chat Series.

The theme of this year’s Hi2 Forum is Transforming the Continuum of Care. As the population continues to grow and life expectancy rises higher and higher the way in which healthcare is delivered should evolve with the times. The AHA has been at the forefront of major innovation over the years and continues to do its part as we strive for innovation in healthcare in the 21^st century.

This year’s event will feature experts in:

•   adhesive technology

•   computer technology

•   therapeutics

•   analytics

•   tissue engineering

•   finance

•   professional services

These talented innovators will share the AHA stage and provide our audience with an experience unlike any other.

To truly transform the continuum of care the role of the entrepreneur is critical. We will harness that entrepreneurial spirit at the Hi2 Forum with our 2^nd annual Open Innovation Challenge. A nationwide call to action for early stage entrepreneurs to uncover new innovative tools to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. We received over sixty submissions and have twelve semifinalists live on a crowdfunding platform, hoping to be one of the top three in terms of fundraising and social shares. The top three will be finalists and receive AHA grants totaling $25,000, and a chance to meet, mingle and present at the Hi2 Forum. To view the semifinalists in our innovation challenge please visit http://www.medstartr.com/hi2forum15

April 22^nd promises to be a day you don’t want to miss! The full agenda can be found here and to register please click here.

We’ll continue to share all things health sciences, innovation and investment related. Next week’s blog post will be an interview with venture capitalist and AHA venture consultant, Lisa Suennen @VentureValkyrie . Lisa will discuss how entrepreneurs are going to tear down and rebuild the healthcare system. You don’t want to miss it!