Invest in Innovation That Changes Lives

Help bring bold ideas to life to benefit kids in our care and those around the world.

Turn more ideas into reality

At Children’s Hospital Colorado, we believe innovation can change lives. So, if there’s an idea that can improve pediatric medicine as we know it, we’ll do everything we can to make it a reality today. That’s the spirit behind the Center for Innovation, where we’re bringing bold ideas to life to benefit kids in our care and those around the world.

“The health and future of our children depends on innovation, and there’s no one better suited to design those innovations than the people on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Our team is putting countless hours into solving some of the most challenging problems in child health. Together, we can change the face of pediatric health care.”

JENA HAUSMANN
President and CEO
Children’s Hospital Colorado

What is the Center for Innovation?

The Center for Innovation is a leading children’s health innovation hub at Children’s Hospital Colorado that is transforming pediatric medicine. Here, creative caregivers and companies can turn their ideas into life-changing health care innovations and bring them to market — all with comprehensive support from campus collaborators, startup experts and venture specialists.

Not only does the Center for Innovation help to foster homegrown ideas from our 10,000+ expert team members, it also supports the co-development of pediatric innovations with external companies and startups. With our experienced team of innovation partners on the Anschutz Medical Campus, including CU Innovations, we are paving the way for groundbreaking new therapies, products and technologies that benefit kids here and around the world.

By harnessing promising ideas and accelerating their path to market launch, we give in-house innovators and external entrepreneurs the resources and support to significantly improve pediatric care.

By the numbers

6

startups launched with support from the Center for Innovation

130+

external company idea submissions

$5.2M

in venture capital funding raised by Children’s Colorado startups

Fostering ideas from our expert team

Children’s Colorado is home to a renowned team of doctors, caregivers and researchers who know their pediatric specialty areas better than anyone else. Not only does the Center for Innovation help Children’s Colorado to recruit and retain its world-class team, it also gives our pediatric experts a systematic path to bring their brilliant ideas to the front lines of clinical care.

After an idea is evaluated for viability and strategic fit, our in-house innovators receive comprehensive support from the Center of Innovation to bring their concept forward. This includes mentorship, legal expertise and connections to industry partners. Whether the idea is a medical device, diagnostic tool or digital health technology, we support our team members in launching their ideas every step of the way.

Read how two of our doctors are transforming pediatric medicine through innovation

Article

How One Doctor’s ‘Crazy Idea’ Made an Invasive Test Much Easier

With support from the Center for Innovation, Dr. Joel Friedlander pioneered a new way to do nasal endoscopy tests on kids that eliminates the need for sedation. Now he’s sharing his invention with pediatric providers across the country to help thousands of children avoid anesthesia.

Read their story
Nasal Endoscopy
Article

When Frustration Leads to a Better Way

When Dr. Steve Moulton frequently overheard nurses and parents complaining about issues related to securing and maintaining transabdominal feeding tubes, he realized there must be a better way. So he developed the Button Huggie, a first-of-its-kind gastrostomy button securement solution that prevents common complications like dislodgement.

Read their story
Dr. Steve Moulton

Co-developing products with external companies

Children’s Colorado treats more children than any other hospital in the region. We have a robust data infrastructure and research program in place. This allows for effective development and clinical validation of pediatric health care concepts, so we can more quickly bring new innovations into practice.

With our infrastructure and expertise, Children’s Hospital Colorado is optimally positioned to partner with like-minded innovators. We can help them to build and validate new health care concepts that can make a difference in kids’ lives.

“Co-developing innovations with other companies is a new way to think about investing in kids and our mission,” says Dr. Robin Deterding, the Center for Innovation’s Medical Director.

Why invest?

When it comes to pediatric health care innovations, the potential return on investment is exponential. The innovations we develop today have an immediate impact on care, and many will have a long-term effect over a patient’s lifespan. We’re challenging the status quo, asking “Why not?” and pushing beyond the boundaries of what’s possible. With your support, the opportunities for innovation are boundless—just like the potential impact on children’s lives.

Virtual Reality

Here are the top ways that your donation makes a difference at the Center for Innovation

Millions of children lack access to high-quality pediatric care, but digital health technologies have the potential to transform the current landscape. Your support fosters innovations that allow families to share health data and get medical recommendations from leading pediatric experts, even when they live far away.

Our team has a long history of pioneering transformative discoveries that make care better, safer and more effective for kids. But it can take years to get an idea to a clinical setting where it benefits patients. Your support gets breakthroughs from the lab to the bedside more quickly, so they can help kids who need them today.

Health care costs have skyrocketed across the nation, but our team is committed to developing less-invasive, more efficient ways of practicing medicine. Not only does this mean less pain and time in the hospital for patients, it also helps to reduce health care costs.

Our innovations do far more than benefit the patients in our care. When we develop a new technology that improves lives, we share our knowledge with caregivers everywhere to help children around the globe.

The earlier we can make a difference in a child’s life, the healthier that child will be, now and in the future. This is also true for entire communities, so when we develop technologies that encourage healthy behaviors or emphasize prevention, we help broader populations of children to live healthier lives.

The Center for Innovation helps medical providers by giving them the tools and technologies to support the best possible health outcomes. By putting the right information at our caregivers’ fingertips and sharing data that empowers good decisions, we improve care while avoiding provider burnout, a common problem in health care today.

The products developed through the Center for Innovation have the potential to diversify revenue for Children’s Colorado, which faces an increasingly challenging financial landscape. These funds are then reinvested to support our nonprofit mission, funding areas like research and family support services.

Co-developing innovations and launching successful companies supports job growth and boosts the local economy — all while supporting kids’ health.

Support the next big idea

It takes significant resources and infrastructure to turn an idea into a tangible product that benefits patients. With your support, we can continue to develop innovations that push boundaries, shift paradigms, improve lives and bring about transformative changes for children’s health worldwide.

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