This is the breadcrumbs block. Breadcrumb will populate on actual page.

Praxis Accelerate Program  |  SCI Accelerate 2020 Cohort

Announcing the SCI Accelerate 2020 Cohort

We are excited to announce the inaugural cohort of Praxis SCI Accelerate, a 12 week in residence accelerator program focused on advancing the commercialization of technology to transform the lives of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Our cohort, encompassing companies across the key SCI focus areas for Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, represent a variety of backgrounds and have already demonstrated significant traction in their fields. These companies have been carefully selected by a panel of SCI consumers, researchers, commercial leaders in healthcare — as addressing key gaps in care for people with SCI, but also with a potential to transform healthcare outcomes for the broader community.

→ Download the 2020 Cohort one-pager

PathMaker Neurosystems is a clinical-stage neuromodulation company developing breakthrough non-invasive systems for the treatment of patients with serious neurological disorders, including SCI, ALS and stroke. PathMaker’s proprietary technology uses synchronized stimulation at multiple points along the neural axis to modulate the activity of spinal circuits. Their first device, MyoRegulator®, is the first non-invasive neuromodulation device for the treatment of spasticity and was selected as one of the first products designated for the US FDA’s Expedited Access Pathway (EAP) as a “breakthrough” medical device. PathMaker has a dominant IP portfolio with 35 issued patents, received a $5M NIH grant last year to fund MyoRegulator development and US clinical trials, and has won numerous innovation awards in the US and Europe, including France’s top prize for innovation across all technology sectors. PathMaker recently published the first clinical results from their US trial, and they have a pivotal European clinical trial nearing completion in France.

Visit their website

Nader Yaghoubi, CEO
MD, PhD
Nader is President, CEO and Co-Founder of PathMaker Neurosystems Inc. He has over 20 years of experience in the creation, operation and financing of life science companies. He serves as a PI on a $5M NINDS CREATE Device award to PathMaker from NIH. Dr. Yaghoubi received an MD and PhD in Neuropharmacology from the combined degree program at the Boston University School of Medicine.

 

Rehabtronics has a suite of products in the rehabilitation space including Intermittent Electrical Stimulation (IES) technology to reduce pressure injury for those with mobility and sensation deficits. Rehabtronics strives to deliver technologies and products that provide expanded access to better care at a lower cost. Rehabtronics aims to eliminate deadly pressure ulcers, improve care for millions of people, reduce billions in care costs and save
thousands of lives.

Visit their website

Rahul Samant, CEO
Rahul is passionate about science, technology, and how science and technology can come together to solve the most pressing issues of our time.

 

Dr. Gordon’s Bum Cream Inc. is a physician-led Nova Scotian company that has developed a fast-acting, complex-compounded, non-prescription skin cream to effectively treat Moisture Associated Skin Damage (MASD). Dubbed ‘Dr. Gordon’s Bum Cream’ by nurses, it’s a single-step remedy that has been safely used by Dr. Gordon in intensive care and other units in Canadian teaching hospitals for over 20 years.

Visit their website

Dr. Ann Gordon, CTO
BSc, MDCM, FRCPC
Ann has been an Intensive Care clinician, Pulmonary Rehab Medical Director and an award-winning clinical teacher for 25 years at McGill, UBC and currently for Dalhousie at the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville, Nova Scotia, where she currently lives with her family and dogs.

Johanna Mercer, CEO
BA, MFA
Johanna has been an entrepreneur in many fields including education, real estate, theatre and film with Pfizer, BC Hydro, the Aids Foundation of Canada, the BC Nurses Union and CBC among her clients. She founded The Booker School in Nova Scotia, which recently won the Governor General’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Her first job was in her father’s pharmacy.

CathBuddy, Inc. is developing a reusable intermittent urinary catheter system that aims to improve the standard of care and reduce UTI incidence for individuals who use intermittent catheters to urinate. The system is comprised of a reusable, RFID-tagged intermittent catheter; a reusable, removable insertion aid; and a patented at-home catheter sterilizer. A reusable system enables the company to amortize the cost of production for safer, premium catheters over multiple uses, helping to reduce healthcare costs related to catheters and urinary tract infections, while also reducing environmental waste caused by single-use catheterization.

Visit their website

Souvik Paul, CEO
Souvik Paul is a multidisciplinary, award-winning Industrial Designer/Design Strategist with a Master of Fine Arts in Products of Design from School of Visual Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from Harvard University. Souvik is interested in using design in conjunction with other competencies to drive profit, innovation, and intrapreneurship forward in order to serve user needs.

BioInteractive Technologies (BIT), endorsed by the Mayo Clinic and Techstars, is a medical device and digital health company developing intelligent wearables for physical therapy, using its patent-pending TENZR™ musculoskeletal sensing technology. BIT’s flagship product, the TENZR™ Wristband, is designed to facilitate rehabilitation of orthopedic and neurological hand, wrist and elbow impairments. The TENZR™ Wristband assesses range of motion, provides instantaneous guidance and feedback on rehab exercises via a mobile app, and monitors hand and wrist use to encourage healthy ergonomics.

Visit their website

Lukas-Karim Merhi, CEO
Lukas is an entrepreneur focused on bringing biomedical technologies out of the laboratory and into the hands of users, where it can help people. In the past, Lukas has worked at top-notch translational research facilities across the country and is well-versed in raising early-stage funding (dilutive and non-dilutive) to enable translational research and early commercial R&D.

Gautam Sadarangani, President & CTO
Gautam is an entrepreneur with a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering, focused on bringing the benefits of digital health to patients and consumers in new and as-yet untapped clinical domains.