Issue: ORN-2026-38

Faculty, Postdocs and Students are Invited Attend: Register Now

Center for Translational Research (CTR) 2026 Workshop on 

Personalized, Predictive and Preventive Healthcare Innovations (P3HI) 

HealthTech, Digital Health and AI Trends 

For Full Program Announcement with Speakers’ Biographical Sketches: Click Here

Sponsored by 

NSF ART (Accelerating Research Translation) Program at NJIT

National Academy of Inventors (NAI) – NJIT Chapter 

Co-organizers and Co-Chairs

Atam P. Dhawan, Ph.D., Chief Strategic Innovation Officer, Senior Vice Provost for Research, NJIT; Executive Director – Center for Translational Research

Arunan Skandarajah, Ph.D., Founder and Principal, Nalam Ventures, Former Small Business Manager and Translational R&D and Commercialization Lead, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)

Date and Venue: November 12, 2026, 8.00 AM – 4.45 PM; Atrium, Campus Center

Registration Requested: Please Click Here to Register

Please register now as we expect a large number of attendees and seats are limited. 

Brief Description: The Center for Translational Research promotes and facilitates excellence in collaborative research, innovation partnerships, entrepreneurial pathways, education, training, and infrastructure development to translate technology into applications with a high societal and economic impact. To execute on the CTR mission to enhance the research, innovation, and technology entrepreneurship ecosystem at NJIT, we have initiated a series of workshops on pathways to translational research and innovation partnerships, with panel discussions and breakout sessions giving faculty, postdocs, and students an opportunity to interact with experts on early and advanced translational research, tech transfer, licensing, and funding strategies for entrepreneurial activities. This CTR P3HI workshop focuses on translational research and innovative technology solutions to unmet needs in personalized, predictive, and preventive healthcare, improving global point-of-care healthcare, and driving future economic growth. 

Why You Should Attend: Recent technological and pharmaceutical advances in healthcare have yielded tremendous improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of deadly maladies, from cardiac and brain disorders to cancers to infectious diseases. Yet a critical problem remains: the lack of “HealthTech” innovations available to all people for sustainable point-of-care, personalized monitoring towards preventive, predictive, and precision healthcare, understanding the onset and progression of pathological conditions, effective treatment and therapeutic intervention, and, more importantly, changing behavior to stay healthy in the long-term. Global healthcare, particularly in under-resourced communities in both impoverished and affluent nations, suffers from limited access to the life-changing remedies many of us take for granted. These disparities are unsustainable in a functioning global society. 

In addition, the CTR 2026 P3HI Workshop will feature a Translational Research and Innovation Showcase with the participation of HealthTech researchers and technology leaders from healthcare stakeholder sectors, including academia, medical and clinical centers, industry, federal agencies, foundations, and communities. Personalized medicine is here, and interacting with these innovators will put a fine point on the challenges and opportunities.

You will have the opportunity to meet and interact with researchers, clinicians, investors and industry leaders to explore:

• Translational research funding opportunities from NIH, NSF, DHA, BARDA and other public-private funding agencies
• Investment funding opportunities from venture groups including Portal Innovations, BARDA, Capital Ventures, Venture Studio and NJ Innovation Hub-The Helix
• Opportunities to interact with clinicians and healthcare executives on unmet clinical needs and challenges in P3HI
• Opportunities to interact with industry leaders and executives and academic researchers on developing collaborations and partnerships in P3HI

Breakfast and Lunch will be provided. Breakfast and registration will start at 8.00 AM. The workshop will start at 8.30 AM. 

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Blueprint MedTech Funding Opportunity

The NIH Blueprint MedTech program is launching its seventh funding opportunity supporting the development of commercially viable, clinically focused medical device technologies that address disorders of the nervous system. Through the Blueprint MedTech Incubator Hubs, selected innovators receive funding, resources, and expert support to advance promising technologies from proof of concept toward first-in-human-ready prototypes.

Selected projects may receive up to $100,000 through a 20-week Sprinter award, with the opportunity to advance to an Optimizer award of up to $1.28 million for one year. Principal investigators from academic institutions, industry, and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply.

Pre-proposals open: September 24, 2026
Pre-proposal deadline: October 21, 2026
Informational webinar: September 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET

Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend the informational webinar to learn more about the program, eligibility, and application process. Register here for the information webinar. 

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Ecosystem Futures Fellowship

Lead the future of innovation at your higher education institution with the Ecosystem Futures Fellowship. This fellowship is an evolution of our Course & Program Grants that focuses on scalable science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) ecosystem solutions through the lens of environmental and social sustainability and inclusive innovation. This program offers professional development, immersive learning experiences, and a supportive community of leaders. It enhances the role of faculty and higher education leaders as ecosystem builders in partnership with industry and government.

The Ecosystem Futures Fellowship is a one-year program that aims to strengthen campus innovation and entrepreneurship. This fellowship enhances both in-class and out-of-class student engagement and institutional culture by growing ecosystem networks. Teams of two will receive $30,000 in funding—a $10,000 award and $5,000 in travel stipends for each fellow—and 12 months of immersive programming and communities of practice.

Apply by October 30, 2026