Hot springs have always been therapeutic destinations, but it was a father, desperate to relieve his child’s pain, who invented the home spa. Candido Jacuzzi, a mechanical engineer, and his wife, Inez, tried everything to help their son, who was suffering from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Hydrotherapy helped immensely, so Candido set to work, eventually building […]
Solvers
Transforming research participation
Below is a letter I wrote in response to Tania Simoncelli’s article, “From Bedside to Bench and Back,” (Issues in Science and Technology, Summer 2023). Read all the responses here. Biomedical research has blind spots that can be reduced, as Tania Simoncelli writes, by “centering the largest stakeholders in medicine—the patients.” By focusing on rare […]
The Promise of Patient-Led Research Integration
The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) and Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC) have developed a collaborative research model for use by patients and patient organizations, funders, research institutions and other traditional biomedical research teams. The project was funded by a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The model is represented by a set […]
Patient-led innovation
Update: Here’s a link to the list I created based on the comments gathered here and on Twitter and LinkedIn. I am curating a list of organizations that are putting patient-led innovation to work. What follows is an incomplete list — please help me by sharing YOUR favorite peer-to-peer communities in the comments below. Extra […]
Solvers attack problems
Solvers identify challenges, then test and develop new concepts, code, and inventions to meet their needs. They work on a problem with a singular focus because their life – or the life of a loved one – often depends on their ability to find or invent a solution. Some Solvers openly share their designs online for […]
Consumer-strength tools,
industrial-strength innovation
On August 31, I’ll be part of the 2021 Federal Wearables Summit. This post is my attempt to “flip” the event by sharing what I intend to say. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. In 1986, Eric von Hippel of MIT identified “lead users” as people who identify and solve […]
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