Deborah James with Chris Lumb, CEO, TEC Edmonton, at the TEC Centre Labs
Alberta-made health innovations now have a new stimulating space in which to seed and grow, thanks to the opening of the $2.3-million TEC Centre Labs.
Located in downtown Edmonton's Entreprise Square, with nearly 8,000 square feet of wet lab and collaboration space for health technology companies and entrepreneurs, TEC Edmonton's TEC Centre Labs will be home to two accelerator programs. The Merck Invention Accelerator will focus on advancing emerging health technologies to save and improve lives globally and the University of Alberta Health Accelerator will be driven by the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
The UAlberta Health Accelerator will support and inspire health-sciences innovators with a stream of programming for faculty members to identify and advance early-stage commercial opportunities, plus a student stream to train the next generation of entrepreneurs.
"I think our researchers and trainees are going to love being downtown in this vibrant collision space to connect with other like-minded people," said Deborah James, executive director of innovation for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. "It's a piece to a bigger picture of instilling a culture of innovation within the faculty."