GeroTech Incubator: Engineering Solutions for Aging
Mission
The GeroTech Incubator Program is a multidisciplinary initiative at Johns Hopkins. Its mission is to bring together healthcare providers, engineers, and business professionals to develop and implement novel, scalable engineered solutions for health challenges affecting older adults. Through an incubator model, students and trainees from medicine, nursing, engineering, and business work alongside interdisciplinary faculty teams to create affordable and sustainable therapeutics, tools, and technologies that improve quality of life for aging populations nationally and globally.
What We Do
- Foster interdisciplinary innovation through team-based incubators
- Translate research into accessible, real-world clinical tools
- Support the path to market through patents, clinical trials, and licensing
- Leverage existing infrastructure at Johns Hopkins including:
- Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV)
- Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design (CBID)
- Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR)
- Art as Applied to Medicine
- Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)
- Industry collaborators
Program Structure
Each GeroTech Incubator team consists of:
- 2–3 engineering students
- 1 medical resident or nursing doctoral candidate
- 2 business students (from finance and marketing)
- Faculty mentors (clinician, engineer, business expert)
The program follows a two-phase structure:
Phase 1: Discovery Mode
- 1–2 months of orientation and training
- Clinical shadowing and literature review
- Problem identification and needs assessment
- Market analysis and early concept development
- Culminates in prototype or product concept
Phase 2: Accelerator Mode
- Identification of funding resources
- Prototype testing and refinement
- Patent development and industry engagement
- For clinical solutions: content creation and dissemination via publication or education
Incubator Focus Areas
Each incubator team addresses a specific aging-related challenge:
- Incubator #1: Fall Prevention
- Incubator #2: Remote Monitoring
- Incubator #3: Dementia, Delirium, and Cognitive Status
- Incubator #4: Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Incubator #5: Sociodemographic Stressors
- Incubator #6: Biology of Healthy Aging
- Incubator #7: Aging Precision Medicine Clinic
Focus Areas: Challenges of Aging
GeroTech teams develop solutions for a broad spectrum of age-related health problems, including:
- Frailty and multi-morbidity
- Social isolation
- Delirium and cognitive impairment
- Chronic wounds and pressure ulcers
- Polypharmacy and medication management
- Incontinence
- Dementia and cognitive frailty
- Lifestyle barriers to aging well