Samsung, UCSF establish center for digital health innovation

Samsung Electronics and the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) will partner to accelerate validation and commercialization of promising new sensors, algorithms and digital health technologies for preventive health solutions by establishing the UCSF-Samsung Digital Health Innovation Lab.

The new space will be located in UCSF’s Mission Bay campus in San Francisco, where researchers and technologists will be able to develop and run trials to validate new mobile health technologies. The joint innovation lab will serve as a test bed where entrepreneurs and innovators will be able to validate their technologies and accelerate the adoption of new preventive health solutions.

"Harnessing new preventative health technologies to help people live healthier lives is the next great opportunity of our generation,” said Young Sohn, president and chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics, in a release. “We invite the world's innovators and entrepreneurs to join us to validate their new sensors, analytics and preventive health solutions in a world class setting."

“There are many new sensors and devices coming onto the market for consumers, but without medical validation, most of these will have limited impacts on health. Meanwhile, many practitioners also have creative ideas for new devices, but they lack the technological knowledge to fully develop them,” said Michael Blum, MD, UCSF’s associate vice chancellor for Informatics. “This partnership will bring together these two very different worlds of expertise with the resources needed to accelerate new and disruptive technologies that will truly change lives.”