The University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Center for Advanced Surgical & Interventional Technology (CASIT) in the US has announced the establishment of a Center to Stream Healthcare in Place (C2SHIP) academic hub in collaboration with over 24 academic and industrial centres.
This hub, which was first chosen as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers programme in 2021, has now secured a $4m grant from the NSF.
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The funding will support C2SHIP’s mission to enhance in-home healthcare technologies and improve chronic disease management outside the hospital environment.
C2SHIP brings together six academic institutions, including UCLA, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Missouri, and the University of Southern California, with more than 20 industry partners.
The collaboration aims to drive innovation in healthcare solutions, with a particular focus on empowering individuals to manage their health at home through advanced technology.
This UCLA-led effort will be directed by Bijan Najafi, professor of surgery at UCLA Health and the research director of UCLA’s CASIT.
The team’s projects, at the beginning, will concentrate on developing and testing next-generation in-home healthcare solutions such as wearable devices and smart home systems.
These technologies will be evaluated in real-world settings, and the team may also initiate related clinical trials in the near future.
Najafi said: “We strive to support the ageing population and individuals with chronic illnesses by fostering a ‘care-in-place’ ecosystem that integrates remote monitoring, intelligent decision support, and patient-centred care solutions.”
In addition to the NSF grant, the hub has garnered support from its industrial members, providing UCLA faculty with opportunities to receive pilot funding.
By fostering cross-disciplinary partnerships between medical and engineering schools, the UCLA team, in partnership with C2SHIP’s network, aims to accelerate the transfer of knowledge from the bedside to the bench and back again.
Last year, UCLA Health acquired West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Los Angeles, California and its related assets from HCA Healthcare.
