23 Oct Shark Tank Event Awards Two Brigham Researchers!

Congratulations to the Winners of the McGraw Family Opioid Awards!

1st Place: $50,000

Christopher Connor, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology

Project: Imaging opioid effects, tolerance and addition in C. elegans

2nd Place: $25,000

William Renthal, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurology

Project: Targeted gene therapy for Chronic Pain

Featured Image:

Top Left: Scott Weiner, MD, MPH

Top Right: Captain Robert McGraw

Bottom Left: William Renthal, MD, PhD

Bottom Right: Christopher Connor, MD, PhD

Background on the Event:

Since 2012, Brigham & Women’s Hospital has been hosting shark tanks to fund innovative and high-risk/high impact projects in the basic, clinical, digital and translational realms through its Health & Technology Innovation Awards. Sponsored by the Brigham Research Institute (BRI) and the BWH Health & Technology Subcommittee, these awards aim to advance projects that have the potential to make an impact in one or more of the following domains – biomedical research, healthcare delivery, the generation of new companies/products/services, cost savings, care quality and provider burnout. Since 2012, more than $1 million has been distributed to BWH investigators through these awards.

This year, with the generous support of the McGraw Family, this cycle’s Request for Applications includes a special track focused on advancing innovations related to solving the opioid crisis which has resulted in the loss of over 2000 lives in the past year in Massachusetts alone. Novel ideas that seek to address questions and challenges related to the opioid epidemic including, but not limited to, research on addiction, adverse effects, alternate pain management strategies, genetic susceptibility to opioid abuse, new tools for opioid research, diagnosis/treatment, management of infectious diseases related to opioid abuse, withdrawal, personalized medicine were awarded.