Congratulations to Mr Edward Blake and Mr Luke Cassar who recently qualified in the top 10 presenters for their business pitch in the EIT Health cohort for the EIT Jumpstarter Programme!

Edward and Luke are being supported in this journey by Mr Andras Havasi from the Corporate Research & Knowledge Transfer Office at the University of Malta. They are presenting innovative work from the European Innovation Council’s EIC Pathfinder project TargetMI, coordinated by Prof. Stephanie Bezzina Wettinger from the Department of Applied Biomedical Science at the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Biobanking. The aims of TargetMI include identifying biomarkers for the early prediction of the risk of heart attacks, as well as novel candidate drug targets to mitigate this risk.

The EIT Jumpstarter Program is a training program run by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) that runs until November and brings together businesses, research centres, and universities in central, eastern, and southern Europe, which aims to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in these regions that normally face greater business challenges than western Europe. The training covers the different phases and requirements in launching a business to bring innovative ideas to market.

Edward and Luke will be advancing onto Phase 2 of the program, where they will be doing on-site training abroad to cultivate powerful peer connections, build local groundwork, and craft a winning business plan, which will advance their knowledge and skills to assist on the TargetMI project.