CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - September 26, 2024 - CTIP, an FDA-funded pediatric medical device accelerator, has selected Tamara Lambert as its first CobiCure Fellow. CobiCure is a philanthropically funded non-profit within the Advancium Health Network which has partnered with each of the five FDA Pediatric Device Consortiums (PDCs). This fellowship program aims to address the critical need for medical device innovation in pediatrics, an area historically underfunded and underserved.
CobiCure will support its fellows through financial assistance and mentoring, organizing year-round educational sessions with prominent figures in medical device innovation. Lambert, who represents CTIP in this fellowship, will work alongside experts from institutions such as Stanford Biodesign and Deerfield Management to bring new MedTech solutions to pediatric patients. As part of this initiative, fellows will develop key skills in pediatric device commercialization, addressing the needs of an underserved population.
“We are excited to welcome Tamara Lambert as our first CobiCure Fellow,” said Juan Espinoza, Director and Principal Investigator of CTIP. “Her expertise and passion for reducing healthcare disparities align perfectly with CTIP's mission and our partnership with CobiCure to advance pediatric medical device innovation.”
Tamara’s academic achievements include a Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering from Cornell University, a Master of Public Health in Global Environmental Health from Emory University, a Master of Engineering in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Her doctoral research centered on creating machine learning algorithms to detect progression towards crisis states in opioid use disorder and hypovolemia.
Driven by a passion for leveraging innovation to reduce healthcare disparities in marginalized communities, Tamara's motivation comes from personal experience. She witnessed the effects of income inequality on her own family, losing her parents to preventable and treatable illnesses. On mission trips abroad, she observed the difficulties in accessing healthcare in underserved regions such as Nicaragua and India. Tamara’s long-term vision is to establish a healthcare company dedicated to expanding access to quality medical technology for underserved communities.
"I am excited to engage in needs finding during my fellowship, particularly by listening closely to and understanding the needs of clinicians—not just to what they say, but to what often goes unsaid,” said Lambert. “Supporting medtech founders in achieving their goals is a rewarding experience that I'm eager to be a part of."
For more updates from CTIP about pediatric MedTech follow us @ctipmedtech on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram, Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics on LinkedIn, and the web at www.ctipmedtech.org
About CobiCure: CobiCure, a philanthropically funded non-profit company of Advancium Health Network, is dedicated to reimagining pediatric health solutions. By leveraging its strategic ecosystem, essential resources, and expert leadership, CobiCure is ensuring that financial return is not a primary determinant for bringing life-changing medical technologies and therapeutics to children with unmet needs. For more information on how CobiCure is reimagining the pediatric technology landscape, visit CobiCure MedTech at www.cobicuremedtech.org.