The first EP PerMed Summer School on Innovation, Tech Transfer and Entrepreneurship in Personalised Medicine was organised from 2 to 6 June 2025 in Palermo, Italy.
The 25 participants were selected on the basis of their letter of motivation, their project description or start-up idea and their short CV. They covered a wide range of professions, such as physicians, biotechnologists, pharmacists, psychologists, engineers, economists, healthcare/public health managers, medical assistants and others. During the selection process, attention was paid to a balanced ratio of genders and age groups, with 10 European nations from 23 different organisations represented.
The programme included a total of 13 presentations by well-known experts in their fields, including Global Strategy, Management in Life Sciences, Intellectual Property Management, Health Technology Assessment, Regulatory Affairs, Business Planning and Modelling, Design Thinking and Integrity & Trust.
Case studies from successful health tech founders offered valuable insights into the world of the start-up scene. A poster session enabled participants to discuss their projects and ideas with other participants and the speakers and receive valuable feedback.
A special highlight was a dedicated programme in the historic hall of the University of Palermo, where we were welcomed by the Dean of the University.
The lecturers were also available to answer questions and give advice to participants apart of the lectures, so that all participants had the opportunity to further develop their own projects and ideas.
In addition to the aim of imparting knowledge, an important goal of the Summer School was to connect the participants and the lecturers with each other, which was achieved through lively discussions during the breaks and the evening event.
The event was was organised by the DLR Project Management Agency in its role as coordinator of the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed) together with the Toscana Lifescience Foundation and the Telethon Foundation. According to current plans, the Summer School will be repeated in 2027 and 2029.
