McMaster’s flagship Innovation Matchmaking program supports health-tech innovation

Are you a faculty member, clinician or entrepreneur eager to take your health and technology innovations to the next level? There is still time to apply for McMaster’s Innovation Matchmaking program. 

Hosted in partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences and the Research Institute of St. Joe’s Hamilton, with funding from the Juravinski Research Institute and the Faculty of Engineering, the Innovation Matchmaking program connects researchers and entrepreneurs from McMaster and its affiliated hospitals, supporting them as they jointly develop and commercialize a technology solution that tackles a pressing health challenge. 

“Now in its second year, the Innovation Matchmaking program is one of several McMaster Entrepreneurship Academy initiatives focused on bringing people from different disciplines together to commercialize research and solve real-world problems,” says Leyla Soleymani, Associate Vice-President, Research (Commercialization & Entrepreneurship). 

Commercializing innovations with impact

Four teams were awarded funding through the Innovation Matchmaking program in 2024. Since then, the teams have been hard at work advancing their technologies toward commercialization. 

NodeAI Diagnostics, a Hamilton-based startup co-founded by thoracic surgeon Waël Hanna, is harnessing artificial intelligence to transform the diagnosis and staging of non-small cell lung cancer. The startup, supported early on through the Innovation Matchmaking program, recently won the $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award at FACIT’s Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition. 

“McMaster University provided NodeAI with a foundation and ecosystem needed to transform our innovative concept into a winning venture. Through McMaster’s Innovation Matchmaking program, we were able to build a compelling business case that led to our Falcons Fortune victory,” says Hanna, Associate Professor, Surgery. 

Another rising star is CELLECT Laboratories, winner of the Audience Choice Award at FACIT and a presenter at McMaster’s Innovation Matchmaking Day, which took place earlier this year.  

CELLECT is developing an innovative menstrual effluent collection system that’s gaining momentum on its path to commercialization. A clinical match at Hamilton Health Sciences, facilitated by the Innovation Matchmaking program and partner MACcelerate, has opened the door to collaboration and clinical trial opportunities—key steps toward building a compelling investment case. 

“With a series of successful matches already behind us, enthusiasm for the program continues to grow,” says Dr. Sagar Prabhudev, who manages the program.

“The Innovation Matchmaking program isn’t just fostering innovation—it’s creating a vibrant community of problem-solvers committed to improving patient outcomes through science, technology and collaboration.”

Think your idea could be next? Apply online by May 25, 2025 and join McMaster’s community of entrepreneurs turning research into real-world impact.