NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 — Patient empowerment platform, Lyfebulb, and TRIO (Transplant Recipients International Organization) announced today their partnership to provide the transplant community with the support they need during their journey. Lyfebulb recently launched TransplantLyfe, which enables community members to make connections to each other, share stories, participate in Q&A forums, access information through vetted resources and create journals to track biometrics and other health measurements over time.
Through this partnership, TRIO members will be able to directly link to the TransplantLyfe site from the TRIO website and engage with an international group of transplant patients, care partners, donors and other interested parties. Similarly, TransplantLyfe members will have access to TRIO’s expert resources on the TransplantLyfe platform. Together, Lyfebulb and TRIO will create new content for the community in the form of webinars and other online events, engaging both the TRIO and Lyfebulb communities.
“TRIO is proud to partner with Lyfebulb in supporting the growth of TransplantLyfe,” said Jim Gleason, President, TRIO National. “We hear time and again from our community that people are searching to find someone who has gone through this journey before. But there are only around 39,000 transplants done in the US in one year – it is hard to find these patients.”
TransplantLyfe allows users to share their questions and experiences with a group and to find a 1:1 connection without being limited to their local community. The goal is to enable patients, care partners and donors to reduce the uncertainty in their journey and inspire them to thrive with their transplant experience, not just survive.
TransplantLyfe was developed with the support of CSL Behring, a global biotechnology leader.
“It is very encouraging to have the support and partnership of so many strong stakeholders in the transplant community,” said Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD, Founder & CEO, Lyfebulb. “As a two time transplant recipient, I have always seen this need for an organized and curated community platform and it is gratifying to see others recognize and support it as well.”
Lyfebulb is a chronic disease-focused, patient empowerment platform that connects patients and industry to support user-driven innovation. Grounded with its strong foundation in diabetes, the company has expanded disease states covered into cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, mental health, substance use disorder, migraine, transplantation, psoriasis, chronic cough, and chronic kidney disease.
TRIO is an independent , not-for-profit international organization committed to improving the quality of life of transplant candidates, recipients, their families and the families of organ and tissue donors. Through the TRIO headquarters and a network of chapters, TRIO serves its members in the areas of awareness, support, education and advocacy.
Lyfebulb Contact: Karin Hehenberger, MD, PhD CEO & Founder, Lyfebulb Phone: + 1 917-575-0210 Email: karin@lyfebulb.com
TRIO Contact: Jim Gleason, TRIO National President Phone: + 1 609-877-4493 [OR Mobile: (610) 999-0341] E-mail: GleasonJim@aol.com
Alisha is a fiery, poetic redhead living on the Canadian prairies. After complications due to a metabolic liver condition she was diagnosed with shortly after birth, she received a liver transplant in August 2020. She is a grief embodiment worker, speaker and writer raising awareness for organ donation and medical trauma. She lives with her husband and their rescue puppy and is a lover of coffee and all things cozy.
Winning Entry to Receive $25,000 Grant
NEW YORK, NY, USA – January 7, 2021 – Lyfebulb, a patient-empowerment platform that connects patients with industry to support user-driven innovation, unveils the launch of their 2021 Innovation Challenge: Thriving with Transplantation. The goal of this initiative is to source innovative solutions to improve outcomes and experiences for all those affected by organ transplantation.
The Innovation Challenge, sponsored by CSL Behring, will take place virtually in May 2021 and is open to patient entrepreneurs – those who have been affected by chronic disease as either a patient or support partner for a loved one and started a company to develop solutions to an unmet need identified in their disease journey.
“We are thrilled to kick-off the new year with the announcement of an initiative that sparked Lyfebulb’s founding in 2014.” said Dr. Karin Hehenberger, CEO and Founder of Lyfebulb and transplant recipient. “Having personally experienced the complications of living with chronic disease, Lyfebulb was founded upon the core principles that patients need patients and patients can be innovators. We are honored to be working with our partner, CSL Behring, to amplify that messaging and further inspire innovation to help people not just survive, but thrive.”
Submissions may span devices, diagnostics, consumer products, products for healthcare professionals, and healthcare IT to directly treat or manage transplants, as well as support overall physical and mental well-being. Selected finalists will receive an invitation to pitch their company’s solutions to an expert panel of judges comprised of healthcare industry, medical and patient leaders. One winner will be awarded a $25,000 monetary grant. Competing finalists may be considered for possible partnerships or investments beyond the challenge. To apply or learn more, please visit:
“Innovation is a core value at CSL Behring,” said Kevin Kovaleski, Vice President, Global Commercial Development, Transplant, CSL Behring. “Supporting ventures like this Innovation Challenge is fundamental to understanding the challenges that transplant recipients are really experiencing in day-to-day life, and ultimately, improving outcomes for patients.”
The Innovation Challenge is one component of a larger partnership between Lyfebulb and CSL Behring to generate new solutions to better serve members within the transplant community.
About Lyfebulb
Lyfebulb is a chronic disease-focused, patient empowerment platform that connects patients and industry to support user-driven innovation. Grounded with its strong foundation in diabetes, the company has expanded disease states covered into cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, mental health, substance use disorder, migraine, transplantation, psoriasis, chronic cough, and chronic kidney disease. See Lyfebulb.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Karin Hehenberger LinkedIn, and Lyfebulb LinkedIn.
About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients’ needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company’s products are also used in cardiac surgery, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn.
CSL Behring operates one of the world’s largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company, CSL Limited (ASX:CSL;USOTC:CSLLY), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs more than 27,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 100 countries. For inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit Vita CSLBehring.com/vita and follow us on Twitter.com/CSLBehring
Dr. Minnie Sarwal is a key opinion leader in clinical and translational research that focuses on native organ diseases and organ transplantation. She was Principal Investigator of the parent R01 grant (R01DK109720) entitled “CD40 Autoantibody and FSGS Recurrence.” Her training and decades-long contribution to clinical and basic science stemmed from her career both at Stanford University, where she was Medical Director of the Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program, and at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), where she is Co-Director of the Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Program and Director of the Precision Transplant Medicine program.
Minnie is also Co-Director of the T32 training grant in Transplant Surgery. Her research has focused on mechanisms and biomarkers for understanding renal transplant injury, and on improving diagnosis and therapies for renal diseases such as diabetes, IgA, and FSGS, with a primary focus on improving diagnostics for solid organ and bone marrow transplantation. To interrogate biological systems, her lab is using multi-omic assays and bioinformatics. Her lab has published in high impact journals such as the NEJM, PNAS, Nature Medicine, Nature Methods, Journal of Immunology, Journal of Experimental Methods, PLOS Medicine, and Science Translational Medicine.
Dr. Minnie Sarwal
Founder & CEO
ABOUT THE SUMMIT AND AWARD
The goal of the 2021 Lyfebulb-CSL Behring Innovation Challenge: Thriving with Transplantation is to source innovative solutions to improve outcomes and experiences for all those affected by transplantation.
The Innovation Challenge will take place virtually in May 2021 and is currently accepting applications through February 19, 2021. Patient entrepreneurs – those who have been affected by chronic disease as either a patient or support partner for a loved one and started a company to develop solutions to an unmet need identified in their disease journey – are encouraged to apply.
Selected finalists will receive an invitation to pitch their company’s solutions to an expert panel of judges comprised of healthcare industry, medical and patient leaders. One winner will be awarded a $25,000 monetary grant. Competing finalists may be considered for possible partnerships or investments beyond the challenge. Beyond presenting their innovative ventures, the finalists will have the opportunity to exchange ideas on how to further advance patient innovation in the transplant community; engage with Lyfebulb founders, CSL Behring leadership leadership, representatives from the patient community, key opinion leaders and potential investors; and share insights with each other.
The Lyfebulb-CSL Behring Innovation Challenge stems from the idea of the Lyfebulb Entrepreneur Circle, established in 2015, and features individuals who have created a product and a company based on the issues encountered due to their personal experiences with a chronic illness (through their own diagnosis or that of a loved one).
Director Emeritus and Founder, Renal and Islet Transplantation, and Surgeon, Abdominal Organ Transplantation and Islets at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
Managing Director at Symbiotix at Havas Health & You
JUDGING CRITERIA
The judging panel will assess the following:
UNMET NEED
What is the strategic basis for the identified problem/gap (e.g., research conducted)?
How is the problem/gap being specifically addressed?
IMPACT
Does the innovation have the potential to improve the lives of people affected by transplantation?
How great of an impact (market impact and patient impact) will the innovation make and how will it be measured?
MARKET FEASIBILITY
How is the product or service unique to the market?
What is the feasibility of development and implementation into the marketplace (e.g., funding, regulations, requirements for testing)?
APPLYING FOR THE INNOVATION CHALLENGE
Submissions should focus on innovative solutions with the potential to improve outcomes and experiences using devices, diagnostics, consumer products, products for healthcare professionals, digital healthcare or healthcare IT to directly treat or manage transplants, or support overall physical and mental well-being.
The solution may address the following:
INNOVATION
Directly treating or managing transplant
Supporting overall physical and mental well-being
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Patients (recipients), donors, families, and loved ones
Medical community and society
STAGE OF JOURNEY
All stages of the journey from pre-transplantation through long-term management
THE CHALLENGE IN NUMBERS
7
JANUARY
Applications open on Wednesday, January 7, 2021
19
February
Applications close on Friday, February 19, 2021, at 11:59 PM EDT
2
Days
Finalists will be pitch their solutions over the course of a two day summit May 12-13, 2021
$25
Thousand
One entrepreneur will be awarded the 2021 Lyfebulb-CSL Behring Innovation Award, including a $25,000 monetary grant to grow their company
The Innovation Challenge is one component of a larger partnership between Lyfebulb and CSL Behring to generate new solutions to better serve members within the transplant community.
Lyfebulb is a chronic disease-focused, patient empowerment platform that connects patients and industry to support user-driven innovation. Grounded with its strong foundation in diabetes, the company has expanded disease states covered into cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, mental health, substance use disorder, migraine, transplantation, chronic kidney disease, chronic cough and psoriasis.
CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients’ needs by using the latest technologies, the company develops and delivers innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company’s products are also used in cardiac surgery, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn.
My name is Lara. I am a marriage and family therapist in California and I specialize in working with young adults living with chronic illness. My work with chronic illness has been motivated by my own health concerns. I lived with chronic heart failure for 5 years and last year I received the ultimate gift, a heart transplant. These experiences transformed me and my work, too. I provide space to those of us who are learning to live with a chronic illness, who are grieving at times, and who are trying to navigate life while honoring our health concerns. I am honored to work with individuals towards the goal of living an authentic, happy, and content life, despite and in congruency to, their medical conditions.
Brandon Mouw was just three- years-old when diagnosed as a Juvenile Type 1 Diabetic. His journey with diabetes is a survivor’s story. Growing up to become a brittle diabetic, he underwent nine surgeries, lost a kidney, told that death was imminent, and raised over $250,000 to pay for a life-saving pancreas-only transplant.
Born and raised along the shoreline of California, Caleigh has spent the last decade living in San Francisco. Diagnosed at birth with cystic fibrosis, Caleigh maintained her health through sports and social activities. Despite her best efforts to balance health, career, and happiness, she found herself battling diabetes and end-stage lung disease, frequently hospitalized, sustaining nutrition through a feeding tube, breathing with the help of supplemental oxygen and bi-pap and in need of a double lung transplant. In order to financially and mentally survive the isolating nature of her situation she began chronically her journey and beginning her own legacy through her blog and now foundation, Fight2Breathe. A year after her first transplant, Caleigh experienced severe rejection and was in desperate need for a second life-saving double lung transplant. She moved to Los Angeles and spent 6 months living in the hospital while waiting for her surgery. Since receiving her new lungs, she lives an independent and successful life achieving new goals every day – including being a wish granter for the Make A Wish Foundation and public speaking for other organizations such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Global Genes, One Legacy, Donate Life, and Sick Chicks. She celebrates others through helping those who are in similar situations any way possible.
Amanda DeJesus is a heart transplant survivor and Chef. She graduated from The Art Institute of Houston in Texas. She is currently a co-host of the Podcast Unfiltered Survivors. Amanda’s goals are to use her creative talents, training and devotion to living a healthy life and incorporate her passion of food and nutrition to enhance her life and the life of other heart patients. Amanda served as one of the 2017 National Go Red Spokeswomen for the Go Red for Women campaign and volunteers with the American Heart Association, LifeGift and Donate Life America.
