Barton Sachs wins MUSC FRD’s 2017 Innovation Award

CHARLESTON, SC – Barton Sachs, M.D., professor of orthopaedics, is the winner of the 2017 Admiral Albert J. Baccioco Innovator of the Year Award, the highest honor awarded by the Medical University of South Carolina’s Foundation for Research Development (FRD). The award recognizes MUSC researchers and clinicians who are working to promote commercialization of university intellectual property through new inventions, patents applied for, technologies licensed, and new startups formed.

“I appreciate this recognition,” Sachs said. “The annual award is a representation of how the combination of energy, institutional support, team commitment, and social culture can advance innovation and entrepreneurship. I extend my gratitude to FRD and MUSC for the promotion of new ideas and avant-guard solutions to current problems.”

During his time at MUSC, Sachs has proven to be an exemplary participant in the innovation ecosystem by submitting multiple invention disclosures to MUSC FRD, and subsequently creating two startup companies. Sachs is currently the chief medical officer and founder of SnAPP, a startup focused on commercializing a software platform that coordinates the workflow of physicians and supports advanced practice providers in an easy-to-use mobile application. SnAPP’s platform allows for increased compliance, collaboration and efficiency among providers, and increased revenue by capturing typically lost or missed charges. SnAPP was recognized by the nation’s largest member-owned healthcare services company as winner of its 2016 Innovation Excellence Award following SnAPP’s pilot at a leading teaching hospital.

Most recently, Sachs founded Hercules, LLC, in order to move forward with the Hercules spinal implant and system, an innovative spinal implant and reduction system for the treatment of any grade spondylolisthesis utilizing an anterior surgical approach. Sachs has received SC Launch University Startup Assistance Program funding as well as South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute’s (SCTR) High Innovation High Reward funding in order to obtain 3D-printed prototypes and complete biomechanical bench testing for this device.

Sachs received his bachelor’s degree in biology at Harvard University, his doctoral degree at State University of New York Upstate Medical University, and his master’s degree in business administration at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. Sachs is a renowned spinal surgeon and educator, and was recognized twice by Becker’s Hospital Review as “One of the Top Ten Academic Spine Surgeons to Know.” He has worked on five commercially available spinal technologies, ranging from endoscopic spine surgical tools to spine implant devices.

 
About MUSC Foundation for Research Development
FRD has served as MUSC’s technology transfer office since 1998. During that period, FRD has filed patent applications on more than 400 technologies, resulting in over 150 U.S. issued patents. Additionally, FRD has executed more than 150 licenses and spun out more than 50 startup companies. MUSC startups have had products approved by the FDA and acquired by publicly traded corporations while attracting substantial investment dollars into South Carolina. Innovations from MUSC, including medical devices, therapies and software, are positively impacting health care worldwide. Please visit frd.musc.edu

About MUSC
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the South. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care. MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and 700 residents in six colleges (Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy), and has nearly 13,000 employees, including approximately 1,500 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer in Charleston, the university and its affiliates have collective annual budgets in excess of $2.3 billion, with an annual economic impact of more than $3.8 billion and annual research funding in excess of $250 million. MUSC operates a 700-bed medical center, which includes a nationally recognized Children’s Hospital, the Ashley River Tower (cardiovascular, digestive disease, and surgical oncology), Hollings Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute-designated center), Level I Trauma Center, Institute of Psychiatry, and the state’s only transplant center. In 2017, for the third consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the number one hospital in South Carolina. For more information on academic programs or clinical services, visit musc.edu. For more information on hospital patient services, visit muschealth.org.