The gap between invention and patient benefit is often not a lack of imagination but a lack of pathways that carry ideas across the finish line. At Georgia Tech, the Pediatric Innovation Network (PIN) exists to close that gap by linking clinicians, researchers, and commercialization experts. PIN now operates inside the Office of Commercialization, creating coordinated pathways that shepherd inventions from early-stage prototypes to real-world use. This approach relies on a mix of clinical insight, technical development, and business strategy to reduce the friction that typically stalls pediatric technologies.
Where many research teams stop at proof of concept, PIN focuses on the next steps required to reach patients. By tapping into Georgia Tech’s broader commercialization ecosystem—including the Office of Technology Licensing and VentureLab—the network connects inventions to legal, regulatory, and market channels. PIN emphasizes translational research as the process that moves laboratory results into clinical testing and eventual adoption in healthcare settings, and it provides guidance on everything from intellectual property to partnership strategies.
How the collaboration with Shriners Children’s grew
The partnership between Georgia Tech and Shriners Children’s began as a conversation and has evolved into a strategic alliance intended to broaden how pediatric discoveries reach children. Introductions in 2019 connected Shriners’ research leadership with PIN leadership, and over time the relationship matured into a portfolio of joint efforts across biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and artificial intelligence. Those collaborative projects include development of robotic exoskeletons to assist mobility, 3D-printed bone solutions for children with limb differences, and augmented reality tools that assist in surgical planning. Each project blends clinician-driven problem definition with engineering development and commercialization planning.
Why a formal commercial pathway matters
Shriners Children’s operates more than 20 locations across the United States, with hospitals in Canada and Mexico and outreach clinics around the world. As a nonprofit that treats children regardless of a family’s ability to pay, the organization has long invested in discovery and clinical innovation, but it has not historically maintained an internal commercialization engine. Rather than build that infrastructure from scratch, Shriners leaders saw greater impact in leveraging Georgia Tech’s established commercialization resources, a move that allows the health system to focus on clinical validation while partnering for scaling and distribution.
Building physical and institutional infrastructure
To deepen the relationship, Shriners Children’s is establishing a new research institute at Georgia Tech: a 150,000-square-foot facility at Science Square that will be constructed in phases through 2029. This institute is intended to be a centralized hub for translational pediatric research, co-locating clinicians, engineers, and commercialization staff to speed iteration and decision-making. The choice of Atlanta followed a national search that weighed available space, existing ties with Georgia Tech, and proximity to medical partners such as Emory University. Together, those factors create a dense innovation environment for testing, validating, and preparing pediatric technologies for wider use.
Operational advantages and collaborative design
By physically situating Shriners investigators alongside Georgia Tech teams, the partnership aims to reduce handoff delays and enable rapid feedback loops. The institute will use Georgia Tech’s commercialization playbook—legal support, licensing mechanisms, and startup incubation—to help identify when a technology should remain within Shriners’ care model and when it should be transferred to industry partners to expand availability. This model frames commercialization not as an afterthought but as an integral part of project planning from the outset.
From bench to bedside: a coordinated path forward
Pediatric technologies face unique challenges: devices and treatments must accommodate growth, changing physiology, and long-term outcomes. PIN’s role is to surface those clinical constraints early and to assemble the right multidisciplinary teams to address them. That means combining clinical testing, safety and efficacy studies, and commercialization strategy so that viable solutions can leave Shriners’ clinics and benefit children everywhere. The partnership’s underlying aim is simple and urgent: ensure that promising discoveries do not stall in the lab but progress into practical tools that improve pediatric care.
As PIN continues to grow within the Office of Commercialization, the Georgia Tech–Shriners model could become a template for other institutions seeking to unite discovery, clinical insight, and market pathways. By embedding commercialization thinking into the research lifecycle and creating shared spaces for collaboration, the effort hopes to accelerate the translation of pediatric innovations into widespread clinical use, ultimately bringing new therapies and devices to the children who need them.
