Engineering & Management Commercialization Collaboration

Post by:
Catherine Shih
MBA/MPH in Global Health Management, 2013

Last year a group of students from the School of Management and the School of Biomedical Engineering came together to form the Engineering & Management Commercialization Collaboration (EMCC). The EMCC offered students the opportunity to work collaboratively on a commercialization strategy for a medical device aimed for use in resource-limited settings. The medical device that the team is currently working on is Pharmacheck – a substandard drug detector that tests both the concentration of active pharmaceutical ingredient in a drug along with its dissolution.



EMCC Team: Andrea Fernandes (PEMBA), Cristina Crespo Roman (MBA), Amy Studenic (MPH), Darash Desai (PhD ENG), Alice Yang (PEMBA), Catherine Shih (MBA), Stalyn Almanzar (MBA), David Danese (MBA), Ravi Kirtane (MBA), Brian Hannah (MBA)


With counterfeit medicines occupying 10-30% of the market in resource-limited areas, millions of people receive inadequate treatment for illnesses. Pharmacheck offers an inexpensive, reliable and robust drug screening technology and has the potential to have a substantial impact on global health.

In Fall 2012, Pharmacheck and the EMCC team was awarded an NCIIA e-team grant and the opportunity to participate in VentureLab. The team spent three days in Hadley, MA, improving their strategic plan for Pharmacheck and gaining insight from NCIIA experts regarding value proposition development, strategic mapping and revenue models.

This semester the team will be carrying out market research and networking with stakeholders in global health. Recently four new members were brought onto the team from the Schools of Management and Public Health. This project demonstrates the potential for inter-school collaboration in the BU community.

Students interested in joining our team can contact us at emcc.bu@gmail.com for more information.

Catherine Shih is a 2nd year MPH-MBA with experience in tax policy, international trade, and organizational development. She spent the summer in Geneva working for the World Health Organization and eating chocolate.