Can Digital Innovation Transform Health Care? Part III: Apps, Devices & Roadblocks

Links to
Part I Overview, Watson, analytics
Part II digital devices, long term care.
Part III Apps, devices, roadblocks

Behavioral and Population Health; Roadblocks to change

Can mobile apps really improve mental health? Cut the costs of health care? Help professionals track and care for patients? At a day-long conference sponsored on health systems innovation organized the MIT/Sloan MIT Initiative for Health Systems Innovation (HSI), experts from a variety of fields attempted to answer those and other questions aimed at furthering a transformation of the US healthcare system. Part III of a series about the conference describes apps and devices for behavioral health, personalized and long-distance care. It also discusses new state models to integrate community, health and social systems aimed at tracking and caring for patients and points out that no matter how sophisticated the technology, it is still up to human beings to make it work.

Behavioral Health

Don Mordecai, Kaiser Permanente

Dan Mordecai, MD, National Leader, Mental Health and Wellness at the managed care consortium Kaiser Permanente described:

Promising mobile apps aimed at helping people prevent or overcome eating disorders, addiction, or suicide; remain on diets or exercise plans; or connect them with treating providers or coaches.
Wearables that can measure how much people move or perform text and voice analysis to help professionals understand who needs care, months or years before it is needed.
Predictive analytics to help prevent self-harm

While many of the above technologies have yet to be proven effective, Mordecai said, telehealth technology has been shown to be helpful in supporting and promoting long-distance health care for areas with shortages of medical personnel. Telehealth may be carried out through videoconferencing, store-and-forward imaging, streaming media, and terrestrial and wireless communication.

Mordecai also pointed out that with digital advances, “we are moving from individual doctor patient relationships” to a “personalized’” system, which relies increasingly on data, but that “there is a long way to go.” Mordecai plans to use what he termed “crowd sourcing” to analyze the effectiveness of apps and other new health technologies, based on the electronic health records of Kaiser Permanente’s nearly 12 million patients.

State models and population health
Analysis like that used at Kaiser Permanente is crucial for assessing treatment and cutting costs, but it is more challenging to perform outside of managed care programs, which have access to a vast array of patient records, according to Michael Wilkening, the California Undersecretary for Health and Human Services. Analysis to records for care funded by government or private insurance is hampered by fragmented social, health provider and insurance systems and by legal and technical challenges of sharing patient data among those systems,

The New York State Medicaid director, Jason Helgerson, pointed out that for state Medicaid systems, which serve mainly low-income populations, it can be difficult to simply keep track of patients, much less co-ordinate and evaluate their care or reduce their treatment costs. As an example, he described a city homeless shelter that serves breakfast and dinner, but not lunch. Hungry residents regularly go to the fire station next door and complain of chest pain; they are taken by ambulance to a hospital emergency room, where they are evaluated, at high cost, given lunch, and then transported back to the homeless shelter in time for dinner.

Medicaid systems in at least several states are working on projects to prevent such situations by better integrating social services with medical and behavioral health care. Some are starting to employ analytics to recommend, monitor and measure the success of treatments, and to pay for performance rather than service. As a result, Helgerson said, “Medicaid may be in the best position to drive change” in health delivery systems.

Roadblocks to change
Still, as a variety of speakers pointed out, despite the promise of digital innovation, there are many roadblocks to change. Such roadblocks include: reluctance to replace or augment human decision-making with digital solutions; complex reimbursement systems and the need for insurer “buy-in” to pay for new technologies; disparate stakeholders with different goals; issues of privacy and security; the tendency of legislators and other policymakers to view health problems as individual rather than societal; failure to address the lack of food and shelter that leads to poor health and expensive repeat hospital visits; and, last but not least, cost.

In the words of Vocera’s Elizabeth Boehm, regarding systemic change, “it takes more than technology to get it done.“

And, as Restef Levi, of the Sloan School, put it: “Technology is important but…at the end of the day, health is about humans.”

LINKS TO:

Part I Overview, Watson, analytics
Part II digital devices, long term care.
Part III Apps, devices, roadblocks

Videotapes and photos of the conference, held November 29, 2017, are available at http://mitsloan.mit.edu/alumni/events/2017-cambridge-health-conference/

–Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant specializing in health science and technology.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a content and digital marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA.

Art, science, engineering intersect at Koch Image Gallery 2017

Much enjoyed last week’s opening of the Koch Institute’s 2017 Image Awards Exhibition. The exhibit, dubbed “with/in/sight” includes 10 scientific images chosen as best-in-class from among some 120 entries from MIT life scientists and their collaborators across the country–and one from Ireland.

The display, in the public galleries at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, is the Koch’s seventh in as many years. Its goal is to celebrate “the diversity of biomedical research at MIT and offers insight into the important role that science and engineering play in our complex and ever-changing world,” according to a Koch brochure.

The images are printed on t-shirt material stretched across frames back lit with LEDs. They are striking artwork in themselves– and showcase some of the most exciting work under way in the cancer research arena.

“Making Waves: Delivery for Ageless Skin.” Koch Institute, Harvard University, Mass General Hospital.

“Making Waves” conveys research on non-invasive sound waves that carry genetic material through protective layers of skin, transferring genes to cells whose genetic clocks have been turned back by the nucleic acids they have received– in order to reverse skin-aging. Credits go to Carl Schoellhammer, Denitsa Milanova, Hamberto Trevino, Cody Cleveland, Jeffrey Wyckoff, Anna Mandinova, Giovanni Traverso, Robert Langer, and George Church.

Whithead Institute: Snap Chat: A Flatworm Creates a New Profile

At the Whitehead Institute, Samuel LoCascio, Kutay Deniz Atabay and Peter Reddien are studying planarian flatworms to learn more about how they regerate. Each color in their image represents a different layer of neurons in the flatworm’s head.

Downstream Dreams: Investigating Melanoma in a Zebrafish: Koch Institute, MIT

Dahlia Perez and Jacqueline A. Lees are studying zebrafish to provide insight into melanoma. This image shows the organization of zebrafish cells in their normal state. Next, biologists will mutate a single gene known to initiate a certain melanoma in order to determine its “downstream” effects.

Center: “Minding the Gap: Studying the Tumor Extracellular Matrix,” Koch Institute

Tumor Penetrating Nanoparticles Infiltrate Cancer Cells, Koch Institute

Steffen RIckelt and Richard Hynes of the Koch Institute are studying not the clusters of brownish colon cancer metasteses shown in the image, screen, but, rather, the “seeming neutral” tissue matrix around them. The goal is determine how the matrix impacts the progression of tumor cells navigating a complex network of cells and proteins.

Langliang Hao, Srivatsan Raghavan, Emilia Pulver, Jeffrey Wyckoff and Sangeeta Bhatia of the Koch Institute are using biocompatible nanoparticles (yellow) to target and penetrate clusters of cancer cells (pink) with the goal of delivering treatment.

Body of Knowledge: Self-Organized Brain Cells, MIT Department of Biological Engineering and Koch Institute at MIT.

Colin Edington, Iris Lee and Linda Griffith of MIT are involved in the Griffith lab’s “Human on a Chip,” project, in which many different”mini organs”, developed from stem cells in matrix, are linked together in a bioreactor platform. The researchers are studying interactions of multiple organs and the cross between them in order to develop new disease treatments. Shown here are neurons (green) and astrocytes (red).

Microfluidics for the Masses, Measuring Cell Growth Rates, Koch Institute

Selim Olcum, Nathan Cermak and Scott Manalis are using microfluidics to measure the response of cell masses to drugs. Their image shows fluid filled channels (bottom) connected to tiny mass sensors shaped like hollow diving boards (top); the sensors’ whose vibrations precisely reveal the mass of individual cells passing through them. As treated cells flow across the array of sensors, each cell is weighed multiple times, thereby revealing how quickly the mass of individual cells is changing. Researchers are beginning to use this method to predict optimal treatment strategies for individual patients.

Hashtag No Filter,: Visualizing Breast Cancer Conversations. Royal COllege of Surgeons in Ireland and Wellcome Images.

My favorite image does not show cells, nor was it submitted by an MIT lab. Rather, it visualizes twitter conversations about breast cancer carried out by a network of connected cancer patients and their loved ones, patient advocates, health care professionals, and researchers. The image, by Erie Clarke, Richard Arnett and Jane Burns of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, represents 92, 915 tweets posted over an eight-week period. It is from the Wellcome Images collection.

Other images not included here display pathways taken by metatastic lung cancer cells over time and ovarian cancer cells as they break through the abdominal wall.

I’m the first to admit that these photos do not do justice to the real images–nor do they adequately convey the amazing convergent technologies –including imaging–used to carry out the research.

The gallery, at street level in the Koch Institute, 500 Main Street, in Cambridge, is open to the public at no charge from 8-6 Monday-Thursday, and until 4 pm on Friday. The images are also visible from the sidewalk, outside.

Through March 2018.

Anita Harris is a writer, photographer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and market development firm located in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

Convergence Science Transforming Biomedicine, MIT Report says

We thought our readers would like to know about “Convergence and the Future of Health,” a report released today by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Slightly self-serving full disclosure: New Cambridge Observer‘s Anita Harris was one of the writers).

MIT Graphic, Convergence Report 2016

CAMBRIDGE, MA — What if lost limbs could be regrown? Cancers detected early with blood or urine tests, instead of invasive biopsies? Drugs delivered via nanoparticles to specific tissues or even cells, minimizing unwanted side effects? While such breakthroughs may sound futuristic, scientists are already exploring these and other promising techniques.

But the realization of these transformative advances is not guaranteed. The key to bringing them to fruition, a landmark new report argues, will be strategic and sustained support for “convergence”: the merging of approaches and insights from historically distinct disciplines such as engineering, physics, computer science, chemistry, mathematics, and the life sciences.

The report, “Convergence: The Future of Health,” was co-chaired by Tyler Jacks, the David H. Koch Professor of Biology and director of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; Susan Hockfield, noted neuroscientist and president emerita of MIT; and Phillip Sharp, Institute Professor at MIT and Nobel laureate, and will be presented at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington on June 24.

The report, available at http://www.convergencerevolution.net/2016-report draws on insights from several dozen expert participants at two workshops, as well as input from scientists and researchers across academia, industry, and government. Their efforts have produced a wide range of recommendations for advancing convergence research, but the report emphasizes one critical barrier above all: the shortage of federal funding for convergence fields.

“Convergence science has advanced across many fronts, from nanotechnology to regenerative tissue,” says Sharp. “Although the promise has been recognized, the funding allocated for convergence research in biomedical science is small and needs to be expanded. In fact, there is no federal agency with the responsibility to fund convergence in biomedical research.”

National Insitutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are the primary source of research funding for biomedical science in the United States. In 2015, only 3 percent of all principal investigators funded by NIH were from departments of engineering, bioengineering, physics, biophysics, or mathematics. Accordingly, the report’s authors call for increasing NIH funding for convergence research to at least 20 percent of the agency’s budget.

Progress and potential

In 2011, MIT released a white paper that outlined the concept of convergence. More than just interdisciplinary research, convergence entails the active integration of these diverse modes of inquiry into a unified pursuit of advances that will transform health and other sectors, from agriculture to energy.

The new report lays out a more comprehensive vision of what convergence-based research could achieve, as well as the concrete steps required to enable these advances.

“The 2011 report argued that convergence was the next revolution in health research, following molecular biology and genomics,” says Jacks. “That report helped identify the importance and growing centrality of convergence for health research. This report is different. It starts us off on a true strategy for convergence-based research in health.”

The report released today makes clear that, despite such obstacles, this “third revolution” is already well underway. Convergence-based research has become standard practice at MIT, most notably at the Koch Institute and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science.

“About a third of all MIT engineers are involved in some aspect of convergence,” says Sharp. “These faculty are having an enormous impact on biomedical science and this will only grow in the future. Other universities are beginning to evolve along similar paths.”

Indeed, convergence-based approaches are becoming more common at many other pioneering university programs, including the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and the University of Chicago’s new Institute for Molecular Engineering, among others.

The report also points to several new federal initiatives that are harnessing the convergence research model to solve some of society’s most pressing health challenges.

For example, the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, launched by the Obama administration in 2013, seeks to improve our understanding of how individual cells and neural circuits interact, in order to develop new ways to treat and prevent brain disorders. And the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, launched earlier this year to accelerate research to develop cancer vaccines and early detection methods and genomic tumor analysis, will also operate largely using convergence tools and approaches.

But the integration of new technologies and methods from genomics, information science, nanotechnology, and molecular biology could take us even farther.

The report outlines three major disease areas — brain disorders, infectious diseases and immunology, and cancer — and promising convergence-based approaches to tackling them. It also presents case studies of four emerging technology categories: advanced imaging in the body, nanotechnology for drug and therapy delivery, regenerative engineering, and big data and health information technology.

A sampling gives a sense of their transformative potential. Convergence techniques could enable rewiring the genes of mosquitoes to eliminate Zika, dengue, and malaria. They could help solve the emerging threat of drug-resistant bacterial strains, which infect over two million people in the U.S. every year. Convergence-based immunotherapy could activate a person’s immune system to fight cancer, reprogramming a person’s T-cells or antibodies to find and attack tumor cells. Big-data techniques could be used to generate and analyze huge amounts of data on people’s exposures to industrial chemicals, environmental toxins, and infectious agents, creating a new field of “chemistry of nurture,” to complement the “chemistry of nature” developed by the documentation of the human genome.

“Convergence might come just in time,” says Hockfield, “given our rapidly aging population, increasing levels of chronic disease, and mounting healthcare costs due to demographic trends throughout the developed world. But we must overcome significant barriers to get to convergence.”

Cultivating convergence

Realizing the full potential of the convergence revolution will require much more ambitious and strategic coordination and collaboration across industry, government, and academia, the report argues.

The report accordingly calls for a concerted joint effort by federal agencies, universities, and industry to develop a new strategic roadmap to support convergence-based research. As a concrete next step, the report’s authors recommend establishing an interagency working group on convergence with participation from NIH, the National Science Foundation, and other federal agencies involved in funding scientific research, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Energy.

Other pressing challenges include grant review processes based on narrow, outdated disciplinary structures, which limit the availability of resources for cross-functional research teams. The report also proposes new practices to foster “cultures of convergence” within academic institutions: cross-department hiring and tenure review, convergence “cluster hiring” and career grants, and new PhD programs wherein students design their own degree programs across disciplinary boundaries.

If the potential of convergence is great, so are the stakes.

“Convergence has grown from a little seedling to a sprouting plant, but to become a great tree and orchard yielding fruit for decades into the future, it needs to be nourished, expanded, and cultivated now,” says Sharp. “Students need to be educated, collaborations need to be encouraged, and resources need to be committed to make sure convergence thrives.”

“This integration is important to deal with the great challenges of the future: continued growth in the accessibility and quality of healthcare, growth of the economy, and providing resources for future populations.”

Funding for the report was provided by the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation, The Kavli Foundation, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

The report is available at http://www.convergencerevolution.net/2016-report

###

Written by Jonathan Mingle, MIT News correspondent

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a Cambridge, MA, PR & marketing firm specializing in health, science and technology.

—

Italian Life Science Innovators to present at Venture Cafe, Cambridge, Oct. 22

Our friend Christa Bleyeben of Mass Global Partners and the Italian Trade Agency cordially invite New Cambridge Observer readers and others to “Discover 13 of Italy’s most Innovative early stage life science companies developing therapeutics, devices and tools.”

Registration and Networking: 3:00 PM

Company pitches: 3:30-5:00 PM

Networking at Venture Cafe: Italian Life Science Night: 5:00-7:00 PM

Participating Italian Companies

Abiel – recombinant collagenases for use in regenerative medicine research and cell therapy
Cell Dynamics – real time visualization of cells in culture
egoHealth – wearable sterilization device ffor stethescopes
Grademi – device to diagnose specific diseases using erythrocyte sedimentation rate
GreenBone – biomemtic (resorbable) implants, initially for non-union fractures
I-Delivery – nanocarrier to deliver drugs and cosmeticals to the hair root to treat acne and hair loss
Immagina Biotechnology – high throughput tools for isolation and analysis of polyribosomes
Universita degli studi di Udine – Research university exploring technology transfer opportunities
Xenus – topically delivered therapeutic for erectile dysfunction

If you are interested in connecting with any of the companies, please contact the meeting organizer at: robertmg52@gmail.com.

Have questions about Italian Trade Agency Early Stage Life Science Showcase?

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning pr and marketing firm based in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA

Cambridge’s VKW Co. exchanges work for donations to Philippine storm relief

Very pleased to spread the word that Leo von Wendorff, a colleague of ours at the Cambridge Innovation Center whose business is largely based in the Philippines.will, for one month, donate all proceeds from his Virtual Knowledge Worker (VKW) business to victims of Super-Typhoon Haiya.

Leo Von Wendorff, CEO, VKW

Leo writes:

Dear Friends of VKW-

Cities and Towns were destroyed.

Lives were lost.

Thousands may still be missing.

Together with you

We want to help

Recreate Communities

Let’s rebuild their Lives!

For one month, VKW will offer services in return for donations to the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan via the Philippine Red Cross. The company will give 100 percent of the proceeds to the relief effort. “Let us take on your time-consuming and mundane tasks, knowing that your donation will help rebuild the lives of those affected by this terrible tragedy,” Wendorff says.

Projects, work orders or task requests should be submitted to Typhoon@VKWinc.com or (617) 299-1176 by December 7, 2013.

Typical tasks might include:

Data Entry, such as data entry of all your business cards
Appointment settings for your business or personal event
Execute a social media and telemarketing campaign
Lead mining
Internet research

All task and pledges are subject to review are available depending on available, according to Wendorff.

–Anita Harris
Anita M. Harris is managing director of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and marketing firm based at the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA. HarrisCom specializes in media relations and content services for clients in health, science, technology, energy and education, worldwide.

Benefit featuring tech ed experts, honoring visionary Seymour Papert to be held Dec 4, in Kendall Square, Cambridge

Learning to Change the World© &
Honoring the Legacy of Seymour Papert
December 4, 2013
6 – 9 PM
Cambridge Innovation Center 5th Floor
1 Broadway Street, Cambridge, MA

Small Solutions, Big Ideas (SSBI) and One Planet Education Network (OPEN) will hold a panel discussion, demos, celebration, and fundraiser will be held at the Cambridge Innovation Center December 4th 6-9 PM 5th floor, featuring leading education experts and technology and education: innovators Brian Silverman, Artemis Papert, Gary Stager, Mitch Resnick, Walter Bender, Cynthia Solomon and others.

They’ll share their experiences and insights about the latest developments in educational games and other related technology-based learning programs.

The panel discussion will be followed by nibbles, networking and demos of the latest learning software and games by the Small Solutions, Big Ideas and One Planet Education Network. (Scroll down to view program)

The event will also honor constructivism pioneer and MIT Professor Seymour Papert for his contributions to education, including his promotion of technology use in classrooms.

The program will benefit OPEN, a leading provider of online multiplayer adventure learning games that engage and inspire kids to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. OPEN’s mission is to transform teaching and learning by combining the power of 3D virtual video games with educationally rich storylines that challenge children and inspire a 24×7 passion for learning.

More Information: http://smallsolutionsbigideas.wordpress.comRegistration Links: http://bit.ly/19h8kOQ

Small Solutions (www.smallsolutionsbigideas.org) and OPEN (www.oneplaneteducationnetwork.com)

Panel Topics & Presenters

Legacy of Seymour Papert

Speakers: Cynthiia, Solomon: Brian Silverman, Artemis Papert, Gary Stager.
Presentation of a Tribute to Seymour Papert to Alan and Artemis Papert

Learning to Change to World

Claudia Urrea and Walter Bender, OLPC movement, its impact and lessons

The Changing World of Learning

Evolving Learning : Gary Stager, Mitch Resnick and Meredith Hamilton

The Role of Games andOnline Communities

George Newman, Danny Fain and Johnny Ronelus (One Planet Education Network) and Sandra Thaxter (Small Solutions Big Ideas)

Demos & Break Out Meetings

Small Solutions Education Program in Kenya: Sandra Thaxter and Alan Papert
One Planet Education Network Game Demos: George Newman, Danny Fain and Johnny Ronelus
BumpBump Books: Meredith Hamilton

–Anita Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group–an award-winning PR and marketing firm specializing in media relations, content marketing for clients in health, science, biotechnology, technology, education and energy, worldwide.

Sustainability, Global Clean Tech Meetup Great. But Hold the Lentils.

Clean tech meetup Boston 2013

Ordinarily, at business meetings,if you work in the kitchen, you stay in the kitchen.

But, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in an unusual turn of event, following brief talks by Alicia Barton, CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and James Graham, clean tech dealmaker (yes, that’s really his title) at the UK Trade and Investment Agency in Boston, the chef in charge of food for an elegant reception at the Global Clean Tech Meetup 2013, took center stage. In explaining how his kitchen at the Boston Seaport Hotel is working toward sustainability, Chef Khaled Abi Issa said:

“At first it seemed like a difficult thing. But after you move past the resistance to change and the doubters and the initial up-front expenses….to our surprise, it seemed very much achievable.”

Chef Khaled and his team started with recyling, then began to collect food scraps for composting, he said. They then focused on building relationships with local and regional suppliers– farmers, bakers and cheese makers.

The kitchen now has its own herb garden, makes honey on the hotel campus, is increasingly using recycled containers, has eliminated styrofoam from the campus and has embarked on an initiative to reduce energy use in its storage areas.

“This is an ongoing process, it’s hard work and we are not there yet, but we feel good about our commitment, he said.

The “green kitchen”effort is part of an overall campaign by the hotel to operate in an “eco-friendly” manner, according to Katie Watson, conference manager at the Seaport Hotel World Trade Center.

As described on the Seaport Web site, the campaign, called “Seaport Saves” is dedicated to increasing sustainability and conservation. “It is possible to coexist in a delicate balance with the natural world while providing exceptional service in a luxurious setting.” the Website reads. (The hotel features “environmentally friendly guest rooms,’ local, farm to table organic dining options, green cleaning practices. It also offers complimentary electric vehicle charging stations; and bicycles and helmets for guests).

At the reception, I also spoke with:

Howard Simansky, CEO of Cambridge-based media company 360 Chestnut and board member of SmartHomze, which he described as “the world’s first line of affordable, net-zero-energy homes.” Solar powered, all five sizes of Smarthomze use proprietary building systems and new materials to ensure lower costs, high quality, and a healthier environment, he said. I also met (among others):
Jim Bowen, Boston-based Division Manager for International Renewable Energy at Vertex Engineering, who is working on a major solar site in Mexico City
Chad Joshi, President and CEO of Altranex, a Toronto company with a waste-based biofuel to replace diesel–unusual in that it remains fluid in very cold temperatures
Paul Laskow, of SaveEnergySystems in Somerville, which offers technology to help mid-sized companies measure and conserve their use of fuel.

BTW–In case you’re curious about the green kitchen’s menu: the beef, artichoke pasta, lamb, burger sliders, spinach pie, and pastries were delicious. I especially liked the chocolate-filled chocolate bonbons…and the Pinot. But, with apologies to the chef.the lentil burgers…not so much.

I wish I could have spent more time at the meetup–which included many high level speakers ( Masschusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Diarmuid O’Connell, VP of corporate and Business Development at Tesla Motors, for example) and companies from as far away as Norway and Israel. For more information, about the meetup, go to the conference website at https://meetup2013.pathable.com/#meetings.

As for the MassCEC: it began operating in 2009 with the goal of accelerating the growth of the Massachusetts clean energy industry. According to Catherine Williams, the CEC’s Senior Director for Communications, as the first agency of its kind in the US. , the Clean Energy Center:

(1) Provides financing and planning assistance to communities, businesses and residents seeking to adopt clean energy projects including solar, wind, biomass, water and organics-to-energy technologies.

(2) Works with clean energy businesses to grow their operations, provide training and workforce development, develop industry reports and sector analysis, and act as a connector across the clean energy ecosystem from academia and incubators to entrepreneurs and investors.

(3) Provides strategic and early-stage investments growing clean energy companies in order to promote the development of innovative technologies, leverage private capital and create jobs in the Commonwealth..

The Center is financed by the Renewable Energy Trust Fund, created by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1998 as part of the deregulation of the electric utility market. The trust is funded by a systems benefit charge paid by electric ratepayers of investor-owned utilities in Massachusetts, as well as municipal electric departments that have opted to participate in the program.

—Anita Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and consultant based in Cambridge MA. New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group,an award-winning PR & market development firm based in Kendall Square. HarrisCom specializes in outreach for health, science, technology and energy in the US and internationally.