OUR STORY
The Aha Moment.
Brian Alverson and Ravi D’Cruz are MDs and colleagues passionate about their clinical care work and curious individuals who challenge the status quo. Ravi, who had been an architecture major in college before a pivot to medicine, retains a keen design thinking approach to his medical work. Brian is a seasoned pediatric ER clinician who has performed thousands of infant spinal taps over decades.
When Ravi prompted Brian about the ‘challenges’ he faces as a pediatric MD, Brian had just completed an infant tap, which he described as among “the most frustrating and difficult” procedures he performs. Their discussion imagined a fixture that held the infant without the direct physical contact of a care team member. Both realized it as an ‘aha’ moment. Like all great ‘in the room’ stories, this one is best told first person.
DEVELOPED BY HOSPITALISTS @ BROWN
From Idea to Reality: The SMöLTAP Innovation Story
OUR MISSION
Brian Alverson and Ravi D’Cruz are MDs and colleagues passionate about their clinical care work and curious individuals who challenge the status quo. Ravi, who had been an architecture major in college
We want to build a future where... (vision)
CROSS-FUNCTIONAL EXCELLENCE
Meet the Team
The power of the SMöLTAP idea was self-evident to thought leaders from across clinical, operational, and patient experience domains. The project now enjoys the support, insight, and development expertise of a highly interdisciplinary team.
Heather Godek
VP, Operations
WHAT'S IN A NAME
Embracing the smallest patients.
The word “smol” began as an internet meme that started circa 2018 as a web short-hand for “small.” In online parlance the word has come to mean not just small, but ‘adorably small’ in stature. It can relate to things, pets, people, and concepts, like SMöLTAP. We embrace its warm, welcoming sensibility to signal the transformative change we bring to a procedure with an outsize impact on our smallest patients.
New England Medical Innovation Center
New England Medical Center (NEMIC) is a Med Tech venture hub that provides expert support, education, funding connections, and specialized expertise to innovators and entrepreneurs in the medical technologies space. We support the growth of startups by connecting teams to SMEs, facilitating clinical access, and providing a creative, productive co-working space where they can transform their medtech ideas into fundable and sustainable solutions.
The Charles H. Hood Foundation
The Charles H. Hood Foundation serves as a catalyst for positive change by funding emerging research that transforms the lives of children. By identifying innovative pediatric advancements and providing funding in the critical phases of development, we are able to expedite high-impact breakthroughs that improve the health and lives of millions.
Brown Biomedical Innovations Impact Fund
The Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) fund is an academic accelerator fund dedicated to supporting academic biomedical technologies—with potential for high impact—to become well-defined product opportunities that are attractive to industry partners and investors.
A collaboration between the Brown Technology Innovations group and the Division of Biology and Medicine, BBII achieves its goals by funding translational research projects, advising and coaching teams, managing consulting and research collaborators, and exploring commercial development opportunities as initiatives progress
