INnovating the JOY of Eating for Healthy Ageing (INJOY)

EIT Health concludes its ten-day training for innovators and entrepreneurs

On Wednesday 4 July, the University of Barcelona Biomarkers and Nutrimetabolomics group concluded its 10-day training pilot programme, INnovating the JOY of Eating for Healthy Ageing (INJOY) EIT Health Summer School.

The INJOY Summer School, which launched on 25 June, guided students through a step-by-step process from an initial idea to a business model. As life expectancy increases, a need to develop solutions to challenges in nutrition for prevention and healthy ageing has emerged. The INJOY programme focused on training entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, students, and researchers to create novel business solutions aimed at empowering citizens to modify eating behaviours which support healthy ageing.

Through scientific lectures, food workshops, practical business sessions, site visits, and influencer talks, students honed their skills, knowledge and attitudes for identifying ideas, assessing opportunities, and developing sustainable business models for the promotion of healthy living.

Pairing the essentials of entrepreneurship with a foundation of nutrition science, students explored the relationship between food and healthy aging related to frailty, food texture modification, Mediterranean and Nordic dietary patterns, food innovation, biomarker technologies, sustainability, culture, and the joy of eating.

This pilot programme included 27 students with multi-disciplinary educational and professional experience in engineering, biomedicine, innovation, marketing, biology, healthcare, medicine, food technology, pharmacy, and nutrition. The student profiles included a wide variety of professional experiences ranging from entrepreneurship, healthcare administration, start-ups, multinational corporations, higher education, and the technology sector. They all came from diverse geographical backgrounds such as the UK, Sweden, United States, Thailand, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Uruguay, and Poland.

On the tenth day, each of the multi-disciplinary teams presented their entrepreneurial projects before a panel of experts. First place was awarded to the business model focused on innovating the consumer shopping experience through the creation of a device designed to integrate purchasing with nutritional profile data. Two groups tied for second place.

The INJOY Summer School 2018 has been awarded funding from EIT Health which is supported by EIT, a body of the European Union. The INJOY partnership includes the University of Barcelona, Karolinska Institutet, Groupe SEB, Nestlé, CIBERFES, and Casa Ametller.

To learn more about the programme click here or visit the INJOY Summer School page here.

For further enquiries contact:

• Christine Neumann, christine.neumann@eithealth.eu