Home Innovation & Expertise Centers

Innovation & Expertise Centers

Our academic hospital’s Innovation & Expertise Centers focus on advancing medical research and improving patient care through collaborative efforts, new equipment and specialized knowledge.

All our physical centers are located at Utrecht Science Park, the largest science park of The Netherlands with the highest concentration of knowledge institutions.

Innovation Center for Advanced Therapies (ICAT)

ICAT aims to improve and accelerate the translation of research into healthcare solutions by bringing together all relevant expertise and infrastructure for the development of regenerative treatments, Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) including cell therapy, and disease models.

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U-Trial

U-TRIAL (Utrecht TRial Innovation ALliance) is committed to strengthening the clinical trial ecosystem within UMC Utrecht. This underlines the great importance to bring innovations more quickly, through innovative high-level clinical trials. U-TRIAL is UMC Utrecht’s knowledge and expertise center for both established Principal Investigators (PIs) and young research talent (internally) and for external stakeholders such as Contract Research Organizations (CROs), pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies and diagnostics companies.

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Julius Support

Julius Support was set up to assist medical researchers with design, conduct, data management, analysis and reporting of medical research.

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Centers of expertise rare disorders

In the Netherlands, more than one million children and adults have a rare disorder. A disorder is rare if it occurs in less than 1 in 2,000 people. UMC Utrecht has over 30 expertise centers for rare disorders (ECZAs). Next to sharing expertise and experiences in health care, scientific research is also conducted. Cooperation is the key word in rare diseases. Cooperation in the Netherlands and in Europe. Therefore, European Reference Networks (ERNs) have been established.

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Data Management

Data is the foundation of scientific research. Research Data Management covers the entire process of data collection, data preparation, generation of metadata and documentation, data analysis, data archiving and data sharing. Adequate Research Data Management is fundamental to academic integrity, reproducibility and compliance with (privacy) laws and regulations. Moreover, adequate Research Data Management (RDM) from the start will help to create high-quality, shareable research data.

At the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), there is a data manager for every UMCU division that can help you with your Data Management Plan (DMP) and any other data-related questions. On a central level, the Research Tooling team is available for questions about the Digital Research Environment (DRE) and all the research tools offered by the IT-department of the UMC Utrecht.

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Research equipment and (MedTech) Development & Prototyping facility

UMC Utrecht’s product development team supports researchers and innovators with (medical) technology by providing design, engineering and prototyping services. The multidisciplinary team, with expertise in mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, offers realization of custom-built research equipment, functional demonstrators, and even medical device prototypes ready for clinical use.

With in-house manufacturing capabilities like 3D printing, CNC machining, and laser cutting, it is possible to efficiently bring your concepts to life, while ensuring (patient) safety. As a non-commercial partner, we work closely with researchers and innovators, leveraging our deep knowledge of IMDD, METC, and validation processes, combined with our EN ISO 13485:2016-certified quality system. Thereby ensuring that developed devices, and their accompanying documentation, are suitable for clinical investigation, and can be seamlessly integrated into healthcare settings.

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Other facilities at Utrecht Science Park