Researcher chosen for brain institute's entrepreneurs program

Monday, November 24, 2014

Salam Gabran, a post-doctoral fellow with the Centre for Integrated RF Engineering, has been chosen to participate in the Ontario Brain Institute's Entrepreneurs program. 

Gabran, who graduated from Waterloo with his PhD in electrical engineering 

Salam Gabran
in 2012, and five others were selected to be part of the program. Each will receive up to $60,000 and mentoring to help them commercialize their ideas. Every year, the OBI funds a maximum of 10 individuals, but picks only the most entrepreneurial candidates who present the most impressive ideas and are compatible with their chosen peer group.

To date, 21 selected participants have gone through the program, co-funded by the Ontario Centres for Excellence. 

Gabran, is the chief executive of the startup Novela Inc., a spin-off of the MEMS lab at the University of Waterloo's Centre for Integrated RF Engineering. Novela is working on advanced medical electrodes that can be implanted inside the brain, and used for brain research and to develop new therapies for brain disorders including epilepsy, chronic pain, tumours, Parkinson’s disease and depression.