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Originating as a solution to educate health workers in developing countries, emocha is now a powerful platform that allows researchers and clinicians to use mobile data capture, health education, and communication to address the challenges of adherence, linkage to care, and patient data management across a myriad of use cases. Sebastian Seiguer, CEO and Founder of emocha, and Morad Elmi, Director of Marketing, spoke with us about the latest from this Baltimore-based startup.

The adoption of IT in healthcare systems has, in general, followed the same pattern as other industries. In the 1950s, when institutions began using new technology to automate highly standardized and repetitive tasks such as accounting and payroll, healthcare payors and other industry stakeholders also began using IT to process vast amounts of statistical data. Twenty years later, the second wave of IT adoption arrived. It did two things: it helped integrate different parts of core processes (manufacturing and HR, for example) within individual organizations, and it supported B2B processes such as supply-chain management for different institutions within and outside individual industries. As for its effects on the healthcare sector, this second wave of IT adoption helped bring about, for example, the electronic health card in Germany. It was also a catalyst for the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act in the United States—an effort to promote the adoption of health-information technology—and the National Programme for IT in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Regardless of their immediate impact, these programs helped create an important and powerful infrastructure that certainly will be useful in the future.

Biopharma firms continued to attract US venture capital investment in Q1 according to new analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which says the number of firms that received backing is encouraging.

The analysis – part of the “MoneyTree” report published by PwC and the National Venture Capital Association in April – showed that the biotechnology sector garnered $1.1bn from venture capitalists in Q1, up from $871m in the equivalent period in 2013.

Anyone who wants a job next year at Anne Arundel Medical Center — whether as a surgeon or security guard — will have to prove they don’t smoke or use tobacco.

The Annapolis hospital’s new hiring policy might be controversial, but it is legal in Maryland and more than half of the United States. And it’s a type of job screening that is gaining favor with employers — from hospitals to companies such as Alaska Airlines — trying to control rising health costs and cultivate a healthier, more productive workforce.

Former Johns Hopkins University college student Alex Koren wants to make a difference.

Koren feels he has a better opportunity of doing that by dropping out of Johns Hopkins, and devoting all of his time to his ideas on a Thiel Fellowship.

Two Montgomery County companies each took home the top prize of $100,000 in their category as part of the 2014 InvestMaryland Challenge.

Bethesda-based life sciences company, Brain Sentry, won for its helmet-mounted sensor used to identify team sport players who should be evaluated for a concussion. Gaithersburg-based IT company, ClickMedix, won its catergory for technology aimed at helping physicians and health organizations maximize the number of patients they are able to serve.

Both companies were also recipients of the Kauffman FastTrac award entitling them to enroll in any FastTrac course and receiving a copy of the new Kauffman release — “Chance & Intent: Managing the Risks of Innovation & Entrepreneurship”

Rockville biotechnology company Cellphire is the latest receipient of funding via the State’s InvestMaryland program, receiving $1 million last month!

Cellphire is developing stabilized cellular products, including freeze-dried platelets that can be stored for years and used in a range of advanced therapeutic and diagnostic applications including sports medicine, plastic surgery and dentistry. The company received a contract last year worth up to $57 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research Defense Authority, a division of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The InvestMaryland funding will be used to continue development of the company’s freeze-dried platelet product, Thrombosomes, and move it closer to winning FDA approval.

On June 24, UBI Index announced the Global Top 25 University Business Incubators of 2014. We would like to thank all participants of this year’s benchmark for great efforts in supporting entrepreneurs and helping the industry understand the importance of incubation.

Valuations on venture-backed companies jumped again in the second quarter as the number of IPOs and the amount VCs invested in startups both hit post-dot-com highs, a new report from PitchBook Data shows.

The total amount invested has climbed steadily each quarter in the past year, jumping from $12.8 billion in Q2 of 2013 to $21.5 billion in the same period this year. The $13.9 billion raised in 76 new venture funds is also a recent high.