The Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship was established on June 9, 2022, positioning McMaster University to shift the culture towards health innovation and entrepreneurship.
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Marnix and Mary Heersink
The new School is appropriately named after entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dr. Marnix E. Heersink, in recognition of the generous $32M CAD gift endowed to the university in February 2022, by Marnix and his wife, Mary. The School will become McMaster’s home to guide and educate emerging health innovators.
Marnix and Mary Heersink’s 2022 gift was preceded by a $1M gift in 2019 to complete the construction of The Clinic’s 3000 sq ft space, which was made possible in partnership with Michael G. DeGroote.
The Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship sits within the Faculty of Health Sciences. It is set to transcend traditional department boundaries, reach across the existing Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Rehabilitation Science, and will be equipped to serve the broader goals of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the university.
The School’s course and degree offerings include immersive clinical experiences to identify problems and form solutions, and drive innovation through high-calibre collaborations. The Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship will provide first-class innovation and entrepreneurship courses, resources and partnerships.
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“McMaster is the perfect place to further health innovation and to nurture academic entrepreneurship in biomedical science. I am looking forward to hearing about the remarkable innovations and entrepreneurship successes to come.”
– Dr. Marnix E. Heersink
The Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship has launched a Master of Biomedical Innovation program, and welcomed the inaugural cohort in September 2023. The Heersink School will be based in the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery and will utilize space in The Clinic, which is located in the Health Sciences Library within the McMaster University Medical Centre.
McMaster University and The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) are connected through the generosity of Alabama-based philanthropists Dr. Marnix E. Heersink and his wife, Mary Heersink. The Heersinks’ multimillion-dollar gifts to McMaster and UAB are fuelling health innovation and commercialization hubs through the Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at McMaster and the UAB Marnix E. Heersink Institute for Biomedical Innovation.
McMaster and UAB are similarly sized schools, both renowned for their prowess in health sciences education and research. Entrepreneurs from each university will have the opportunity to create content that complements the other, combining each institution’s strengths to create the most effective biomedical products. Through immersive clinical experiences, health innovators will be able to identify problems and form solutions that drive innovation through high-calibre collaborations.
The Heersinks’ gifts are also creating global health centres at both universities – The Mary Heersink Centre for Global Health at McMaster, and the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health at UAB.
The allied efforts of McMaster and UAB are set to turn the two research centres into next level powerhouses of innovation and expertise in global health.