The University of Minnesota just launched their new Center for Medical Device Cybersecurity (CMDC) https://cmdc.umn.ed. The Center will foster university-industry-government collaborations so that medical devices are safe and secure from cybersecurity threats.
The CMDC was formed in response to members of the medical device manufacturing industry to form a collaborative hub for discovery, outreach, and workforce training in the emerging device security field. The Center will focus on developing new research, technologies, education, and training to address potential cyber treats.
Collaborators include the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering, Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center, Technological Leadership Institute (TLI), and the Office of the Vice President for Research.
The CMDC is founded and funded in large part by five U.S. leading health industry companies. These include Boston Scientific, Smiths Medical, Optum, Medtronic, and Abbott Laboratories. The Center is currently led by Interim Director Katey Pelican of the University of Minnesota’s Strategic Partnerships and Research Collaborative (SPARC)
Industry members are invited to take part in the CMDC Steering Committee with additional members to be actively recruited over the next two years. As part of the inaugural year, the Center is hosting roundtables and a hackathon, organizing networking and training opportunities, establishing a medical device cybersecurity short course, and developing a medical device cybersecurity summer internship program.