The American Southwest continues to be an emerging hub of technology transfer activities as Mayo Clinic recently confirmed its decision to join the Arizona Furnace startup accelerator program.

The healthcare institution will join Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and Dignity Health in opening its intellectual property portfolio to interested entrepreneurs.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to have technologies conceived by Mayo Clinic staff vetted for startup opportunity potential through AZ Furnace," Mayo Clinic Ventures chairman Jim Rogers explained. "We look forward to working together to shape the field of medicine for clinicians and ultimately for patients."

In the Arizona Furnace program model, teams of entrepreneurs bid for the opportunity to commercialize a selection of promising technologies made available by the program's research partners. Now entering its second year in operation, the initiative has already garnered considerable attention. In fact, ASU's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group recently took home a prestigious economic development accolade thanks in large part to its involvement in the AZ Furnace framework.