The Role of Medical Sciences Universities in Innovation Ecosystem and Knowledge Based-Economy

One of the main aspects of supporting entrepreneurial activities is studying universities and their surrounding environments in innovation ecosystems, which is necessary to achieve economic development and technological innovations. The innovation ecosystem is a dynamic system and consists of academic, industrial, institutional, scientific, economic and governmental organizations. According to the researchers, there have been many innovations in the health section to enhance their ability to respond to the expectations of patients in terms of life expectancy, reducing costs, increasing the quality of life, improving diagnosis and treatment methods. In the field of health, more than 1425 knowledge-based companies are registered, and more than 800 technological teams are also located in the incubators of Iran's medical sciences universities. Nevertheless, universities of medical sciences are still at the beginning of the path of technology and innovation and moving towards entrepreneurial universities. It is essential that these universities, as one of the main components of the innovation ecosystem, focus remarkably on creating and strengthening their legal, financial, structural and managerial infrastructures in order to promote entrepreneurial culture and skills among their human resources. This is to commercialize knowledge and technology properly to meet the society's health needs. It is obvious that universities are facing many issues in this area, and using best practices, both domestic and foreign, can solve many challenges ahead.