TECH CONNECTTurning Ideas into Opportunities
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| Monthly news & updates October 31, 2023
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| FY 2024STATISTICS
YEAR TO DATE
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| U.S. Patents
Issued
22
*includes end-user software and materials licenses along with conventional technology licenses
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| Announcing the creation of the Greater Nashville Venture Capital Association (GNVCA)
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Vanderbilt is proud to support the newly created Greater Nashville Venture Capital Association (GNVCA), a non-profit member organization whose mission is to make Middle Tennessee a great place to launch, grow and invest in companies. The GNVCA will act as a convening organization for the local investment and entrepreneurship community, and will host a variety of networking events for this group.
The GNVCA is a membership organization comprised of investors from pre-seed to growth equity (venture capital, angel investors, private offices, and corporate venture partners) in the greater Nashville region, working to make Middle Tennessee a premier area to launch, grow, and invest in companies.
The GNVCA will create new avenues and enhance existing avenues for commercializing technology developed in the region, including research results from Vanderbilt and other regional universities. These university technologies will be key contributors to many local ventures, and a more engaged and growing investor community in the region will enhance financial support for these university technologies that will benefit society. Further, we believe the GNVCA, by facilitating growth of new and growing technology companies, will create new job opportunities for university graduates, a greater tax base, and provide other regional economic development benefits.
Though Vanderbilt University is providing an initial grant to support the launch and initial operations of the GNVCA, the association is a member managed trade association for the benefit of the Middle Tennessee region.
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| Vanderbilt scientists, research translation experts attend CMT Global Research Convention
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Vanderbilt University faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows, including CTTC's Margaret Read, attended the 2023 CMT Global Research Convention in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in September to share research updates and provide education to patients on Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and to discuss best practices for translating research from bench to market.
CMT disease is a degenerative nerve disease that causes muscle weakness and atrophy in the arms, legs, hands and feet. As the most common hereditary neuropathy, it affects one in 2,500 people. Vanderbilt researchers Bruce Carter, associate director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and professor of biochemistry, and Charles Sanders, vice dean of the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, associate dean for research and professor of biochemistry, have been collaborating for years to understand and cure CMT disease. Carter serves on the CMTRF Scientific Advisory Board.
“The CMTRF Scientific Advisory Board has guided the foundation to form their strategic research priorities to fund,” Carter said. “CMTRF has actively gone into academia and industry to identify and fund research aligned with this strategy, and it is starting to pay off. After only five short years since they were founded, 20 projects have been funded, five of which now have clinical candidates advancing with industry.”
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Vanderbilt University’s Robert Webster and Charleson Bell, BE’07, MS’09, PhD’15, will receive $12 million to establish and manage the Mid-South Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub. REACH will focus on accelerating real-world impact of biomedical innovations through education, mentorship and financial support for entrepreneurs.
The hub spans a four-state network (Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and Virginia), and entrepreneurs from any university in those states are eligible to apply. Webster, who is Richard A. Schroeder Professor of Mechanical Engineering and faculty affiliate with the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering, will lead the overall hub, which will run within VISE. Bell, director of entrepreneurship and biomedical innovation at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, will lead Tennessee operations.
Diversity is woven into the hub at all levels, from the leadership team through the review committee. Activities will include individuals from community and technical colleges and from minority-serving institutions that have a hard time getting support for innovation and entrepreneurship. This endeavor will significantly further Vanderbilt’s efforts toward inclusive innovation.
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Innovation Catalyst Fund:
Applications close tonight (10/31)
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Ignite your innovative potential through the Vanderbilt Innovation Catalyst Fund
The Innovation Catalyst Fund provides translational research support for Vanderbilt innovations that require proof of concept to attain commercial relevance, nascent projects that have strong innovation potential, and research projects with civic and social relevance.
The program is run by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation in consultation with Division of Finance, VUMC Office of Research, and academic leadership in Vanderbilt schools and colleges, with management provided through the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization (CTTC).
All full-time faculty employed by either Vanderbilt University or VUMC are eligible to apply across all disciplines from Arts & Humanities, Engineering & Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, and Bioscience & Healthcare. Part-time faculty, students, or staff are not eligible.
Key Features
Through this fund, Vanderbilt is supporting the advancement of basic research programs with commercial potential toward productization through support for a variety of translational and commercially-oriented development efforts. This program is intended to provide:
- Expert Evaluation – peer-reviewed assessment by a committee of Vanderbilt faculty
- Accelerated Decision-Making – prompt feedback and timely decision
- Focused Translational Research – commercial potential and social impact prioritized
- Tranche-Based Funding – project funds distributed based on milestone completion
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| # Vanderbilt Technologies Earn Patent Protection in October
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Methods and Compositions for Treating Microbial Inflammation
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Efficient Laser-Induced Single-Event Latchup and Methods of Operation
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Modulating Neural Activity in Brainstem Circuitry with Light
| | 11,788,147 | Markers of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Uses Thereof | | 11,793,394 | Steerable Endoscope with Continuum Manipulator | | 11,793,450 | Methods and Apparatus for Intraoperative Assessment of Parathyroid Gland Vascularity Using Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging and Applications of Same | | 11,795,510 | Large-scale Epigenomic Reprogramming Links Anabolic Glucose Metabolism to Distant Metastasis during the Evolution of Pancreatic Cancer Progression | |
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Polynucleotides Encoding Anti-Chikungunya Virus Antibodies
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Technology Spotlight: Inexpensive Disposable Hydro-Jet Capsule Robot for Gastric Cancer Screening in Low-Income Countries
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Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. While screening programs have had a tremendous impact on reducing mortality, the majority of cases occur in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Typically, screening for gastric and esophageal cancer is performed using a flexible endoscope; however, endoscopy resources for these settings are traditionally limited. With the development of an inexpensive, disposable system by Vanderbilt researchers, gastroscopy and colonoscopy can be facilitated in areas hampered by a lack of access to the appropriate means.
Technology and IP Status:
PCT patent application is pending.
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Below is a sampling of the interactions that have taken place in our office and with our staff over the last month.
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- Executed amendment to an Ancora Research Agreement to support formation of New Entity for discovery and development of novel treatment for a rare form of epilepsy
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- Met with founders of a health tech startup to discuss commercializing an MRI imaging technology from researchers formerly of the Department of Radiology
- Met with a pharmaceutical contract developing/manufacturing organization and investor interested in exploring with Vanderbilt the possibility of collocating a facility in Nashville
- Met with Laurie Cutting and Scott Crossley from the Department of Special Education to discuss plans for developing a decodability scale in collaboration with an education publishing company
- Held a call with an industry research partner to discuss disposition of IP under a proposed STTR grant
- Met with an academic collaboration representative from a global EdTech company to discuss potential research collaborations and licensing opportunities
- Launched the Industry Collaborations website highlighting how the team supports corporate research and development partnerships across Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- Held a discussion with a patent attorney regarding the patentability of AI-related inventions, to enable CTTC to provide better guidance to its inventors
- Assisted a Wond’ry Launch startup with SBIR submission
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- Attended research status meeting with a pharmaceutical company supporting oncology research in the lab of Alexander Bick from the Division of Geriatric Medicine
- Attended the Ancora Innovation Joint Steering Committee Meeting
- Attended Nashville Analytics Conference
- Attended Federal Invention Reporting Compliance course organized by Association of University Technology Managers to learn more about the new utilization report requirements to be submitted to funding agencies
- Attended the Quantum Potential launch event for a new research and innovation video series which provides a behind-the-scenes peek into the remarkable research initiatives underway at the university and medical center
- Attended Brock Family Center Lecture - From Concept to Commercialization featuring Dr. Dan Leibler - “A Late-Career Biotech Game That Paid Off”
- Attended the GAME Change NSF Engine program’s Translation Work Group meeting. Also organized a separate IP Subcommittee to discuss IP Management under the program
- Attended Mid-South REACH Leadership Team kickoff meeting
- Attended NSF ExLENT CREST kickoff meeting
- Attended a meeting regarding collaboration between Ethicon and Vanderbilt University
- Attended the nPhase board of directors meeting
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- Presented to faculty in the School of Medicine Basic Sciences the first in a series of talks introducing the basics of commercialization and Technology Transfer resources at Vanderbilt
- Presented guest lecture on IP and Commercialization at ES 1402
- Participated in the quarterly meeting between Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers and a team from the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) for the Global Scholar Program
- Hosted a Cell Line Development and Biologics CDMO on campus for discussions related to collaboration with Vanderbilt University researchers and potentially establishing a satellite facility in the Greater Nashville area
- Hosted a global transportation infrastructure company on campus to discuss potential research opportunities in identifying traffic patterns to ease congestion and improve flow on transportation corridors
- Facilitated Ancora Project Team Meetings and strategy discussions with PI’s and 3DC
- Conducted an IP workshop for students in the Nanoscale Innovation & Making course, taught by Sharon Weiss from the Department of Electrical Engineering, to help student teams evaluate the patentability of their invention concepts and their business’s freedom-to-operate
- Participated in virtual discussion: Ask Me Anything: T.A. McCann and Michael van Lier on How to Build Your Studio Playbook
- Participated in InfoReady Training: Essentials for Super Admins and Global Admins
- Presented part two in a customer discovery series about Business Model Canvas for Bob Webster’s Innovation Realization class
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