Year in Review: 2013's top stories from Vanderbilt tech transfer

The year 2013 has been an eventful one for CTTC. From an Entrepreneur Boot Camp to an SBIR/STTR workshop, participation in the NSF Innovation Corps program to agreements with new industry partners, we had a lot to blog about. Here’s a look back at the 13 most read posts from 2013:  

13. New Venture Valuation Seminar

Understanding the valuation of early-stage businesses and related intellectual property is critical for new business ventures.  This information helps determine business strategy, financial modeling and the overall potential for a business.  It’s also a complicated and rigorous process – one that Life Science Tennessee and Cumberland Emerging Technologies hoped to help area entrepreneurs and inventors navigate with a special valuation seminar.  

12. My Cancer Genome unveils mobile app

One of the year's top stories was the release of My Cancer Genome's mobile app. The MCG DrugList brings patients the benefits of the nation's first online, personalized cancer decision support tool. 

11. Joseph Parello, visiting scholar, named Knight of Legion of Honor

The first story that captured your attention was the knighting of Joseph Parello, Ph.D., visiting scholar in the Pharmacology Department. Parello earned the highest possible award for French citizens when he was presented the Insignia of Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the French National Legion of Honour). Tuesday, April 30, in Cohen Memorial Hall at Vanderbilt, Parello was officially knighted for his contributions to science, particularly in fostering French-American collaborations that enable scientsts to "cross new frontiers in technology."

10. InvisionHeart selected to Jumpstart Foundry class of 2013

Next on the list was the selection of InvisionHeart, a Vanderbilt spinoff based on a wireless ECG system, for the Jumpstart Foundry Class of 2013. InvisionHeart is led by Josh Nickols, Ph.D., MBA and participated in a 14-week, startup accelerator program. 

9. Vanderbilt-powered startup wins NewME Accelerator PopUp event

Coming in at 11th, was BioNanovations, a startup company based on technology developed at Vanderbilt, who claimed first place at the NewME Accelerator PopUp event held in Memphis June 28-30. According to The Daily News in Memphis, the company was awarded prizes worth $45,000 and earned a seat in the 12-week NewME Accelerator program in Silicon Valley.

8. EndoInSight wins NSF I-Corps Grant

The 10th most viewed story of 2013 was when Team EndoInSight of Vanderbilt University, comprised of Engineer Byron Smith, Professor Pietro Valdastri, and New Ventures Manager Rigved Joshi, was accepted into the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps. The six-month business accelerator helped the team establish a solid business plan for a new venture based on a CO2 insulflation device developed by Smith and Valdastri.

7. Collaboration between Vanderbilt and startup Femtometrix leads to exclusive deal

An innovative wafer inspection tool developed by a team of Vanderbilt professors and engineers was licensed exclusively to startup company Femtometrix and claimed the ninth place on our list of most viewed stories. The semiconductor wafer-inspection technology based on laser optics was invented by Norman Tolk, Ph.D., professor of physics, Michael Alles, engineer for Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering, and Ron Schrimpf, Ph.D., professor of electrical engineering

6. Patents, Copyrights, and the Rule of Co-ownership of Chattel

Suppose that two entities jointly own a patent. If the first entity grants a non-exclusive license to a company, must it share the resulting royalty proceeds with the co-owner if there is no contract requiring that it do so? The answer is no, and judging by the number of folks who viewed this post, it was clearly a topic worth covering.

5. Pharma Pipeline: Compounds, Core Capabilities, Collaboration

The release of CTTC’s pharmaceutical pipeline was clearly a hit with the online community. It ranked 7th most viewed on our site in 2013. The booklet highlights the dozens of small and large molecules currently under investigation and their effects on various diseases, searching for clues that will lead to the next big drug discovery.

4. InvisionHeart team wins TechVenture Challenge, presents strong commercialization plan

Coming in at number four on our list of most viewed stories was the team of five graduate students who won the 2013 TechVenture Challenge after they wowed a panel of industry experts with their commercialization plan for InvisionHeart.  The student team consisted of Raymond Lui, Sarajane McMahon, Shen Yin, and Akosua Badu-Nkansah and received guidance from business mentor Josh Nickols, Ph.D.

3. VU@EC: Engineering student grabs first seat

At just 20 years old, Vanderbilt engineering student Ben Whittle has become the first candidate accepted into the VU@EC program, securing the spot as the third most viewed story on our list. Whittle and a business partner are developing a new online collaboration platform that will enable groups to brainstorm and share ideas via instant messaging or group video chats, investigate problems, and visualize solutions.  

2. Vanderbilt opens space at Entrepreneur Center

The second most viewed story of 2013, was none other than Vanderbilt’s new space at Nashville’s Entrepreneur Center at which Vanderbilt faculty, staff and students with innovative ideas and entrepreneurial aspirations gained additional support during the 2013-14 academic year.  Thanks to those in our community who support the mission of the Nashville's Entrepreneur Center (EC) and the commercialization of Vanderbilt technology, Vanderbilt now has designated space at the EC's new downtown incubator.

1. Entrepreneur Boot Camp draws large crowd, positive reviews

And, coming in at number one most viewed story for 2013 was a recap of CTTC’s inaugural Entrepreneur Boot Camp. Roughly 80-85 Vanderbilt faculty, staff and students convened at the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center to learn about the university’s policies, practices, and support services surrounding innovation and entrepreneurship. The inaugural Entrepreneur Boot Camp, hosted by Vanderbilt CTTC, CSLSC, and Baker Donelson, included eight whole-group sessions that covered everything from building a framework for a new company to considerations specific to Vanderbilt employees.