OMAHA, Nebraska (October 3, 2022)—UNeMed Corporation’s 16th annual Innovation Week kicks off Monday, Oct. 10, to celebrate and recognize world-class research and discovery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Hosted by UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office for UNMC and UNO, Innovation Week begins with an open house 9 a.m. Monday, Oct.10, in the Durham Research Center atrium. The week culminates with the UNMC Research Innovation Awards Banquet Thursday, Oct. 13.

All events are free and open to the public, but the Awards Banquet is by invitation only. Further details can be found on UNeMed’s Innovation Week page at http://www.unemed.com/innovation-week.

Monday’s Kick-off event will feature doughnuts, coffee, T-shirts and other freebies for guests who will also have a chance to meet UNeMed staff.

Later that day, beginning at 11:30 a.m., UNeMed will host a panel discussion, “Tech Transfer 101,” aimed at researchers and aspiring inventors who wish to learn more about the innovation and commercialization process. Co-sponsor Great Plains IDeA-CTR will provide a free lunch to the first 30 guests.

On Tuesday, Oct. 11, at noon, there will be a virtual seminar entitled, “Academic Drug Discovery Support.” Maaike Everts, PhD, the executive director at Critical Path’s Translational Therapeutics Accelerator will lead the hour-long discussion. Anyone may join the session via Zoom at https://bit.ly/Iweek22DrugDiscovery.

Also on Tuesday, UNeMed and the Omaha Chamber of Commerce will host a networking event, “Idea Pub: Innovation & Libations,” at Rathskeller Bier Haus at 4-6 p.m., highlighting local investors. Idea Pub is aimed at University entrepreneurs and inventors, along with potential investors and commercial partners from the region.

Two additional events are planned for Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Starting at 9 a.m., in the Wigton Heritage Center atrium, UNeMed will host a Faculty Entrepreneurship Mixer. It will feature UNMC researcher-inventor-entrepreneur, Dong Wang, PhD, who will present brief remarks about his experience starting and developing a new company around his innovations. Co-sponsor IDeA-CTR will provide coffee and doughnuts on a first-come, first-served basis.

Then, at noon on Wednesday, there will be a panel discussion covering issues related to software intellectual property and commercialization. This event will be held at Maverick Landing on UNO’s Scott Campus. A complimentary lunch will be provided to the first 30 guests.

Innovation Week wraps up on Thursday, Oct. 13, with two more events.

At noon, UNeMed will host a discussion about the federal SBIR/STTR Grant program, where expert panelists are expected to cover best practices for securing those awards. The panel will be at UNO’s main campus at the Weitz Community Engagement Center, and complimentary lunch will be provided to the first 30 guests.

Finally, Innovation Week culminates Thursday evening with the Innovation Awards at Hilton Omaha, located near 10th and Cass Streets in downtown Omaha.

An invitation-only event, the Awards program will begin with a networking cocktail hour at 5 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony. The ceremony will honor all UNMC and UNO inventors who disclosed a new invention, received a U.S. patent, or had their technology licensed during the previous fiscal year.

UNeMed will also present special awards recognizing an Emerging Inventor, the Most Promising New Invention of the Year, and a Startup of the Year.

Based at UNMC, the Great Plains IDeA-CTR stands for the National Institute of Health’s Institutional Development Award program infrastructure for Clinical & Translational Research. The Great Plains IDeA-CTR is a collaborative effort between nine regional institutions that provides training, resources, education, mentorship and funding to regional researchers.