Save the date:
Innovation Week coming in October

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OMAHA, Neb. (August 21, 2019)—UNeMed plans to host its annual Innovation Week festivities the week of October 14.

Innovation Week is a popular series of events intended to celebrate and promote innovation and research at UNMC and UNO. Events include a kick-off event to meet UNeMed staff; an open house of local early-stage startup companies; an informational seminar; and a luncheon panel discussion.

The week culminates with an awards program that specifically recognizes innovators and their work, conferring awards to those who have disclosed a new invention, were issued a United States patent, or had their technology licensed for further commercial development.

UNeMed is the technology transfer and commercialization office for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Innovation Week opens on Monday, Oct. 14, with a Kick-Off at the Durham Research Center atrium at 9-11a.m. The Kick-Off event will feature complimentary coffee and doughnuts, along with free UNeMed T-shirts and other giveaways. Guests are invited to meet with UNeMed staff and learn more about how UNeMed can help inventors develop their innovations.

The following day, Oct. 15, the University’s startup incubator, UNeTech, will host an open house. Beginning at 4 p.m., local entrepreneurs will demonstrate early-stage technologies that are the basis for new startup companies in healthcare-related industries. The open house will be held at UNeTech at 3929 Harney Street.

On Wednesday, Oct. 16, Bio Nebraska will sponsor a luncheon and panel discussion that celebrates Nebraska women in STEM—science, technology, engineering and math. It will be held at 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Empire Room at Midtown Crossing in Omaha. Follow this link for more details and to register.

Innovation Week continues Thursday, Oct. 17, at noon with a one-hour seminar from the world-renowned researcher and chemist, Dennis Liotta, PhD Dr. Liotta is the Executive Director for the Emory Institute for Drug Development, and helped transform HIV/AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic but manageable infection. It is estimated that about 90 percent of all HIV-infected patients in the United States have taken one of the two drugs he invented. The title of his seminar, which is free and open to all: “Novel Therapeutics for Treating Viral Diseases, Cancers and Inflammatory Disorders.”

The seminar will be held in the DRC auditorium, beginning at noon. Seating is first-come, first-served.

Finally, Innovation Week concludes with the annual Awards Ceremony, which will feature a keynote address from Dr. Liotta, along with brief remarks from UNMC and UNO Chancellor Jeffrey Gold, M.D.

The Awards program is invitation only. Interested parties may reach out to UNeMed to request an invitation.

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Podcast looks at lab-grown meat

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OMAHA, Neb. (Aug. 12, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Ethical eagle burgers.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss lab-grown meat and cellular agriculture. The crew also talks about the potential effects on food and hunger with the rise of industrial-scale cell cultures

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

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UNeMed podcast looks at the cost of medicine, Alzheimer’s

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OMAHA, Neb. (Aug. 5, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Alzheimer’s billion-dollar life lesson.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss incredible cost of failure in the world of drug development. The crew also talk about recent discoveries that challenge what we thought we knew about Alzheimer’s disease.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

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UNeTech lands $750,000 matching federal grant

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Project will form university/community partnership to develop medical device pipeline

Dr. Rod Markin (left) and Joe Runge.

OMAHA, Neb. (Aug. 1, 2019)—Omaha Medical Technology Pipeline–a joint effort among the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the Nebraska Business Development Center, Metropolitan Community College, and the Omaha Chamber of Commerce–was one of 26 organizations chosen to receive a $750,000 matching grant over three years through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s i6 Challenge program for 2019.

The grants were announced July 23 by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross under the 2019 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program competition through the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA).

Omaha Medical Technology Pipeline is a start-up project being developed by UNeTech, an institute designed to identify promising start-up companies and help them become successful.

“We greatly appreciate the recognition given by the EDA to the innovative programs established by the state of Nebraska, UNO, UNMC and the Omaha entrepreneurial community,” said Rod Markin, M.D., PhD, executive director of UNeTech. “Omaha is so fortunate to have great resources in place to advance innovative concepts into outstanding products, and the UNeTech Institute is excited to get to work with the EDA. This support will allow us to transition from a research environment to a product development and business opportunity.”

Dr. Markin said the project will harness the impressive resources throughout the community to invent, build and commercialize new medical devices.

“Nationally recognized hospitals in Omaha employ some of the most innovative and respected clinicians,” Dr. Markin said. “Omaha has also recently added critical resources to shepherd innovative medical technologies from concept to commercialization.”

Dr. Markin praised Joe Runge, associate director of UNeTech, for his relentless efforts in landing the grant. “This was the third time we had applied for this grant, and we were not selected the previous two times,” he said. “Joe was convinced we should keep trying. I really appreciate his tenacity. He got the job done.”

Runge, who also serves as UNeMed’s business development manager, said the grant could be a difference maker for Omaha’s entrepreneurial community.

“While Omaha has a growing stable of promising medical technology concepts, the city has lacked the programmatic oversight to both align and oversee the commercialization process,” Runge said. “With the Omaha Medical Technology Pipeline project, Omaha now has world-class resources to match the expertise of its physicians to prototype, validate and embody medical technology in lifesaving entrepreneurial opportunities.”

At the end of this project, Runge said UNeTech expects to process 60 new medical technology inventions, file 60 patents or copyrights and launch or expand 25 companies.

“We hope to create meaningful, real-world work experiences for more than 60 undergraduate and graduate students in 3D design, rapid prototyping, market analysis and marketing, create or retain more than 100 jobs, and engage more than 200 participants in the medical technology pipeline,” he said.

The proposal had more than 30 letters of support from community organizations and business leaders, Dr. Markin said. These included Nebraska Medicine, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Metropolitan Community College, Nebraska Business Development Center, UNO Department of Biomechanics, as well as several clinicians.

Tyler Scherr, PhD, a licensing associate at UNeMed added: “The bottom line is, we believe Omaha is home to some of the world’s best and brightest clinicians and faculty–world renowned surgeons and researchers. Pound for pound, we’d put our faculty, staff, students and entrepreneurs up against those from anywhere else in the world. This proposal represents UNeTech placing a $750,000 bet on our faculty–and we do not expect them to disappoint.”

About the EDA: As the only federal government agency focused exclusively on economic development, the EDA plays a critical role in facilitating regional economic development efforts in communities across the nation. Guided by the basic principle that sustainable economic development should be locally-driven, EDA works directly with communities and regions to help them build the capacity for economic development based on local business conditions and needs. EDA’s grant investments in planning, technical assistance, and infrastructure construction are designed to leverage existing regional assets to support the implementation of economic development strategies that make it easier for businesses to start and grow.

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Innovation Overground looks at drones

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 29, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Full frontal drones.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss drone technologies that improve traffic management, crop husbandry and renewable energy infrastructure.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary
 

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Drug Development conference discounts available for industry, investors

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 29, 2019)—Due to an unexpected level of interest, a handful of waivers remain for the 2019 MidWest Drug Development Conference.

Cost of the two-day event is $500 per ticket, but a limited number of registration fees will be waived entirely for those who represent pharmaceutical and biotech companies and investment groups.

Contact conference organizers to learn how to receive one of the few remaining waiver codes.

The event will feature new therapeutics under development at each of the 16 participating institutions. Participants from 12 states will highlight about 50 therapeutics during short, 10-minute presentations. Another key feature of the conference are the opportunities for one-on-one partnering meetings.

The conference begins on Monday, Sept. 30, and concludes the following day, Tuesday, Oct. 1. The Capital District Marriott in downtown Omaha will host with a special, discounted room rate for guests who register before Aug. 30. A link to the discounted room rate can be found on the conference website.

Included among the participants are such notable medical research institutions as Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Kansas State University, Mayo Clinic, the Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, University of Missouri, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of Notre Dame, University of Oklahoma, University of South Dakota, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation or WARF.

According to the most recent data available, 2019’s participating institutions collectively spent more than $6.6 billion in research, created 2,764 new inventions, secured 745 new U.S. patents, and launched 117 new startups in 2017 alone, according to the Association of University Technology Managers.

At the inaugural conference last year, 113 people attended the conference, including representatives from 24 companies and investment groups. Attendees also scheduled about 146 one-on-one partnering meetings over the two-day conference.

UNeMed and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are the primary sponsors of the event.

Learn more and register at the MidWest Drug Development conference website: https://www.mwdrugdevelopmet.com.

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Election security lands in the Overground

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 22, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Securing our elections from Bond villians.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss how pubic-private partnerships combine University innovations with corporate efficiency to secure future elections.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

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Special room rate available for early birds

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 15, 2019)—A special, discounted room rate is available for early registrants of the second MidWest Drug Development Conference.

The conference begins on Monday, Sept. 30, and concludes the following day, Tuesday, Oct. 1. The Capital District Marriott in downtown Omaha will host the event. The discounted room rate is available to guests who register before Aug. 30. Find the link to the discounted room rate on the conference website at https://www.mwdrugdevelopment.com.

The event will feature new therapeutics under development at each of the participating institutions. All told, the two-day conference will highlight about 50 therapeutics during 10-minute presentations. Another key feature of the conference are the one-on-one partnering meetings.

UNeMed and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are the primary sponsors of the event.

Included among the participants are such notable medical research institutions as Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Kansas State University, Mayo Clinic, the Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, University of Missouri, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of Notre Dame, University of Oklahoma, University of South Dakota, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation or WARF.

According to the most recent data available, 2019’s participating institutions collectively spent more than $6.6 billion in research, created 2,764 new inventions, secured 745 new U.S. patents, and launched 117 new startups in 2017 alone, according to the Association of University Technology Managers.

At the inaugural conference last year, 113 people attended the conference, including representatives from 24 companies and investment groups. Attendees also scheduled about 146 one-on-one partnering meetings over the two day conference.

Cost is $500 per ticket, but a limited number of registration fees will be waived for those who represent pharmaceutical and biotech companies and investment groups. Contact conference organizers to learn how to receive a waiver code.

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Innovation Overground dives into nanotubes

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 15, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Deus ex nanotech!”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss potential applications for nanotube and the impressive life and career of Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary
 

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Nebraska again ranked among world’s top 100 in U.S. patents

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LINCOLN, Neb. (July 9, 2019)—For the second consecutive year, the University of Nebraska has been ranked among the top 100 universities in the world in earning U.S. patents to protect the innovative research and discoveries of its faculty.

The ranking is part of a newly released report from the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. In the report, the University of Nebraska ranks No. 79 globally for the number of patents awarded to NU’s technology transfer offices – Nutech Ventures at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and UNeMed Corp. at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Earning patents allows NUtech Ventures and UNeMed to work with NU faculty, staff and students to bring their research in areas like agriculture, healthcare, engineering and many others to the marketplace. The result is new startup companies, jobs and university-licensed products that grow the economy and improve quality of life in Nebraska and beyond.

“To be in the company of the world’s leading research universities is another sign that the University of Nebraska is a force for growth and change for the people of our state,” said President Hank Bounds. “While it’s an honor to be recognized, what truly matters is what this ranking signifies: That the University of Nebraska is home to some of the most talented, creative and visionary faculty in the world. I could not be more proud of the life-changing impact of their work.”

The new report’s rankings are based on 2018 patent data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. After securing a patent, the university brings research to market by licensing technology to existing companies or university startup companies. Most university technology is considered early-stage and requires additional research and development.

“This is a reflection of the kind of talent we see every day walking up and down hallways throughout the university system. This doesn’t happen without a culture of innovation,” UNeMed President and CEO Michael Dixon said of NU’s top-100 ranking. “That starts with the administration, right through all the creative and curious faculty, staff and students developing the next generation of innovations that can improve our world.”

Brad Roth, executive director of NUtech Ventures, said: “The ability to protect new innovations from our university’s research is an important first step for commercialization and eventual impact on society.”

The University of Nebraska’s 31 patents in 2018 include, for example, University of Nebraska-Lincoln research to develop a vaccine that could help producers across the globe fight a devastating swine virus. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a viral pathogen that causes abortion in pregnant sows and pneumonia in young pigs. The virus can also suppress a pig’s immune system, leading to enhanced susceptibility to other infectious diseases. PRRSV costs the U.S. swine industry more than $640 million per year. A team led by Fernando Osorio and Hiep Vu at the Nebraska Center for Virology is working on a vaccine that could protect against some or all of the variants of the virus, which would significantly benefit swine health as well as producers in Nebraska and around the world.

An early working prototype of the hemodialysis catheter currently under license with Chrysalis Medical.

Another patent is for a new catheter tube that will help patients undergoing hemodialysis to treat kidney failure. Conventional catheters often need to be replaced in expensive surgical procedures after they are blocked by thick tissue that builds up over time. A new catheter tube created by Marius Florescu, M.D., an associate professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Nephrology, is designed with a small balloon that can expand to remove the buildup. Dr. Florescu’s design would significantly reduce the cost of removing the blockage by eliminating the need for additional procedures. The device is licensed to California-based Chrysalis Medical, who is preparing an application for FDA clearance.

UNeMed presented Dr. Florescu with the 2014 Emerging Inventor Award during the annual Innovation Awards ceremony.

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Podcast: PTSD treatment comes from unlikely source

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 8, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Party drug turned promising cure for PTSD.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, track the path of MDMA from its birth in a pharma lab to the 80s party scene to today, where it shows incredible promise as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary
 

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UNMC research hints toward HIV cure, breaks internet

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by Charlie Litton, UNeMed | July 3, 2019

It’s easy to get excited when one of our researchers scores interesting results from an experiment. When those results then lead to a prestigious publication, it gets even more tempting to start shouting from the rooftops.

Still, we try to temper our enthusiasm as best we can because a lot of the technologies we see are still years away from reaching the clinic.

Then, yesterday, Howard Gendelman, M.D., stood before news cameras and told those gathered about his most recent publication in Nature Communications.

He knocked everyone’s socks off.

Along with his team and partners at Temple University, Dr. Gendelmen showed with his LASER ART technology that curing HIV might not just be possible, but perhaps even likely. That’s a thought that felt more like a fantasy two days ago.

As you might imagine, the news blew up across the internet and airwaves. Here’s a smattering of some of the news outlets that picked up the story. The original UNMC and Temple joint press release can be viewed here.

  • “‘A cure of HIV is possible’: UNMC, Temple researchers eliminate virus in humanized mice,” Omaha World-Herald
  • “Researchers say they’re closer to finding cure for HIV after using CRISPR technology to eliminate disease in live mice for the first time,” CNBC
  • “Is gene-editing the future of HIV treatment?,” The Week
  • “Scientists eliminate HIV in the entire genome of lab mice for the first time ever: Breakthrough paves the way to a human cure – with clinical trials set to start next year,” Daily Mail
  • “CRISPR and LASER ART Eliminate HIV from Mice,” GEN
  • “Have mice really been cured of HIV using CRISPR gene editing?,” NewScientist
  • “Scientists Entirely Remove HIV From Mice, With Hope For 100% Human Cure By Next Year,” India Times
  • “CRISPR gene-editing ‘eliminates’ HIV in some mice. What does it mean for humans?,” PBS NewsHour
  • “For the First Time, Researchers Eliminated HIV From the Genomes of Living Animals,” Time
  • “Researchers have eliminated HIV in mice for the first time. Is a cure for humans next?,” USA Today/Yahoo
  • “Researchers eliminated HIV from the DNA of infected mice. It’s the first step toward a cure for humans, they say,” CNN
  • “HIV patients could undergo genetic editing within year to snip away virus ,” London Telegraph
  • “In a first, scientists eliminate HIV from an animal’s genome,” CBS News

 

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Top Midwest researchers lining up for Drug Development conference

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 1, 2019)—The second MidWest Drug Development Conference will feature around 16 institutions from 12 states, condensing an area of 780,000 square miles into one location.

Included among the participants are such notable medical research institutions as Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Kansas State University, Mayo Clinic, the Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, University of Missouri, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of Notre Dame, University of Oklahoma, University of South Dakota, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation or WARF.

UNeMed and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are the primary sponsors of the event.

The event will highlight new therapeutics being developed at each participating institution. All told, about 50 therapeutics will be highlighted during 10-minute presentations at the two-day conference. Another key feature of the conference are the one-on-one partnering meetings.

Learn more and register at the MidWest Drug Development conference website: https://www.mwdrugdevelopment.com.

The conference begins on Monday, Sept. 30, and concludes the following day, Tuesday, Oct. 1. It will be held at the Capital District Marriott in downtown Omaha. A special, discounted room rate at the Marriott is available to guests who register before Aug. 30. A link to the discounted room rate can be found on the conference website.

Cost is $500 per ticket, but a limited number of registration fees will be waived for those who represent pharmaceutical and biotech companies and investment groups. Contact conference organizers to learn how to receive a waiver code.

According to the most recent data available, 2019’s participating institutions collectively spent more than $6.6 billion in research, created 2,764 new inventions, secured 745 new U.S. patents, and launched 117 new startups in 2017 alone, according to the Association of University Technology Managers.

At the inaugural conference last year, 113 people attended the conference, including representatives from 24 companies and investment groups. About 146 one-on-one partnering meetings were scheduled over the two day conference.

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Innovation Overground looks at medical marijuana

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OMAHA, Neb. (July 1, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Medical marijuana and the Marvel universe.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss current research and potential uses of medical marijuana.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary
 

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UNMC researcher bridges antibiotic gap in major breakthrough

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OMAHA, Nebraska (June 24, 2019)—Gus Wang, PhD, a world-leading expert on antimicrobial peptides, published a field-altering discovery in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious academic journals.

Dr. Gus Wang
Gus Wang, PhD

Using Dr. Wang’s world-renown peptide database, the UNMC team deduced previously unknown peptide properties that govern efficacy inside a living animal.

Researchers have long known that antimicrobial peptides have therapeutic potential against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, particularly with topical treatments for things like skin infections. Unfortunately the tiny protein fragments are also fragile, and are much less effective inside the body for things like blood infections.

But bacteria are also less likely to develop resistance to peptides. Researchers around the world have long looked at antimicrobial peptides as a potential solution to resistance.

Until now, it seems, no one has been able to make antimicrobial peptides work in a broad, therapeutic way.

“Researchers have largely been so excited with the potential of these peptides for treating infections that they rushed forward with efficacy testing and clinical trials,” Dr. Wang said. “This paper is important to the field because it suggests that certain peptides are less sticky to host cells, and therefore are more likely to work [inside a living organism]. This exciting discovery represents a paradigm shift in antimicrobial peptide design, and may lead to novel peptides with broader therapeutic potential.”

Dr. Wang and his team designed an algorithm to identify and classify numerous antimicrobial peptide properties. From this algorithm, Dr. Wang and his postdoctoral fellow, Biswajit Mishra, PhD, were able to design and test idealized peptide sequences against the most notorious drug-resistant pathogens. That work was previously published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.  

With high-efficacy candidates in hand, they systematically altered the peptide sequences, one amino acid at a time, and repeated efficacy testing. They also effectively tested their spectrum of sequences in a mouse model of systemic infection, with the help of postdoc Jayaram Lakshmaiah Narayana, PhD

Dr. Wang’s results were published in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. The article can be viewed here: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/06/12/1821410116.

His method of designing systemically active peptides—along with the initial key amino acid sequences—is in the patent process through UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office at UNMC and UNO. Several pharmaceutical companies have expressed interest in the technology as a therapeutic for both human and animal health.

But for now, next steps include a few more years of small and large animal research before testing can move into human patients.

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UNeMed podcast explains blockchain, how it might impact healthcare

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OMAHA, Neb. (June 24, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Blockchain explained.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, celebrate the discuss the magic blockchain, and how it might improve healthcare.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Play Music
Listen on iHeart Radio
Innovation Overground on Spotify
Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

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