Registrations open for Innovate Nebraska

September 28, 2023 Comments (0) News

 

Innovate Nebraska 2023 schedule

LA VISTA, Nebraska (September 28, 2023)—There is still time to register for Innovate Nebraska, a day-long conference filled with TED Talk style presentations and key note speakers.

All speakers will focus on Nebraska’s s thriving ecosystem of MedTech innovation. Hear about the successes of other MedTech companies, the perspective of venture capitalists, and strategies for strengthening the existing MedTech sector in Nebraska.

Innovate Nebraska, sponsored in part by UNeMed, is set for Tuesday, October 3, at 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., at the Embassy Suites in La Vista, Nebraska.

Registration is $25, but free for UNMC associates. (Contact Charlie Litton at UNeMed for the discount code.). Registration closes Friday, and includes lunch and an afternoon networking reception.

Discover the remarkable opportunities and resources that set Nebraska apart in the world of medical technology.

To register and learn more about the planned speakers: https://www.bionebraska.org/2023-innovate-nebraska/.

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Omaha startup week begins Monday

September 20, 2023 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Nebraska (Sept. 20, 2023)—Startup Omaha Week, series of events celebrating and supporting the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystems in the wider Omaha area, begins Monday afternoon.

The event is primarily organized by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, and welcomes all entrepreneurs, community members and supporters to participate.

Attendees can meet with startup founders, shake hands with investors, meet with support organizations, and learn more about available resources. This year’s events will range in topics, format, and settings to ensure a variety of ways to engage and experience all the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystems have to offer.

Learn more at: https://startupomahaweek.com/

Tentative Schedule of Events:

(To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-omaha-week-registration-697273252067)

Monday, Sept. 25 

  • Get Started Omaha Startup Showcase | 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Get Started Omaha Startup Pitch Competition Sponsored by Husch Blackwell | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | The Living Room at Millwork Commons
  • Startup Omaha Week Kick-Off Event | 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM | The Living Room at Millwork Commons

Tuesday, Sept. 26

  • Educational Event: Startups vs. Small Business | 11:00 AM-12:00 PM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Legal Office Hours hosted by Baird Holm LLP | 12:00-1:00 PM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Mug.News & Maverick Venture Fund Social | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Startup Omaha Week Mystery Dinners | 7:00 PM | Varies Across Downtown Omaha  | $35

Wednesday, Sept. 27

  • 1 Million Cups Omaha Funding Panel | 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Venture Capital (VC) Office Hours | 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Legal Office Hours hosted by Baird Holm LLP | 9:00-11:00 AM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Nebraska Enterprise Fund Small Business Clinic | 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM | The Highlander at Seventy Five North
  • Size Up Lunch & Learn – Innovative Tool for Market Research | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM | The Highlander at Seventy Five North
  • Woman Up – Unleash Her Potential | Time 6:30 – 8:30 PM | Hitch

Thursday, Sept. 28

  • Educational Event: Startup Fundraising in Nebraska: Founder vs. Investor | 9:30-10:30 AM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Legal Office Hours hosted by Baird Holm LLP | 10:30-11:30 AM | The Ashton Building at Millwork Commons
  • Scale Omaha Fireside Chat with Special Guest | 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Modus Co-Working

Friday, Sept. 29

  • Entrepreneurs and Favors (AF) | Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Council Bluffs
  • SPN Office Hours presented by ELS & Nebraska Angels | Time: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Elevator Co-Warehousing
  • E-Commerce and Friends Ft. Emily Steele | Time: 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM | Elevator Co-Warehousing

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Virtual Incision Extends Series C round with additional $30M funding

September 19, 2023 Comments (0) News

Virtual Incision MIRA

LINCOLN, Nebraska (September 19, 2023)—Virtual Incision Corporation, a UNeMed startup developing of the world’s first miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery system, announced a $30 million extension to its previous $46 million Series C financing.

The $30 million funding extension will support the company’s operations well into 2025 as it seeks to disrupt the industry with miniaturized surgical robotic systems small enough to fit in a surgical tray. The compact, capable, and convenient design is uniquely positioned to expand robotic-assisted surgery to the millions of patients who do not have access to the technology today. The system was built and developed through a collaboration between University of Nebraska-Lincoln robotics engineer Shane Farritor, PhD, and former University of Nebraska Medical Center surgeon, Dmitry Oleynikov, MD.

The new funding comes on the heels of a series of significant milestones toward commercial readiness of the MIRA Surgical System. Earlier this year, Virtual Incision completed an Investigational Device Exemption clinical study for MIRA’s use in bowel resection, and announced that the FDA is reviewing Virtual Incision’s “De Novo request” to market the device. If granted marketing authorization, the company plans to initiate a limited launch of MIRA across select U.S. centers.

Virtual Incision is focused on advancing patient access to robot-assisted surgery, especially in routine and high-volume procedures, many of which are performed in outpatient and ambulatory surgery centers. The investment will support this mission through a gynecologic clinical study planned for 2024. The company will also continue to develop a smaller version of the minibot to enable additional general surgery applications with a first-in-human clinical study expected next year.

In the near term, Virtual Incision will support a collaboration between NASA and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to lay the foundation for performing telesurgery in space. A modified version of MIRA aboard the International Space Station will perform simulated surgical tasks.

The recent round was led by current investors Bluestem Capital, Endeavour Vision, Baird Capital, cultivate(MD) Capital Funds, and PrairieGold Venture Partners, as well as new health-tech investors Arboretum Ventures and InVivium Capital.

Including this most recent raise, Virtual Incision has now attracted more than $137 million in investments since its initial founding in 2006.

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Wellman joins UNeMed Board of Directors

September 6, 2023 Comments (1) News

Alexi Wellman

Wellman

OMAHA, Nebraska (September 5, 2023)—UNeMed, a technology commercialization office for the University of Nebraska, announced today that Alexi Wellman will join its Board of Directors.

A Papillion native, Wellman is the CEO of Altaba, Inc., a closed-end investment fund; serves on several boards, including Werner Enterprises and ESS, Inc.; and is a venture partner and investment committee member at SpringTide Ventures, an investment firm focused on supporting healthcare related startups, as well as, an investment committee member of Move Venture Capital, an early stage capital source for Nebraska founders.

“We are beyond thrilled to add Alexi to our Board,” Chairperson Anne Barnes said. “Her expertise and support for high-growth startups is well known, and will be a massive boost for our University entrepreneurs. UNeMed, and by extension all of UNMC and UNO inventors will benefit from this addition.”

Prior to joining Altaba, Wellman was a vice president and global controller at Yahoo!, served as Chief Financial Officer of the Nebraska Book Company, Inc., and was partner with KPMG.

More recently, Wellman received the University of Nebraska-Kearney College of Business and Technology Distinguished Alumna Award. A licensed certified public accountant, she graduated from UNK with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1992.

Wellman also volunteers to help under-served youth in the city while working with Abide Omaha, a program that aims to revitalize the inner-city, and also coaching the Bryan High girls basketball team.

UNeMed Corporation is the technology transfer and commercialization office for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. UNeMed serves all UNMC and UNO researchers, faculty and staff who develop new technologies and inventions, and strives to help bring those innovations to the marketplace.

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Hetland lands top prize in national pitch competition

August 25, 2023 Comments (1) News

Breanna Hetland, PhD, RN

Dr. Hetland

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (August 25, 2023)—Breanna Hetland, PhD, the UNMC nursing professor who’s been gobbling up prestigious awards and accolades in recent weeks and months has added another prize.

A little more than a month ago, on June 29, Dr. Hetland won the Judges Award in the Digital Tools category of a national pitch competition with entrants hailing from places like Columbia, Yale, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Cornell, Tufts, Washington University and Brown, to name a few.

“I wish I could say I was surprised,” said Tyler Scherr, PhD, a licensing specialist at UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office for UNMC and UNO. “I think anyone who’s been around Dr. Hetland for more than 10 minutes knows that her fire just burns brighter and hotter than the rest of us. Honestly, it would have been more surprising if she didn’t win.”

The pitch competition was part of a national mentoring program out of Washington University in St. Louis. Called Equalize, the mentoring program was designed to increase the number of female academic inventors who develop startup companies to commercialize their inventions.

Dr. Hetland invented a digital platform called Remote ICU. It is a software solution that fosters more robust patient and family engagement during acute hospitalizations. Dr. Hetland’s innovation is the basis of her startup company, The Family Room.

“As an ICU nurse, I’ve held many hands of patients and their families as they struggled to navigate the most traumatic experience of their lives…an ICU admission,” Dr. Hetland said during a previous presentation. “Then I became the daughter of an ICU patient and it profoundly changed me. The Family Room App is the result of my experience: A passionate effort to vastly improve the ICU experience for patients and their families.”

Dr. Hetland’s winning presentation capped six months of mentoring in the Equalize program.

“This award means so much to me because it represents the need for and value of nurses’ ideas and influence in healthcare tech innovation and entrepreneurship,” she said.

Prior to claiming the Judge’s prize in the pitch competition, Dr. Hetland secured one of just 16 spots in a prestigious national fellowship program—the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators. Sponsored by the University of California-Davis nursing school, the three-year fellowship includes a $450,000 grant, mentoring and professional support.

Earlier this year she was also awarded the Harriet H. Werley New Investigator Award by the Midwest Nursing Research Society. That award recognizes new contributions in nursing research that has the potential to enhance the science and practice of nursing. Dr. Hetland is the first Nebraska recipient of a Midwest Nursing Research Society award since 2009.

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Exavir secures $3 million NIAD grant for its long-acting HIV treatment

August 23, 2023 Comments (0) News

Exavir Therapeutics LogoSAN FRANCISCO (August 23, 2023)—Exavir Therapeutics, a biomedical startup built on innovations developed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was awarded a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health.

The funding will help support the development of XVIR-110, an ultra-long acting HIV treatment co-invented by UNMC scientists Howard Gendleman, MD, and Benson Edagwa, PhD. Both are also co-founders of the California-based startup, which UNeMed named it’s Startup of the Year during the 2022 Innovation Awards.

“This [grant] speaks to XVIR-110’s transformative potential, but also the importance of American agencies and public-private partnerships in improving population health outcomes,” Alborz Yazdi, Exavir co-founder and CEO, said in a company news release. “We look forward to filing our [Investigational New Drug Application with the FDA] in short order to mark our transition to a clinical-stage company, and to fighting for our mission of transforming the lives of patients with chronic disease using ultra-long-acting medicines.”

Exavir’s ultra-long acting nanomedicines represent a critical step forward in HIV treatments, allowing the effective slow release of antiretroviral therapies in doses once every six months or longer. Success of current antiretroviral therapies usually requires strict adherence to daily dosing regimens.

The recent funding is expected to help Exavir prepare and complete the studies necessary to initiate clinical trials.

No timetable has been established for when those trials might begin.

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Winners selected in ‘back-o-the-Napkin’ contest

August 23, 2023 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Nebraska (August 23, 2023)—UNeMed announced today the winners of the most recent “Back-o-the-Napkin Contest,” selecting two inventions to receive further development guidance and prototyping.

Selected from a total of 16 entries, the winning ideas were a device from UNMC’s Pukhraj Rishi for improving retina exams and a body-powered exoskeleton developed by Sara Myers, PhD, at UNO.

“We had a great crop of entries,” UNeMed licensing specialist and contest director Tyler Scherr, PhD, said. “We can only prototype two this time around, but we’re hopeful that more than half of those entries could still be further developed into some really interesting solutions.”

The contest received entries from inventive faculty across 10 departments, and included several inter-campus collaborations between UNMC, UNO and UNL.

Tyler Scherr

Dr. Scherr

“We don’t really expect collaborations for a contest like this, so that was a pleasant surprise,” Dr. Scherr said. “Our most promising inventions typically are highly collaborative, so it’s great seeing that, obviously. Especially when you consider that our primary objective with this contest was to hear from people who might have just the beginning of an idea, but might be intimidated or just unfamiliar with our formal invention disclosure process.”

On average, UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office for UNMC and UNO, will process about 100 new inventions every year from faculty and staff. The nature of inventions vary widely, ranging from software solutions and novel therapies to research tools and medical devices.

Contest entries were strictly limited to devices or other inventions that would require physical prototyping for further development.

“Too often some really great ideas never get off the ground for a lack of resources,” Dr. Scherr said. “A lot of times a quick prototype can really move the ball forward, and that’s another big reason for the contest. We want to give every invention its best chance to succeed, and we now have two great ideas that will go through the advanced prototyping process.”

Those winners were “Light Pipe Retinal Viewer” and “Energy Harvesting Exoskeleton.”

Pukhraj Rishi’s “Light Pipe Retinal Viewer” combines two standard eye exam devices for more comprehensive retinal examinations, without the need for an assistant.

Dr. Myers’ “Energy Harvesting Exoskeleton” collects and stores energy from “heel-strike” and then mechanically distributes to “toe-off” to help propel the wearer forward, helping alleviate fatigue or weakness due to injury or illness.

UNeMed and the UNMC Great Plains IDeA-CTR co-sponsored the contest, in collaboration with the James and Karen Linder Maker Studio at UNMC’s McGoogan Library, the UNO Machining and Prototyping Core in the Department of Biomechanics and the UNeTech Institute.

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Seminar will feature SBIR/STTR funding tips

August 22, 2023 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Nebraska (August 22, 2023)—The Program Director of the SBIR Development Center with the National Cancer Institute, Xing-Jian Lou, PhD, will present a noon seminar on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023.

The seminar will cover an overview of funding opportunities through the National Cancer Institute’s SBIR/STTR program, commercialization resources and tips on applying to the program. The SBIR/STTR program—short for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer—are competitive federal funding programs aimed at encouraging technological innovations and entrepreneurship.

The seminar will be held at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, in conference room BCC 0.12.101 on the ground floor. UNeMed is sponsoring the event, and will provide a complimentary lunch to the first 25 guests.

As Program Director, Dr. Lou helps identify areas of interest for the National Cancer Institute’s contract topics and funding opportunity announcements. She also works with small businesses to help secure funding for innovative research projects that have commercial potential.

Before joining the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Lou received her doctorate in Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology from the University of Miami, and went on to work at places like Johnson & Johnson, LumiCyte, Applied Biosystems and diaDexus.

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Nebraska 78th in world for U.S. patents

August 7, 2023 Comments (0) News

During 2022 Innovation Awards ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, at the Hilton Omaha, UNeMed President & CEO Miachel Dixon, PhD, (left) presents UNMC researchers Howard Gendelman, MD, (center) and Benson Edagwa, PhD, with the Startup of of the Year award in recognition of the recent success of Exavir Therapeutiics, a company they co-founded based on the antiretriviral therapeutics they’ve developed at UNMC.

OMAHA, Nebraska (August 7, 2023)—For the sixth straight year, the University of Nebraska cracked the list of top 100 universities in the world for securing United States patents, landing 78th in 2022.

Annually produced by the National Academy of Inventors, the ranking reflects the total number of U.S. patents granted to academic institutions worldwide during the previous calendar year. Nebraska’s 45 patents includes inventions from UNMC, UNO and the Lincoln campus.

UNMC’s and UNO’s technology transfer and commercialization office, UNeMed, secured 25 of those patents for University inventors.

“This is another indicator of the creative and innovative culture at UNMC,” Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, said. “The work of our researchers and scientists—coupled with our licensing team and industry partners–continues to improve the lives of those in our communities and throughout the world. We look forward to further accelerating our momentum on these fronts, in the years to come.”

Among domestic institutions, Nebraska’s 45 U.S. patents in 2022 ranked 50th of 57, ahead of Penn State (43 patents), Tennessee (41), Iowa State (39) and Emory (39). The University of California system led the world with 570 U.S. patents, well ahead of the No. 2 MIT’s 343 patents.

Of the patents secured by UNeMed, a remarkable 64 percent had been licensed for further development. That includes five for Virtual Incision, a surgical robotics company built on a UNMC and UNL collaboration. UNeMed manages the patent portfolio for Virtual Incision, a Lincoln-based startup.

“We’re always intensely proud of the intellectual property that our faculty, researchers, staff and students create year-in and year-out,” UNeMed CEO and President Michael Dixon, PhD, said.  “But the more essential measure for us is the portion of licenses we can secure with those patents. To be north of 60 percent is fantastic and speaks volumes about the high level of quality innovations coming out of Nebraska. And it gives us incredibly solid footing for us as we help those innovators secure the critical funding they need to further those ideas into products that can actually help improve people’s lives.”

Three more patents relate to the work of Howard Gendelman, MD, and Benson Edagwa, PhD, and were licensed to their startup company, Exavir. The core technology behind those patents is a groundbreaking approach to HIV treatment that promises to reduce therapeutic regimens to a single dose administered just once or twice per year. Current HIV treatments often require a strict program of multiple daily doses.

Last year, Exavir secured $4 million in a successful seed round, and earned the Startup of the Year award at UNeMed’s 2022 Innovation Awards.

Another UNeMed patent forms the cornerstone of, RespirAI, a biomedical startup built with a technology borne from a UNO/UNMC collaboration. The technology is a wearable device that could positively impact the 15 million Americans suffering from a potentially lethal condition called COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The technology can successfully predict life threatening sudden flare-ups, or exacerbations, providing the patient enough time to seek treatment before it’s too late.

Additional UNeMed patents include a safety device for physicians that use real time x-ray technology for some procedures; a new plating system for repairing broken wrists; and two patents related to highly absorptive nanofibers that could be used in developing the next generation of wound dressings.

The complete list of rankings can be found here: https://academyofinventors.org/top-100-worldwide-announced-2022/.

 

 

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‘Summer Chill’ planned for July 26

July 19, 2023 Comments (0) News

UNeMed's Summer Chill — July 26, 2023 (4-6 pm)

OMAHA, Nebraska (July 19, 2023)—For the first time, UNeMed will host an outdoor summer event of games, fun and refreshments as a way to meet and connect with UNMC researchers, faculty and staff.

“UNeMed’s Summer Chill” will be Wednesday, July 26, 2-4 p.m., in the green space between the Durham Research Center towers, and is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. A Kona Ice truck will be on hand, offering complimentary flavored shaved ice as long as supplies last.

UNeMed is the technology transfer and commercialization office for UNMC and UNO.

“We wanted to do something fun for all the inventive faculty, staff and students, while also giving everyone a chance to meet and maybe forge new connections or even future collaborations,” UNeMed President and CEO Michael Dixon, PhD, said. “We look at this as a key part of our mission to foster innovation and creativity. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard of amazing projects that grew out of networking opportunities like this. I’m happy we are able to partner with the Office of Research to make this happen.”

UNeMed’s Summer Chill will also feature music, games and opportunities to meet and chat with UNeMed staff.

“This new event is right in line with lot of the other things we already do, but this is more about giving people a chance to find us, answer questions, maybe solve some problems or just have a fun afternoon in the sun,” Dr. Dixon said.

The Summer Chill is UNeMed’s first volley in its ‘Investing in You’ initiative, which is intended to spotlight UNeMed’s programs that support inventive faculty, staff and students. “Investing in You” is a demonstration of and a renewed commitment to UNeMed’s array of services and programs that enable, encourage and support innovations and their creators at the University of Nebraska.

In addition to the “Summer Chill” event, UNeMed also hosts or sponsors a regular networking event called “Idea Pub: Innovations & Libations;” the annual Innovation Week events and the Innovation Awards; a Technology Transfer Boot Camp; “Back-o-the-Napkin” invention contest;  and frequent educational seminars and panel groups covering everything from intellectual property law to alternative science careers.

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Current pharmaceutical, biomedical trends need UNMC research

June 19, 2023 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Nebraska (June 19, 2023)—After 50 meetings with various representatives of a wide range of international biotech and pharmaceutical companies, UNeMed learned their key areas of interest could benefit from more UNMC research.

“We have no shortage of intriguing innovations, but I think there might be some major opportunities for us if we could further expand our reach into particular areas,” UNeMed’s Director of Licensing, Matt Boehm, PhD, said.

The key areas of interest that pharma and biotech companies identified to UNeMed:

  • New immuno-oncology-based therapeutics
  • Cell therapies (CAR-T, TCR-T, technologies to boost CAR-T activity/longevity, novel CARs, NK-based therapies, macrophage-based therapies, etc.)
  • Gene therapies (novel gene therapies, technologies for enhancing gene therapies, novel vectors, and novel non-viral delivery systems)
  • New therapeutics for autoimmune diseases
  • mRNA-based therapeutics
  • Therapeutic antibodies (humanized antibodies, antibody fragments, bi-specific antibodies, antibody drug conjugates)
  • Rare diseases
  • Novel small molecules (preferably against novel targets, orally available molecules, low nanomolar IC50s)

Dr. Boehm

“There weren’t too many surprises as some key areas of development have been a key focus for most pharmaceutical and biotech companies for a number of years now,” Dr. Boehm said. “We want to make sure UNMC researchers are aware of these key areas of interest as it could lead to significant opportunities for industry research collaborations and the development of cutting edge therapeutics. We really want to make a strong push to identify new inventions from UNMC that fit into these key areas of focus.”

UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office for UNMC, secured the meetings earlier this month in Boston during BIO, the world’s largest international biomedical conference.

“Each year at BIO we have the opportunity to meet and build new relationships with some of the top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the world,” UNeMed president and CEO Michael Dixon, PhD, said. “We also learn about industry trends and the types of innovations that pharmaceutical and biotech industries are interested in investing and developing.”

UNeMed works with researchers and innovators to protect their work and discoveries. Attracting potential partners and additional support is often a critical component of furthering research and innovations into a product that can help people.

Often innovative ideas and discoveries languish in journal articles and lab notebooks for lack of funding and resources. UNeMed strives to bridge that gap, and give every Nebraska innovation a chance to reach its fullest potential.

BIO’s annual international meeting is but one option in UNeMed’s tool kit. The conference typically features more than 14,000 attendees from more than 4,000 companies around the world.

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Hetland joins Betty Irene fellowship program at UC Davis nursing school

May 16, 2023 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Nebraska (May 15, 2023)—Breanna Hetland, PhD, an Assistant Professor in UNMC’s College of Nursing, landed one of 16 spots in a prestigious national fellowship program for innovative leaders in nursing.

Dr. Hetland will join the fourth cohort of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators, headquartered at the University of California-Davis nursing school. The three-year fellowship includes a $450,000 grant.

“This incredible opportunity will allow me to build skill in leading change and bringing new innovations to nursing practice and policy,” Dr. Hetland said. “In addition, I’ll have dedicated time, interprofessional mentorship, and the financial and professional resources to optimize, test, and commercialize the app.”

The “app” is Dr. Hetland’s innovative idea for a digital platform called The Family Room, which enables and promotes more robust patient and family engagement during acute hospitalizations.

“As an ICU nurse, I’ve held many hands of patients and their families as they struggled to navigate the most traumatic experience of their lives…an ICU admission,” Dr. Hetland said during a recent presentation. “Then I became the daughter of an ICU patient and it profoundly changed me. The Family Room App is the result of my experience: A passionate effort to vastly improve the hospital experience for patients and their families.”

UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold. MD, congratulated Dr. Hetland on the fellowship.

“Innovation, which this fellowship recognizes, is an important facet of our mission at UNMC,” he said. “But innovation only becomes effective when it impacts the lives of the people we serve. Dr. Hetland’s app, aimed at easing patient and family stress during critical medical situations—and inspired by her own experience—is a perfect example of this type of innovation.”

In the last few months Dr. Hetland’s innovation has led to several accolades, including her acceptance into a selective entrepreneur-mentoring program. She was also recently awarded the Harriet H. Werley New Investigator Award by the Midwest Nursing Research Society.

“We suspected that Dr. Hetland was onto something really interesting when she first brought the idea to us five years ago,” UNeMed Licensing Specialist and Business Development Manager Tyler Scherr, PhD, said. “Working with such passionate and gifted innovators like her is the best part of my job. She deserves every bit of this recognition, because it really has been a long slog, but her hard work is finally paying off. I believe the healthcare experience for both patients and caregivers will be immeasurably better because of her and this project.”

In addition to project funding, the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship program features educational and mentoring components to enhance leadership and innovation capacity, strengthen strategic thinking and collaborative skills, expand professional networks, develop entrepreneurial skills, and propel innovative ideas to the bedside.

In January, Washington University in St. Louis announced that Dr. Hetland had been selected to join the 2023 cohort of the Equalize mentoring program. Equalize is a national mentoring program designed to increase the number of female academic inventors who develop startup companies to commercialize their inventions.

Shortly after, Dr. Hetland added the Harriet H. Werley New Investigator Award, which recognizes new contributions in nursing research that has the potential to enhance the science and practice of nursing. Dr. Hetland is the first Nebraska recipient of a Midwest Nursing Research Society award since 2009.

UNeMed is the technology transfer and commercialization office for UNMC and UNO, helping faculty, staff and student inventors protect and develop their innovations and discoveries into real-world applications.

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UNeMed’s Idea Pub returns this month

May 5, 2023 Comments (1) News

Adam Royalty

Adam Royalty

OMAHA, Nebraska (May 10, 2023)—UNeMed is hosting another installment of its popular networking event, Idea Pub: Innovations and Libations.

This upcoming Idea Pub will directly follow a UNMC Design Thinking Sprint on May 17, at 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. in the Wigton Heritage Center.

Idea Pub is aimed at University entrepreneurs and inventors, along with potential investors and commercial partners from the region.

“The goal of Idea Pub is really just to give inventors and entrepreneurs an opportunity to get together and talk,” said UNeMed President and CEO Michael Dixon, PhD. “I’m a firm believer that good things happen when creative experts across disciplines begin to interact and collaborate.”

This upcoming Idea Pub will feature remarks from Adam Royalty, Designer-in-Residence at Columbia Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Design. Royalty is a visiting guest of the UNMC Design Thinking Team and will also be participating in the two-day Sprint and Workshop events.

“I really didn’t know what to expect when I went to a UNeMed Idea Pub last year, but looking back I’m glad I did,” said T.J. Welniak, MD, Associate Professor in the UNMC Department of Emergency Medicine and Co-Chair of the UNMC Design Thinking Team. “Not only did I meet a lot of like-minded and innovative people, but the result has been the foundation of a Nebraska Collaboration Initiative Proposal and the theme for this upcoming Design Thinking Sprint.”

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Applications now open for 2023 Tech Transfer Boot Camp

May 1, 2023 Comments (1) News


OMAHA, Nebraska (May 1, 2023)—UNeMed will again host a Technology Transfer Boot Camp, to be held Aug. 7-11.

The Technology Transfer Boot Camp is aimed at scientists and students interested in the process of commercializing an academic innovation or discovery. The week-long series of seminars and hands-on training can help jump-start an alternate career in science as a technology transfer professional.

The program helps scientists gain a wide range of skills and experience to match their scientific knowledge and training.

The Boot Camp focuses on several key areas relevant to a successful career in technology transfer, including:

  • Invention evaluation
  • Intellectual property law
  • Marketing and commercialization
  • Contract negotiation

UNeMed’s 2023 Technology Transfer Boot Camp will dive deeper than simple lectures. Topics will be explored with hands-on activities meant to teach new skills and abilities.

Anyone within the University of Nebraska system is encouraged to apply and participate free of charge, but space is limited. People who aren’t affiliated with the University of Nebraska are also welcome, but will be charged $200 upon acceptance.

Applications are open through July 1, and will be reviewed in the order they are received until all spaces are filled.

Use the embedded form below or apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5j7HSF6qfRnqS6VUlp1L5QvrcXIM1asPq36fxlnGp1mkrAQ/viewform?usp=sf_link.

More information about the application process and requirements can be found at https://www.unemed.com/about-us/join-our-team#bootcamp.
 

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Back-o-the-Napkin contest for new medical devices returns

April 26, 2023 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Nebraska (April 26, 2023)—UNeMed is calling for entries into its second Back-o-the-Napkin contest.

The deadline for entries is July 1, and the contest is open to all UNMC faculty, students and staff who have ideas for innovative medical devices.

The top three innovations will win additional support with a professionally engineered and designed prototype. The prototype stage is a common hazard for inventors because prototypes can be costly and time consuming to create. Yet they are essential for attracting additional support and financing for further development.

Contest co-sponsors — UNeTech Institute, Great Plains IDeA-CTR and the University of Nebraska at Omaha Machining and Prototyping Core Facility in the Biomechanics Department — will provide the 3D modeling and prototyping services.

“We’ve successfully completed dozens of prototypes for UNMC inventors,” said Brian Knarr, PhD, an associate professor in biomechanics and core facility firector. “We really enjoy working with them because each project is an interesting and unique challenge that can have a profound impact on people’s health everywhere.”

Digital entry forms have been provided to all the clinical departments across UNMC, but entry forms may also be downloaded here. Physical versions of the entry form are available upon request. Designed to resemble actual napkins, entry forms ask that inventors draw and describe their ideas. All novel innovations then will be rendered into a three-dimensional model.

The winning entries from the inaugural contest are all in various stages of further development.

The “Wearable Pinch Ligation Device,” submitted by Quan Ly, MD, and Meghana Kashyap, MD, from the UNMC College of Medicine’s Surgery Division is currently in the CAD modeling phase at UNO biomechanics.

The “Single Laser Measurement Device for Jump Testing,” submitted by physical therapists in the UNMC College of Allied Health — Michael Rosenthal, DSc, Elizabeth Wellsandt, DPT, PhD, and Michael Wellsandt, DPT — is completing the prototyping phase and preparing for validation studies.

“Working with Dr. Knarr’s team at UNO has been very rewarding,” Dr. Rosenthal said. “It’s been incredible taking something that began as a rather crude drawing on the Back-o-the-Napkin entry form and bringing it to life as something that can benefit a wide range of people and advance healthcare.”

The “Beam Helmet,” submitted by Elizabeth Beam, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNMC College of Nursing, is patent-pending and preparing for validation studies. Dr. Beam also won the most recent “CTR Superstar” grant competition, which will provide funding for the upcoming validation studies.

“I was able make a simple idea into a tangible prototype for collaborative discussions with NIOSH and a leading powered air purifying respirator manufacturer,” Dr. Beam said. “I don’t know if any of this happens without this contest. I had the idea for a while, but I just wasn’t sure how to move it forward. As it turns outs, jotting down a few ideas on a napkin opened many doors for me.”

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New networking opportunity opens for area entrepreneur community

March 1, 2023 Comments (0) News

OMAHA, Nebraska (March 1, 2023)—Starting today, Nebraska Startup Academy will host regular “VC Office Hours” open to all area founders, entrepreneurs, investors and business executives.

Office Hours will follow the regular 1 Million Cups gathering each Wednesday at Millwork Commons in downtown Omaha. At the conclusion of the 1 Million Cups event—a startup and entrepreneurial networking and support organization—attendees and newcomers are invited to stay for Office Hours at the long table in the Dock at 9 a.m. until noon.

The goal of Office Hours is to provide a chance for founders and potential investors to engage and connect with the Nebraska Startup Academy about important issues and opportunities in the local entrepreneurial community.

The Nebraska Startup Academy provides guidance and mentorship to founders, their companies and investors.

Millwork Commons is located on the Metropolitan Community College campus at 1229 Millwork Avenue.

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