Hetland lands top prize in national pitch competition

August 25, 2023 Comments (2) 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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Vireo expansion continues, opens creatine facility

February 27, 2023 Comments (1) News, Success Stories

Invented at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, creatine ethyl ester is a popular dietary supplement found in nutrition stores.

PLATTSMOUTH, Nebraska (February 27, 2023)—Vireo Resources and the community of Plattsmouth recently celebrated the grand opening of the first creatine production facility in the United States. The Nebraska Department of Economic Development and the City of Plattsmouth supported the project with $1 million of funding through the Community Development Block Grant Program.

The entire project weighs in at a massive $16.6 million and adds to an industrial campus that will measure about 70,000 square feet. All told, Vireo said it plans to grow from its current roster of 50 employees to 200 and will create about $174 million in annual economic impact to the area.

Vireo makes health products such as holistic options for pain management, skin care, feminine care, overall wellness support, and sports nutrition supplements. The Tennessee-based company first came to the Good Life in 2008, attracted by Nebraska’s business-friendly climate and outstanding academic institutions. Vireo has had great success partnering with Nebraska researchers, commercializing technologies developed with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in collaboration with UNeMed, the technology transfer office at UNMC.

Vireo’s newly opened facility in Plattsmouth will produce Creatine HCI, which many believe is the most important supplement a person can take for optimal health, and that is also used by athletes to increase strength, endurance, and recovery of muscles. Currently, the majority of creatine products available in the U.S. come from China. Vireo’s new $16.6 million production facility will soon give customers the option to purchase domestically produced creatine.

“Nebraska has the world-class workforce, affordable energy, and welcoming communities that companies are looking for as they bring manufacturing jobs back to America,” said Anthony L. Goins, Director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. “Vireo’s growth also showcases our state’s strength in research and development. The company has had tremendous success turning Nebraska brainpower into muscle-building powder and other nutritional supplements. Congratulations to Vireo and the community of Plattsmouth on the grand opening of this new facility!”

The Community Development Block Grant Program, administered by the Department of Economic Development, provides grants to local governments to support projects that expand the state’s economic base and create quality jobs in Nebraska’s communities. In Plattsmouth, the Community Development Block Grant helped Vireo purchase custom-made equipment for its new 32,000 square foot manufacturing facility. The grant has enabled Vireo to create more than 40 full-time jobs.

Vireo’s growth in Plattsmouth has also been aided by the Economic Opportunity Program through the Nebraska Department of Transportation . The Economic Opportunity Program helps local communities attract jobs and private capital investment by providing grants to assist with first-mile/last-mile connections to Nebraska’s statewide transportation system. The Nebraska Department of Transportation approved $322,586 to help the City of Plattsmouth fund construction of a roadway to Vireo’s industrial campus.

Vireo licensed a UNMC patent related to its production of Creatine HCl. It’s one of many patents developed at the University of Nebraska that has allowed partnering companies to bring new products to market and create jobs in Nebraska. For five consecutive years, the University of Nebraska System has ranked among the top 100 academic institutions in the world for earning U.S. patents. In the most recent report, the University achieved its highest-ever ranking at No. 65.

More information about the Community Development Block Grant program is available here.

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Virtual Incision completes clinical study, FDA filing coming soon

February 22, 2023 Comments (1) News

Virtual Incision MIRA

Virtual Incision’s MIRA, which stands for miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant.

LINCOLN, Nebraska (February 22, 2023)—Virtual Incision Corporation, a medical device company spearheading the development of the world’s first miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system, today announced the completion of its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study. The study was designed to evaluate the company’s MIRA Surgical System for use in bowel resection procedures. This is an important achievement towards bringing new technologies to hospitals and their surgical robotics programs regardless of the site of care.

The surgical cases were completed at three hospitals across the country. Patients who participated in the study were followed after their procedure to fulfill study requirements. The complete data will be correlated and submitted to the FDA as part of the company’s De Novo request for market authorization. Virtual Incision is the first RAS developer to complete a U.S. IDE study to support a De Novo request in bowel resection.

“The investigators are very encouraged by our experiences trialing the MIRA Surgical System,” said Michael A. Jobst, MD, colorectal surgeon. “Across the sites, we’ve seen MIRA efficiently integrate into existing RAS programs and witnessed how it is mobile enough for use in any operating room. Some sites have even completed multiple cases in a single day. We are eager to fulfill the clinical requirements of the study in hopes that MIRA can help expand RAS access to more patients in the future.”

Virtual Incision’s platform technology is founded on more than 200 patents and applications with the first invention disclosures dating back to the early 2000s. Inventors Shane Farritor, an engineering professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Dmitry Oleynikov, a surgeon formerly at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, created the MIRA Surgical System in a cross-campus collaboration that could redefine the scope of minimally invasive procedures.

There are 5 million Americans who undergo abdominal soft tissue procedures annually, however, more than 90 percent go without access to RAS. If authorized by the FDA, MIRA’s miniaturized, strong, and easy-to-use design could potentially increase the overall availability of RAS. It has the potential to integrate into any facility or operating room by serving as a complement to the existing mainframe RAS systems, or by expanding into new sites of care and geographies as a standalone. Virtual Incision aims to increase patient access through a clinically, operationally, and economically sound platform available to all providers.

“Completing MIRA’s IDE clinical study is a critical milestone in our journey to making RAS more accessible,” said John Murphy, president and chief executive officer of Virtual Incision. “Currently, less than 10 percent of the 90,000 operating rooms in the U.S. are equipped with mainframe RAS systems. Beyond the incredible progress of the industry pioneer, it’s still in the early days of the adoption of soft tissue surgical robotics. Our ultimate goal is to develop world-class miniature RAS devices with the required strength and dexterity to enable positive clinical outcomes for a broad range of procedure types.”

A UNeMed startup, Virtual Incision will get a further chance to prove its potential when NASA tests the device on the International Space Station in 2024.

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UNMC innovator accepted into national entrepreneurship program

January 16, 2023 Comments (0) News

Breanna Hetland

Breanna Hetland, PhD, RN

OMAHA, Nebraska (January 16, 2023)—Breanna Hetland, PhD, has been accepted into a competitive national entrepreneur-mentoring program that could help boost her innovations in Intensive Care Units everywhere.

Dr. Hetland, Assistant Professor in the UNMC College of Nursing, invented a digital platform called Remote ICU. The software solution enables and promotes 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 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 ICU experience for patients and their families.”

Dr. Hetland will receive free one-on-one mentoring sessions over the next six months from health sciences industry professionals, culminating in a pitch competition for a chance to win investment at the end of June.

The 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. Equalize was created in a collaboration between the technology transfer office as Washington University in St. Louis and Osage University Partners, a venture capital fund for university-based startups.

“We’re extremely proud that Dr. Hetland was selected in the 2023 cohort,” UNeMed president and CEO Michael Dixon, PhD, said. “This is a highly respected national program looking at a Nebraska innovation and seeing incredible value and potential. We’re happy for Dr. Hetland’s achievement, but also for the countless future patients and families that will benefit from her vision.”

Dr. Hetland has been working with UNMC technology transfer office, UNeMed, and Nebraska’s startup incubator and accelerator, UNeTech, since 2018 to protect her intellectual property, identify development partners, apply for small business grants, and engage with the local entrepreneurial support community.

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Year in Review: Highlights from 2022

December 19, 2022 Comments (0) Blog

by Charles Litton, UNeMed | December 19, 2022

With apologies to 2021, we like to end each year with a review that looks back at some of the more popular stories, developments and other items from the previous year.

Innovation Week

1. Innovation Week

Innovation Week writ large was overwhelmingly the most popular element of the website during 2022. The Innovation Awards has long been among the more popular stops among these pages, but 2022 took it to new heights. To be fair, the massive boost is largely due to the 2021 Awards ceremony, which was postponed until February. The delay was a result of our desire to safely host the Awards as an in-person event for the first time since 2019. Alas, the pandemic had different ideas, and we were forced to put on yet another virtual event. Eight months later, however, we could finally stand in the same room with all our friends and colleagues as in-person events returned in time for the 2022 Awards. We were overjoyed at the massive turnout among UNMC and UNO innovators, leaders and stakeholders.

Boot Camp

2. Tech Transfer Boot Camp

The 2022 Tech Transfer Boot Camp was our first in-person event on campus since the beginning of the pandemic, and it generated a level of interest that we took as a pleasant surprise, given the circumstances. Concerns that the two-year hiatus might have spelled the Boot Camp’s ultimate doom turned out to be unfounded.

Amanda Hawley

3. Dr. Hawley Returns

The pandemic didn’t just force all our events into virtual space during a two-year span, it also made hiring new staff much more challenging. It forced UNeMed to think a little outside the box, and ultimately lead to an unqualified home run: The successful recruitment of tech transfer pro Amanda Hawley, PhD. Dr. Hawley returned to UNeMed after a decade of success in the private sector.

Innovation Week

4. Updated Inventor Guides Released

UNeMed released an updated version of a comprehensive Inventor’s handbook aimed primarily at UNMC and UNO innovators. The guide covers all the basics of University technology transfer and commercialization, the processes involved, startup formation, University policies, and even includes a glossary of terms. Anyone can receive a free copy of the Inventor’s Guide to Technology Transfer, just reach out to UNeMed and tell us where to send it.

Back-o-the-Napkin

5. Back-o-the-Napkin contest winners

In February, UNeMed announced three winning entries for the first-ever Back-o-the-Napkin Contest, with each receiving development guidance and prototyping services. Entry forms for the contest were designed to resemble a retro diner napkin on which inventors could draw or explain their concepts. At least one of the winning entries has already moved beyond the prototyping stage to inspire a new startup company. We hope to tell that Success Story very soon.

Innovations and Libations

6. Innovations & Libations

The first-ever Innovations & Libations networking event was a huge success for UNeMed. Co-sponsored with UNeTech and the Great Plains IDeA-CTR, the informal event was created as a way to help University inventors build new connections and potential collaborations. Attendance included inventors from both UNMC and UNO, in addition to several people from the private and governmental sectors, which included local manufacturing, engineering and funding organizations.

Virtual Incision

7. Virtual Incision to complete clinical study

Virtual Incision, a surgical robotics company based on innovations developed at UNMC and UNL, announced its plan for a clinical trial to test its platform technology on bowel resections. The surgical robot is a device that could transform traditional open surgeries like a bowel resection into a laparoscopic procedure. Virtual Incision’s system also allows for surgeons to perform procedures remotely, a feature that NASA will test on the International Space Station in 2024.

RespireAI

8. RespirAI Medical closes seed round

A technology out of UNO’s Biomechanics Department announced the successful close of a seed investment round. The company, RespirAI, is developing a wearable device that will help people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which can be fatal when symptoms suddenly flare up, a dangerous event known as an exacerbation. The device will predict for the user when an exacerbation is imminent, giving patients the opportunity to seek critical medical care before it’s too late.

Innovate Nebraska

9. UNeMed Co-sponsors Innovate Nebraska

In late October, more than 100 people gathered for the Innovate Nebraska Conference, a showcase of Nebraska’s ongoing contribution and dedication to bioscience and medtech companies.

Annual Report

10. 2022 Annual Report

UNeMed issued its annual report for 2022, highlighting key accomplishments and core metrics from the previous fiscal year. The 2021 Annual Report was also a popular feature this year, as its release was delayed to match the postponement of the 2021 Innovation Awards.

 

Classics:

Several posts from previous years remain popular and relevant, particularly those that focus on day-to-day operations and legal issues associated with intellectual property.

  1. The Importance of Technology Transfer
  2. Five important aspects of copyrights that you should know
  3. Technology Transfer 101: Defining Research Commercialization
  4. Veins and arteries are just pipes, right?
  5. How to determine who is an inventor on a patent: Unraveling inventorship vs. authorship

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