OMAHA, Neb. (October 11, 2022)—Innovation Week continues today with two events, a drug discovery seminar for academic researchers and a networking event aimed at current and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Starting at noon, UNeMed will a virtual seminar entitled, “Academic Drug Discovery Support.” Maaike Everts, PhD, the executive director at Critical Path’s Translational Therapeutics Accelerator will lead the hour-long discussion. Anyone may join the session via Zoom at https://bit.ly/Iweek22DrugDiscovery.
Then, at 4-6 p.m., UNeMed and the Omaha Chamber of Commerce will host the networking event, “Idea Pub: Innovation & Libations,” at Rathskeller Bier Haus. Idea Pub is aimed at University entrepreneurs and inventors, along with potential investors and commercial partners from the region.
Innovation Week will continue tomorrow, with two additional events.
Starting at 9 a.m., in the Wigton Heritage Center atrium, UNeMed will host a Faculty Entrepreneurship Mixer. It will feature UNMC researcher-inventor-entrepreneur, Dong Wang, PhD, who will present brief remarks about his experience starting and developing a new company around his innovations. Co-sponsor IDeA-CTR will provide coffee and doughnuts on a first-come, first-served basis.
At noon, a panel discussion will cover issues related to software intellectual property and commercialization. This event will be held at Maverick Landing on UNO’s Scott Campus. A complimentary lunch will be provided to the first 30 guests.
Innovation Week wraps up on Thursday, Oct. 13, with two more events.
At noon, UNeMed will host a discussion about the federal SBIR/STTR Grant program, where expert panelists will cover best practices for those awards. The panel will be at UNO’s main campus at the Weitz Community Engagement Center, and complimentary lunch will be provided to the first 30 guests.
Finally, Innovation Week culminates Thursday evening with the Innovation Awards at Hilton Omaha, located near 10th and Cass Streets in downtown Omaha.
An invitation-only event, the Awards program will begin with a networking cocktail hour at 5 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony. The ceremony will honor all UNMC and UNO inventors who disclosed a new invention, received a U.S. patent, or had their technology licensed during the previous fiscal year.
UNeMed will also present special awards recognizing an Emerging Inventor, the Most Promising New Invention of the Year, and a Startup of the Year.
Based at UNMC, the Great Plains IDeA-CTR stands for the National Institute of Health’s Institutional Development Award program infrastructure for Clinical & Translational Research. The Great Plains IDeA-CTR is a collaborative effort between nine regional institutions that provides training, resources, education, mentorship and funding to regional researchers.
Innovation Week began on Monday, Oct. 10, with a Kick-Off event in the DRC atrium, and a panel group that examined the basics of technology transfer and commercialization at UNMC and UNO.
