OMAHA, Nebraska (November 1, 2023)—Two big events are planned for UNeMed’s Innovation Week today, beginning with a panel discussion featuring women inventors and concluding with a showcase of recent startups built on University innovations.

The panel discussion, “Women Innovators,” will feature three successful University of Nebraska inventors who will share their experiences with creating, developing and commercializing an innovation. Coffee and doughnuts will be available to attendees on a first-come, first-served basis.

From left: Elizabeth Beam, PhD; Rebekah Gundry, PhD; Breanna Hetland, PhD

Panelists will include Elizabeth Bream, PhD, associate professor in the College of Nursing; Rebekah Gundry, PhD, Chair of UNMC’s Department of Cellular & Integrative Physiology; and Breanna Hetland, PhD, an assistant professor in UNMC’s College of Nursing.

The panel will be held in the Sorrell Center, Room 2010, at 9-10 a.m.

“Idea Pub: Startup Pitch Showcase” will be held in the Wigton Heritage Center atrium at 4:30-6:30 p.m. It will highlight a handful of recent and successful startup companies that were all founded on innovations developed by University inventors. Free drinks will be provided, along with excellent networking opportunities to meet local entrepreneurs, investors, inventors and other members of the local startup community.

Innovation Week is UNeMed Corporation’s annual celebration of the world-class research and discovery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and concludes tomorrow with the Innovation Awards at Hilton Omaha, located near 10th and Cass Streets in downtown Omaha.

An invitation-only event, the Awards 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.

Innovation Week began Monday, Oct. 30, with the “Kickoff,” an open house that featured mingling opportunities with UNeMed staff, free T-shirts, coffee, doughnuts and other goodies.

Innovation Week continued on Tuesday, Oct. 31, with an hour-long virtual seminar, “Regulatory Insights” by Margaret Kober, a project manager with the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Further details can be found on UNeMed’s Innovation Week page.