CU TTO logo
TTO Monthly Newsletter

Volume 10 ~ Issue 7 ~ May 2014       

What's Inside
Tech Spotlight
Top News
CU Technology in the News
CU Research Highlights
People
Upcoming Events
CU Resources
Innovation in the News
Links

SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter

 this email 

EMAIL TTO 

GO to the TTO website

TTO social media:

Blog  Twitter  Podcast
Spotlight:

 

Biotechnology of the Month:

 

Antiviral and Antibacterial Polyurethanes for Disease Prevention

 

 

 

Physical Sciences Tech of the Month:  

 

Time-Resolved Microfluidic Flow Cytometer for High-Throughput Measurement of Cellular Processes

 

 

 

 

 


 

  

    

 

    

*To view more CU technologies available for licensing and partnering, go to Tech Explorer.

Top News at TTO

TTO Announces Technology Transfer Awards for Boulder, Colorado Springs

In April, TTO presented awards to researchers and companies from CU's Boulder and Colorado Springs campuses who best represent both the spirit of innovation at CU and best practices in commercialization of university technologies. Award recipients at these campuses were:

 

 

Awards to CU researchers, startups and advisors at CU Denver|Anschutz will be presented in June 20CU Startups Poster14.

 

CU Startups: Update Now Available 

TTO has released an updated CU Startups poster providing info on financings, acquisitions and more for companies created based on CU technology since the early 1990's. Click on the image at right for an interactive PDF including links to CU startups.

   

Advanced Industries Win Support in Colorado Legislature 

Through last year's passage of the Advanced Industries Accelerator Act, Colorado lawmakers established three grant programs designed to leverage state assets and grow the number of companies in seven key sectors. In further support of the initiative, lawmakers recently provided level funding of $5M and approved an angel investor tax incentive specifically geared toward companies operating within those seven advanced industry sectors. Another bill provides $2M in matching funds to the Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory, a clean energy research consortium of CU-Boulder, for early stage energy research.

Upcoming Deadline: Advanced Industries Accelerator
The Initial deadline is approaching for the second round of CU's pre-allocated proof-of-concept funding under the Colorado Advanced Industries Accelerator (AIA) program, created in 2013 to accelerate commercialization of university technologies. To apply for the current round of CU's pre-allocated funding, applicants must have a preliminary meeting with their TTO case manager by Monday, June 30, 2014. This step is required in order to proceed to the next step (a short pre-proposal due in August 2014). Note: The fall 2014 CU allocation round will be limited to the following advanced industries: energy, electronics, information technology, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and infrastructure engineering. A spring 2015 CU allocation round will include bioscience and biomedical technologies (deadlines TBA). Please review the guidelines and timeline for the fall 2014 funding round online. CU researchers may also apply directly to the state OEDIT for the competitive pool of funds (quarterly deadlines).

Impact: CU Technology + Licensees in the News

Forget Clip-On Trackers and Wristbands: This Smart Shoe Insole Will Track Your Physical Activity  

SmartMove has its origins in research that analyzed the gait of stroke patients undertaken at CU Denver|Anschutz, Colorado State University, and Clarkson University. Funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Colorado's Office of Economic Development, Fort Collins, Colo.-based SmartMove was founded to conduct further research and build prototypes of a next-gen wearable tracker.

 

Omni Bio Pharmaceutical Announces $3M Private Financing Plan 

CU licensee Omni Bio Pharmaceutical, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of alternative uses of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), announced finalization of a private financing arrangement for up to $3M to support ongoing operations and execution of the development plan for Omni Bio's lead Fc fusion recombinant AAT molecule (Fc AAT) that is being targeted for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes, graft versus host disease and various inflammatory conditions, including chronic gout.

 

SFC Fluidics Receives Series B to Develop Smaller, Disposable Insulin Patch Pumps 

A new disposable insulin patch pump, smaller than any pump currently on the market, is in development from CU-based startup SFC Fluidics. The company recently closed a $2M Series B investment round that will help it to commercialize the pump.

 

Smartphone App Offers Cheap Aflatoxin Test for Farmers 

A smartphone application developed by CU startup Mobile Assay could offer a cheap way for African farming communities to manage cancer-causing toxins produced by a fungus that grows on crops while building a 'big data' set to assist research on outbreaks.

 

Testing for Synthetic Drugs 

CU researchers led by Jeffrey Galinkin, Chief Medical Officer at CU Toxicology, have developed a test to detect spice, a manufactured drug that has poisoned hundreds of people in Colorado.

Pipeline: CU Research Highlights

New Malleable, Recyclable Plastic 

An interdisciplinary CU-Boulder research group led by Wei Zhang and H. Jerry Qi has developed a new kind of plastic that can be reshaped or recycled either by heating or soaking in water (left). The new material is a type of plastic called "malleable polymers." Also known as "covalent adaptive networks," these materials' properties stem from reversible chemistry, which allows chemical bonds between the atoms in the polymer structure to trade places at elevated temperature. Zhang's material is unique in that the chemical reaction is also catalyzed by water, so it can be recycled at room temperature using only water and pressure.

 

New Insight Into Triple Negative Breast Cancers 

Most breast cancers are treated by blocking their addictions - for example, by depriving estrogen-fueled tumors of estrogen. But what about breast cancers without these hormonal addictions? In so-called "triple negative" tumors the cancer's addiction remains a mystery, making this subtype difficult to treat. However, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 showcased a new drug active against triple-negative breast cancer, and through analysis of the drug's mechanism of action, offers increased understanding of the biology of this very aggressive form of breast cancer.

 

Zombie Cancer Cells Eat Themselves to Live 

A CU Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Cell Reports shows that the cellular process of autophagy in which cells "eat" parts of themselves in times of stress may allow cancer cells to recover and divide rather than die when faced with chemotherapies.

 

Milk Thistle Extract, Silibinin, Reduces Self-Renewal of Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells 

Colorectal cancer stem cells thrive in conditions of inflammation. A CU Cancer Center study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 shows that the chemical silibinin, purified from milk thistle extract, affects cell signaling associated with inflammation and thus also the formation and survival of colorectal cancer stem cells.

 

Gold Nanorods Attach to, Kill Bladder Cancer Cells 

A major strategy of modern cancer research is to discover a difference between cancerous and healthy cells and then to specifically target this difference to kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. A CU Cancer Center study demonstrates a novel strategy that accomplishes both: bladder cancer cells overexpress the protein EGFR; gold nanorods can be engineered to attach to EGFR proteins; and then the application of low-intensity laser to the tissue can preferentially heat these gold nanorods, killing the EGFR-rich cancer cells to which they are attached.

 

Re-Envisioning Reading with 3D-Printed Picture Books 

Goodnight Moon is the first prototype for the Tactile Picture Books Project at CU-Boulder, which explores human-centered computing and involves parents and children in the process of improving 3D printing computer software for tactile books. Led by CU-Boulder computer science professors Tom Yeh and Michael Eisenberg, the project is primed to make 3D printing technology more tangible for the public.

 

Helping Type 1 Diabetics Sleep Better 

In a large trial conducted in patients' homes in the US and Canada, researchers led by David Maahs of the CU School of Medicine and CU's Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes coupled a glucose sensor to an insulin pump and showed that they could predict and prevent dangerously low overnight blood sugars in adolescents and adults with type 1 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes often sense warning signs of low blood sugar when they are awake, but not during sleep, explaining why 75 percent of diabetic seizures occur at night.

 

Novel Antioxidant Makes Old Arteries Seem Young Again 

An antioxidant that targets specific cell structures - mitochondria - may be able to reverse some of the negative effects of aging on arteries, reducing the risk of heart disease, according to a new study by CU-Boulder researchers.

People

Leinwand Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences 

CU-Boulder biologist Leslie Leinwand has been selected as a member of the 2014 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which honors the leading "thinkers and doers" from each generation, including scientists, scholars, writers and artists.

Leinwand - chief scientific officer for CU-Boulder's BioFrontiers Institute and a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology - is an expert in cardiovascular disease and a founder of Myogen, Inc. (acquired by Gilead Pharmaceuticals in 2006) and Hiberna, Inc., a biotech company using pythons and hibernating ground squirrels to develop novel pharmaceuticals.

 

Caruthers Receives 2014 ACS Award for Creative Invention 

CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor Marvin Caruthers is the recipient of the 2014 ACS Award for Creative Invention. The award recognizes a single inventor for the successful application of research in chemistry and/or chemical engineering that contributes to the material prosperity and happiness of people. Caruthers developed many of the methodologies that are currently used for chemically synthesizing DNA.

 

UCHealth Board Names Elizabeth Concordia as New President and CEO 

University of Colorado Health (UCHealth) has named Elizabeth Concordia as President and CEO beginning September 2, 2014. University of Colorado Health is a Front Range health system comprised of University of Colorado Hospital, Memorial Hospital, Poudre Valley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies, and Colorado Health Medical Group.

 

Do you know of a recent award, new position or transition of interest to the CU tech community? Please send information to [email protected].

 

 

Upcoming Events

Boulder Economic Summit 

May 21, Millennium Harvest House, Boulder

This year's Summit, "Made in Boulder," will spotlight Boulder's manufacturing economy and the key industries fueling our economic vitality. From aerospace and bioscience to natural products and outdoor recreation, manufacturing in Boulder is one of our strongest economic assets.

 

Gluecon 2014 

May 21-22, Omni Interlocken, Broomfield

The Glue Conference for developers covers topics like NoSQL, Big Data, Cloud management and security, cloud storage, cloud platforms, and many others.

 

Colorado Springs New Technology Meetup 

May 22, Epicentral Coworking, Colorado Springs

This ongoing event provides a forum for technologists and entrepreneurs to showcase the new (especially web-based) technology developing in the southern Colorado tech community. Five companies have five minutes each to demonstrate their new technology, followed by five minutes for Q&A from the audience.

 

2014 BioFrontiers Symposium 

May 28, CU-Boulder

The 2014 BioFrontiers Symposium is celebrating research in the areas of big data, genomics and molecular networks. These presentations will cover critical research discoveries and tools, and their applications. In addition, two 40-minute panel discussions have been added to the Symposium to address the issues of privacy and open-source software and datasets. Hosted by CU's BioFrontiers Institute - now accepting waitlist registrations.

 

Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium 

May 30-31, University of Denver

The United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO), Senator Michael Bennet, the Colorado Bar Association, the University of Denver, the Colorado Small Business Development Center and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce are proud to present the third annual Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium, focusing women entrepreneurs and small business concerns, the importance of intellectual property protection for their innovations, and how to leverage economic opportunities for women-owned businesses.

 

CREED Investor Access Event 

June 3, CREED, Golden

Hosted by the Colorado Center for Renewable Energy Economic Development (CREED), this special Investor Access Breakfast is all about one-on-one networking with investors. Upon registering you can sign up for private 10 minute meetings with investors of your choice.

 

Boulder New Technology Meetup 

June 3, CU-Boulder

This ongoing event provides a forum for technologists and entrepreneurs to showcase the new (especially web-based) technology developing in the Boulder tech community. Five companies have five minutes each to demonstrate their new technology, followed by five minutes for Q&A from the audience.

 

Tech Transfer Office Hours 

June 4, CU-Boulder

Representatives from the Technology Transfer Office will be on-hand to meet one-on-one with members of the CU research community. If you have questions related to research commercialization, please stop by, have a donut or cup of coffee and get some information.

 

SoPE Colorado Chapter Meeting 

June 5, Copic Insurance, Denver

The Society of Physician Entrepreneurs (SoPE) is a global biomedical and health innovation and entrepreneurship network helping doctors and other health professionals get their ideas to market. Members include entrepreneurs, service providers, investors, industry partners, academics and others interested in biomedical and health innovation.

 

Rockies Venture Club: Inside Venture Capital 

June 10, location TBA

Meet some of Denver's top VCs and learn about the inside story: how a venture fund works; VCs pitch to investors too; how VCs choose investments; harvesting the capital back out of the deal. Hosted by the Rockies Venture Club; register online.

 

Denver New Technology Meetup 

June 19, Galvanize, Denver

This ongoing event provides a forum for technologists and entrepreneurs to showcase the new (especially web-based) technology developing in the Denver tech community. Five companies have five minutes each to demonstrate their new technology, followed by five minutes for Q&A from the audience.

 

Colorado Companies to Watch Gala Awards Dinner 

June 20, Marriott City Center, Denver

Colorado Companies to Watch energizes the state of Colorado by recognizing second-stage companies that are developing valuable products and services, creating quality jobs, enriching communities, and creating new industries throughout the state.

 

Colorado Energy Expo 

June 27, Colorado Convention Center, Denver

At the Colorado Energy Expo, you'll have an opportunity to learn about the industry's economic impact, environmental aspects, public policy framework, workforce capacity, present-day operations and systems, as well as the industry's innovation pipeline and future potential.

 

To have your event featured here, please send an email to [email protected].

 

 

CU Resources

CU Resets Health Care with $63M Personalized Medicine Division
The accelerating speed of DNA sequencing, drug development and data analysis has led UCHealth, the University of Colorado Medical School and Children's Hospital Colorado to join in an effort to fundamentally change the way they care for patients. The partnership will invest more than $63M over the next five years to create a new division, adding clinicians, genetic counselors, researchers and advanced practice nurses - and also expanding a DNA bank and advanced data warehouse called the Center for Personalized Medicine and Biomedical Informatics.

CU-Boulder Launches Crowdfunding Portal
Crowdfunding is a mechanism for funding a project or campaign by soliciting relatively small donations of money from a large number of people. Crowdfunding allows individuals and organizations to create and share fundraising campaigns by connecting to communities who are engaged in the subject or issue of the project through social media. The CU-Boulder Crowdfunding platform launched at the beginning of May with eight student, faculty and staff projects, including establishing a scalable research and educational platform for swarm robotics, and recycling CO2 into a fuel.

CU-Boulder Crowdfunding is in its pilot launch phase and right now it is restricted to students, faculty and staff who are raising funds for not-for-profit projects. However, please stay tuned for additional information on how this new crowdfunding tool and platform may be available more broadly to our faculty, students and staff in the future! If you are interested in doing a project, contact the crowdfunding project manager,
Ray Johnson. Supporters can follow the progress of projects, share a project with their own community and social network and contribute by way of a charitable donation (thru June 15).

Innovation in the News
The Mile-High View: Colorado's Innovation Ecosystem

 

Colorado Bioscience Industry Faces Challenge of Attracting Talent, VC 

Obstacles to landing funding and difficulty in attracting business development talent are two major challenges for local bioscience companies despite a wealth of world-class science being conducted in the Boulder area.

 

Polis: Startups Can't Ignore Politics, Must Make Voices Heard 

Entrepreneur-turned-Congressman Jared Polis has a brutal truth for entrepreneurs who don't pay attention to politics. "Wouldn't it be nice if you could safely ignore politics?" asked Polis, the Democrat who represents Boulder, CO, in the U.S. House of Representatives. "But that's not the case. The biggest principle to remember is if you're not at the table, you're on the menu, and that's the same for startups and politics."

 

Apply: 2014 BioWest Venture Showcase 

Four emerging life science companies will be selected to present at the 2014 BioWest Venture Showcase to pitch their technology and business plan to a panel of bioscience experts and investors. One outstanding company will be selected for $7,500 cash award, announced at the BioWest Closing Reception. Application Deadline: June 20.

 

How To Build An Uncool Startup... On Purpose 

Startups that make tangible things seem to have fallen out of favor in recent years. Think about new companies tackling big challenges like life-saving therapies, food security, or sustainable energy - they seem to have disappeared in the popular media. Fortunately, popular buzz is not the same as startup reality - you might not hear much about the uncool companies, but they are out there, like ants diligently building their colonies. Even during these heady social media years, many thousands of uncool startups have continued to hack away at uncool problems and make progress. That's fortunate for the world.

 

How To Fund a "Fat Startup" 

These days, we focus a lot more on lean startups than startups that require capital to get going. The entire industry has moved away from the "fat" startup category. Investors expect that you will have your product launched, customer acquisition model fleshed out fully, and a team in place before Series A. However, infrastructure software, hardware, networking, chips - they need capital.

 

Using Open Innovation to Deliver High-End Healthcare Disruption 

How do we begin to break through the barriers that exist in healthcare to create an environment where truly disruptive innovation is possible?

 

Tasks Of A Chief Innovation Officer -- External Idea Sourcing 

It's a high priority for firms in virtually every industry to innovate, and companies are responding differently in how they organize to tackle the challenge. See also: Internally Focused Tasks of A Chief Innovation Officer.

Parting Quote

"Building 'uncool' startups can take many hours of tedious laboratory work, careful calibration of machines, experiments with surprising data, and nervous waiting for test results. Without a sense of purpose, people can get discouraged. The mission of building a product that can help millions of people has played a major role in our success - people are willing to push that much harder, and endure that much longer. Passion is like money in the bank."

 

Victor W. Hwang, CEO of T2 Venture Creation, in Forbes.

University of Colorado's Office of Technology Transfer Mission Statement

The CU Tech Transfer Office provides patent and other commercialization support to researchers at CU's four campuses, and serves as a liaison for industry partners interested in commercializing CU technologies.

(303) 735-3711
[email protected]
http://www.cu.edu/techtransfer