A good opportunity for new ventures in the life sciences industry opened today. The second annualLife Science Tennessee Venture Forumis now accepting applications for the 2013 competition.
Vanderbilt faculty, staff and students with innovative ideas and entrepreneurial aspirations will have additional support during the 2013-14 academic year.
An innovative wafer inspection tool developed by a team of Vanderbilt professors and engineers has been licensed exclusively to startup company Femtometrix. The semiconductor wafer-inspection technology based on laser optics was invented by Norman Tolk, Ph.D., professor of physics, Michael Alles, engineer for Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering, and Ron Schrimpf, Ph.D., professor of electrical engineering.
The Wall Street Journal recently featured “organs on a chip”, an innovative practice that is helping researchers around the globe dive into a new world of drug discovery.
Congratulations to a Vanderbilt research collaborator on receiving Medicare approval of a diagnostic test for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Biodesix, the molecular diagnostic company that owns VeriStrat, shared the news via press release:
Last week, the Obama Administration announced a string of executive actions and legislative recommendations in an attempt to “protect innovators from frivolous litigation and ensure the highest-quality patents in our system,” as stated in the on
The My Cancer Genome mobile app is now available on iTunes! MCG DrugList brings the benefits of the nation’s first online information, personalized cancer decision support tool right to your mobile device. Listed features include:
Information about new drugs.
Up-to-date lists of anti-cancer drug classes and drug targets.
Search for specific drugs or groups of drugs.
The ability to save favorite searches and drugs of interest.
Life Sciences Tennessee released a press release earlier this week about new legislation that many hope will have a positive impact on the biotech industry and the local economy. Check out their release below.
DiaTech Oncology, a Brentwood-based clinical pathology lab that licensed technology from Vanderbilt in 2009, is popping up in local and national publications after announcing it has secured $18 million in venture financing from investors.
May proved to be rewarding month for Vanderbilt inventors with five patents issued. The list of newly patented technologies include technologies from a variety of fields such as engineering, healthcare IT and drug discovery. The technologies do everything from detecting shooter locations from an aircraft to screening for anaphylaxis. Learn more about these technolgoies and other recently patented innovations by clicking on the links below.
Recently, a question was posed to CTTC about the timing of publishing research and disclosing an invention. Knowing other researchers might have the same question, we decided to share the answer here.
It’s not every day you get the opportunity to learn the dos and don’ts of Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grant writing from a nationally renowned expert in the field. On Tuesday, May 21, 60+ researchers from Vanderbilt, TSU, MTSU, Lipscomb University, Tennessee Tech, and other Nashville area institutions and businesses got just that.
InvisionHeart, a Vanderbilt spinoff based on a wireless ECG system, has been selected for the Jumpstart Foundry Class of 2013. InvisionHeart will be led by Josh Nickols, Ph.D., MBA and will participate in a 14-week, startup accelerator program.
Collaboration is one of those words you hear daily in a professional setting. Collaboration allows us to bring in different perspectives, to see things from someone else's vantage point. Collaboration encourages the sharing and reforming of ideas so that the best outcome is reached. Collaboration fosters innovation.
NBC, CBS, The Associated Press, numerous local affiliates and various online news outlets were running stories all week about a new “wearable robot” named IndegoTM. The mechanical suit, currently being developed into a commercial version by Parker Hannifin Corporation, is earning favorable reviews for its portability and light weight. IndegoTM weighs a mere 27 pounds, the lightest of all such powered exoskeletons, and can be broken down and transported in a backpack.
Right now, at Vanderbilt University there are dozens of researchers studying small and large molecules and their effects on various diseases, searching for clues that will lead to the next big drug discovery.
Dozens of inventors, entrepreneurs and investors had a chance to "speed date" Tuesday night, thanks to Launch Tennessee and the inaugural Venture Match. The two-hour event gave participants a chance to meet, mingle, explain their technologies or interests, and learn from Vanderbilt professor and entrepreneur Benoit Dawant.
Joseph Parello, Ph.D., visiting scholar in the Pharmacology Department, earned the highest possible award for French citizens when he was presented the Insignia of Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the French National Legion of H
CTTC happily participated in the 2013 Postdoctoral Research and Shared Services Symposium earlier today. These sessions are ever-inspiring, as they illustrate the potential impact of academic research institutions.
Friday, April 19, we had the pleasure of touring Vanderbilt's genomics lab as part of DNA Day. In the quick, 30-minute tour, we met a handful of researchers, watched and listened as they demonstrated their stations, and learned how the lab interacts with various departments, insititutes, and other laboratories at Vanderbilt.
Tuesday, April 23, CTTC participated in TechVille 2013, a technology conference hosted by the Nashville Technology Council. We were fortunate to have a trio of Vanderbilt engineers at our booth that included Andrew Sternberg and Barry Templeton, engineers at Vanderbilt's Institute for Space and Defense Electronics, and Richard Hendrick, a graduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
There's only one way to describe Vanderbilt School of Engineering's Class of 2013: Innovative. The soon to be engineering grads displayed their impressive inventions to a large crowd Friday, April 19. All 60 projects presented solutions to real-world design challenges reported by companies, organizations and labs.
Suppose that two entities jointly own a patent. If the first entity grants a non-exclusive license to a company, must it share the resulting royalty proceeds with the co-owner if there is no contract requiring that it do so? The answer is no.
A team of five graduate students won the 2013 TechVenture Challenge after they wowed a panel of industry experts with their commercialization plan for InvisionHeart. The student team consisted of Raymond Lui, Sarajane McMahon, Shen Yin, and Akosua Badu-Nkansah and received guidance from business mentor Josh Nikols.
Roughly 80-85 Vanderbilt faculty, staff and students convened at the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center to learn about the university’s policies, practices, and support services surrounding innovation and entrepreneurship. The inaugural Entrepreneur Boot Camp, hosted by Vanderbilt CTTC, CSLSC, and Baker Donelson, included eight whole-group sessions that covered everything from building a framework for a new company to considerations specific to Vanderbilt employees.
The Mass Spectrometry Research Center at Vanderbilt is a National Research Resource for Imaging Mass Spectrometry. A leader in its field, MSRC serves as a resource for universities, research institutes, and private industry. It regularly hosts a number of training opportunities for fellow scientists and clinicians, including a four-day annual course that will be held in late April.
The best part of problem is the solution. And that’s just what Jeffrey Sonsino, assistant professor and ophthalmologist, did when he invented Low Vision Readers. For years, he had been treating patients with macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and cataract. The biggest complaint he heard from his patients was that they had lost the ability to read. After years suggesting magnifying glasses, bright lights and prisms, he decided to build a pair of prescription based glasses that would serve all three purposes.
For the entrepreneurs and inventors in Nashville, this month is perfect for learning the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, sharing your ideas, and connecting with potential partners.
First up, the Entrepreneur Boot Camp hosted by CTTC, Cool Springs Life Sciences Center, and the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. This inaugural event is designed specifically for Vanderbilt students, staff and faculty who are looking to start or join a new venture or have an invention or new technology that could form a new venture. It will be held Wednesday, April 10, from 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., at the Cool Springs Life Sciences Center.
A team from CTTC recently had the opportunity to tour the High Throughput Screening Facility at Vanderbilt. To say we were impressed is an understatement. The HTS team routinely screens 6,400+ small molecules per day at a single target, and serves as a guide to investigators throughout the drug discovery process.
Peter Rousos, director of new venture development with Vanderbilt CTTC, recently served on a panel at the 2013 University Startup Conference. Rousos discussed the rise in student interest in starting companies as well as the various ways CTTC is working to support Vanderbilt innovators and entrepreneurs.
It's not every Friday morning you arrive to work to see a glowing article about the effort and successes of your colleagues in VUMC's newspaper, but that's just what happened this morning.
As an industry reliant on innovation and technology, it seems obvious that technology transfer would work to simplify many of its own practices and procedures through technology, namely automated systems. Yet often, we catch ourselves relying on age-old processes that take multiple individuals and significant time. This is not necessarily by choice, rather due to a lack of availability, or reluctance to embrace change.
“See a need, fill a need.” It’s the motto professed by Mel Brooks’ character Bigweld of the fictitious robotics powerhouse Bigweld Inudstry in the iconic animated film Robots. It’s also the driving force behind innovation.
Last week, the Obama Administration announced a string of executive actions and legislative recommendations in an attempt to “protect innovators from frivolous litigation and ensure the highest-quality patents in our system,” as stated in the on
Joseph Parello, Ph.D., visiting scholar in the Pharmacology Department, earned the highest possible award for French citizens when he was presented the Insignia of Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the French National Legion of H
When you put the right people in the right place at the right time, great things are bound to happen.
Tuesday, April 23, CTTC participated in TechVille 2013, a technology conference hosted by the Nashville Technology Council. We were fortunate to have a trio of Vanderbilt engineers at our booth that included Andrew Sternberg and Barry Templeton, engineers at Vanderbilt's Institute for Space and Defense Electronics, and Richard Hendrick, a graduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. 
