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Innovation Overground dives into nanotubes

July 15, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (July 15, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Deus ex nanotech!”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss potential applications for nanotube and the impressive life and career of Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
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Nebraska again ranked among world’s top 100 in U.S. patents

July 11, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

LINCOLN, Neb. (July 9, 2019)—For the second consecutive year, the University of Nebraska has been ranked among the top 100 universities in the world in earning U.S. patents to protect the innovative research and discoveries of its faculty.

The ranking is part of a newly released report from the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. In the report, the University of Nebraska ranks No. 79 globally for the number of patents awarded to NU’s technology transfer offices – Nutech Ventures at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and UNeMed Corp. at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Earning patents allows NUtech Ventures and UNeMed to work with NU faculty, staff and students to bring their research in areas like agriculture, healthcare, engineering and many others to the marketplace. The result is new startup companies, jobs and university-licensed products that grow the economy and improve quality of life in Nebraska and beyond.

“To be in the company of the world’s leading research universities is another sign that the University of Nebraska is a force for growth and change for the people of our state,” said President Hank Bounds. “While it’s an honor to be recognized, what truly matters is what this ranking signifies: That the University of Nebraska is home to some of the most talented, creative and visionary faculty in the world. I could not be more proud of the life-changing impact of their work.”

The new report’s rankings are based on 2018 patent data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. After securing a patent, the university brings research to market by licensing technology to existing companies or university startup companies. Most university technology is considered early-stage and requires additional research and development.

“This is a reflection of the kind of talent we see every day walking up and down hallways throughout the university system. This doesn’t happen without a culture of innovation,” UNeMed President and CEO Michael Dixon said of NU’s top-100 ranking. “That starts with the administration, right through all the creative and curious faculty, staff and students developing the next generation of innovations that can improve our world.”

Brad Roth, executive director of NUtech Ventures, said: “The ability to protect new innovations from our university’s research is an important first step for commercialization and eventual impact on society.”

The University of Nebraska’s 31 patents in 2018 include, for example, University of Nebraska-Lincoln research to develop a vaccine that could help producers across the globe fight a devastating swine virus. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a viral pathogen that causes abortion in pregnant sows and pneumonia in young pigs. The virus can also suppress a pig’s immune system, leading to enhanced susceptibility to other infectious diseases. PRRSV costs the U.S. swine industry more than $640 million per year. A team led by Fernando Osorio and Hiep Vu at the Nebraska Center for Virology is working on a vaccine that could protect against some or all of the variants of the virus, which would significantly benefit swine health as well as producers in Nebraska and around the world.

An early working prototype of the hemodialysis catheter currently under license with Chrysalis Medical.

Another patent is for a new catheter tube that will help patients undergoing hemodialysis to treat kidney failure. Conventional catheters often need to be replaced in expensive surgical procedures after they are blocked by thick tissue that builds up over time. A new catheter tube created by Marius Florescu, M.D., an associate professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Nephrology, is designed with a small balloon that can expand to remove the buildup. Dr. Florescu’s design would significantly reduce the cost of removing the blockage by eliminating the need for additional procedures. The device is licensed to California-based Chrysalis Medical, who is preparing an application for FDA clearance.

UNeMed presented Dr. Florescu with the 2014 Emerging Inventor Award during the annual Innovation Awards ceremony.

Podcast: PTSD treatment comes from unlikely source

July 8, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (July 8, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Party drug turned promising cure for PTSD.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, track the path of MDMA from its birth in a pharma lab to the 80s party scene to today, where it shows incredible promise as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
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UNMC research hints toward HIV cure, breaks internet

July 3, 2019 Comments (0) Blog Like

by Charlie Litton, UNeMed | July 3, 2019

It’s easy to get excited when one of our researchers scores interesting results from an experiment. When those results then lead to a prestigious publication, it gets even more tempting to start shouting from the rooftops.

Still, we try to temper our enthusiasm as best we can because a lot of the technologies we see are still years away from reaching the clinic.

Then, yesterday, Howard Gendelman, M.D., stood before news cameras and told those gathered about his most recent publication in Nature Communications.

He knocked everyone’s socks off.

Along with his team and partners at Temple University, Dr. Gendelmen showed with his LASER ART technology that curing HIV might not just be possible, but perhaps even likely. That’s a thought that felt more like a fantasy two days ago.

As you might imagine, the news blew up across the internet and airwaves. Here’s a smattering of some of the news outlets that picked up the story. The original UNMC and Temple joint press release can be viewed here.

“‘A cure of HIV is possible’: UNMC, Temple researchers eliminate virus in humanized mice,” Omaha World-Herald
“Researchers say they’re closer to finding cure for HIV after using CRISPR technology to eliminate disease in live mice for the first time,” CNBC
“Is gene-editing the future of HIV treatment?,” The Week
“Scientists eliminate HIV in the entire genome of lab mice for the first time ever: Breakthrough paves the way to a human cure – with clinical trials set to start next year,” Daily Mail
“CRISPR and LASER ART Eliminate HIV from Mice,” GEN
“Have mice really been cured of HIV using CRISPR gene editing?,” NewScientist
“Scientists Entirely Remove HIV From Mice, With Hope For 100% Human Cure By Next Year,” India Times
“CRISPR gene-editing ‘eliminates’ HIV in some mice. What does it mean for humans?,” PBS NewsHour
“For the First Time, Researchers Eliminated HIV From the Genomes of Living Animals,” Time
“Researchers have eliminated HIV in mice for the first time. Is a cure for humans next?,” USA Today/Yahoo
“Researchers eliminated HIV from the DNA of infected mice. It’s the first step toward a cure for humans, they say,” CNN
“HIV patients could undergo genetic editing within year to snip away virus ,” London Telegraph
“In a first, scientists eliminate HIV from an animal’s genome,” CBS News

Top Midwest researchers lining up for Drug Development conference

July 1, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (July 1, 2019)—The second MidWest Drug Development Conference will feature around 16 institutions from 12 states, condensing an area of 780,000 square miles into one location.

Included among the participants are such notable medical research institutions as Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Kansas State University, Mayo Clinic, the Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, University of Missouri, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Nebraska Medical Center, University of Notre Dame, University of Oklahoma, University of South Dakota, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation or WARF.

UNeMed and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are the primary sponsors of the event.

The event will highlight new therapeutics being developed at each participating institution. All told, about 50 therapeutics will be highlighted during 10-minute presentations at the two-day conference. Another key feature of the conference are the one-on-one partnering meetings.

Learn more and register at the MidWest Drug Development conference website: https://www.mwdrugdevelopment.com.

The conference begins on Monday, Sept. 30, and concludes the following day, Tuesday, Oct. 1. It will be held at the Capital District Marriott in downtown Omaha. A special, discounted room rate at the Marriott is available to guests who register before Aug. 30. A link to the discounted room rate can be found on the conference website.

Cost is $500 per ticket, but a limited number of registration fees will be waived for those who represent pharmaceutical and biotech companies and investment groups. Contact conference organizers to learn how to receive a waiver code.

According to the most recent data available, 2019’s participating institutions collectively spent more than $6.6 billion in research, created 2,764 new inventions, secured 745 new U.S. patents, and launched 117 new startups in 2017 alone, according to the Association of University Technology Managers.

At the inaugural conference last year, 113 people attended the conference, including representatives from 24 companies and investment groups. About 146 one-on-one partnering meetings were scheduled over the two day conference.

Innovation Overground looks at medical marijuana

July 1, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (July 1, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Medical marijuana and the Marvel universe.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss current research and potential uses of medical marijuana.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
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UNMC researcher bridges antibiotic gap in major breakthrough

June 26, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Nebraska (June 24, 2019)—Gus Wang, Ph.D., a world-leading expert on antimicrobial peptides, published a field-altering discovery in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious academic journals.

Dr. Gus Wang — Gus Wang, Ph.D.

Using Dr. Wang’s world-renown peptide database, the UNMC team deduced previously unknown peptide properties that govern efficacy inside a living animal.

Researchers have long known that antimicrobial peptides have therapeutic potential against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, particularly with topical treatments for things like skin infections. Unfortunately the tiny protein fragments are also fragile, and are much less effective inside the body for things like blood infections.

But bacteria are also less likely to develop resistance to peptides. Researchers around the world have long looked at antimicrobial peptides as a potential solution to resistance.

Until now, it seems, no one has been able to make antimicrobial peptides work in a broad, therapeutic way.

“Researchers have largely been so excited with the potential of these peptides for treating infections that they rushed forward with efficacy testing and clinical trials,” Dr. Wang said. “This paper is important to the field because it suggests that certain peptides are less sticky to host cells, and therefore are more likely to work [inside a living organism]. This exciting discovery represents a paradigm shift in antimicrobial peptide design, and may lead to novel peptides with broader therapeutic potential.”

Dr. Wang and his team designed an algorithm to identify and classify numerous antimicrobial peptide properties. From this algorithm, Dr. Wang and his postdoctoral fellow, Biswajit Mishra, Ph.D., were able to design and test idealized peptide sequences against the most notorious drug-resistant pathogens. That work was previously published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

With high-efficacy candidates in hand, they systematically altered the peptide sequences, one amino acid at a time, and repeated efficacy testing. They also effectively tested their spectrum of sequences in a mouse model of systemic infection, with the help of postdoc Jayaram Lakshmaiah Narayana, Ph.D.

Dr. Wang’s results were published in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. The article can be viewed here: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/06/12/1821410116.

His method of designing systemically active peptides—along with the initial key amino acid sequences—is in the patent process through UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office at UNMC and UNO. Several pharmaceutical companies have expressed interest in the technology as a therapeutic for both human and animal health.

But for now, next steps include a few more years of small and large animal research before testing can move into human patients.

UNeMed podcast explains blockchain, how it might impact healthcare

June 24, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (June 24, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Blockchain explained.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, celebrate the discuss the magic blockchain, and how it might improve healthcare.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

Overground: Don’t eat raw snails

June 17, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (June 17, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Eat less raw snails, fight climate change.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss technologies related to climate change. The crew learns how the spread of tropical climates is also spreading tropical diseases, and more importantly, what scientists are doing about it.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

Podcasters fight fire with fire

June 10, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (June 10, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Robotic ping pong ball of chemical fire.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss natural disasters. The crew learns how to fight fire with actual fire, the importance of strawberry Pop-Tarts and how an organized society can keep milk, bread and cat litter on the store shelves—even in a crisis.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

Innovation Overground looks at security improvements

June 3, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (June 3, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Better security through science.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss new technologies that could impact border security. The crew covers things like an improvement to reinforced a href=”https://www.warf.org/technologies/engineering/summary/splice-system-to-connect-reinforcement-bars-in-concrete-assemblies-p08344us02.cmsx” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>concrete, search a href=”https://gtp.autm.net/public/project/43810/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>drones., and image recognition a href=”https://aim.autm.net/public/project/12878/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>software.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

Overground covers the highs (and lows) of artificial intelligence

May 27, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (May 27, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Artificial intelligence.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss how artificial intelligence isn’t always evil. The crew shows that AI can monitor social medial accounts to assess a user’s underlying emotional state, but it can also scan computer networks for malware. AI can learn to see patterns in behavior faster than people can recognize they’re behaving them, but it can also instantly adapt to the ever-evolving threats of cyber security.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

Podcast goes inside the prosthetic revolution

May 20, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (May 20, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Custom prosthetics.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss prosthetics that can be made with little more than a smart phone and a standard 3D printer. The episode features innovations from Nebraska’s world-class biomechanics department, where researchers created a hybrid arm and a custom-made prosthetic that helps a child play the cello.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

Podcast highlights Modular nuclear power as a possible energy alternative

May 13, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (May 13, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Nuclear fission…to go!”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss green energy and the environment. Tyler shows how nuclear power has gone mini, while Joe and Charlie discuss the pros and cons of a world where a nuclear reactor the size of a couch can power a small city—and the hard choices we’ll need to make to power the future.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

Innovation Overground: Grow your own skull

May 6, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (May 6, 2019)—UNeMed’s tech transfer podcast, “Innovation Overground,” published this morning its latest episode, “Grow your own skull.”

In the latest episode, Overground hosts Joe Runge, Tyler Scherr and Charlie Litton, discuss more 3D printing innovations in medicine. Today the crew talks about researcher at UNMC that makes scaffolds to help skulls heal themselves with a combination of 3D bioprinting and anti-infective drugs.

Innovation Overground was created to help promote academic innovation and the technology transfer and commercialization efforts at the University of Nebraska and beyond. The podcast intends to examine what it takes to advance academic inventions and discoveries beyond the research bench and into people’s lives as “actual things on a shelf.”

New episodes are published on Mondays, and are available on most podcast channels, including Google Play Music, iTunes, iHeartMusic, Podomatic, Spotify and Spreaker.

Use the below links to subscribe, listen to previous episodes and learn more.






Listen to this podcast on Spreaker
Player FM
Pocket Cast
Luminary

UNeMed seeking qualified licensing associate

May 1, 2019 Comments (0) News Like

OMAHA, Neb. (May 1, 2019)—UNeMed is accepting qualified applications for an opening on its licensing team.

A licensing associate at UNeMed is an entry-level position aimed at those interested in a career in technology transfer. In the course of their duties, the licensing associate will develop the skills associated with commercializing academic innovations and discoveries.

The licensing associate will also work closely with inventors, helping evaluate, market and license the discoveries and innovations that emerge from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The licensing associate position is a one-year appointment, which can be renewed annually for up to three years.

A minimally qualified candidate will have:

A bachelor’s degree in a scientific field
Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite of software
Strong organizational skills
Exceptional written, oral, communication and analytical skills

Preference will be given to candidates with advanced degrees and those with relevant experience in chemistry, biology or life sciences. Other desirable traits include familiarity with business development, technology commercialization and license negotiation.

Learn more, including how to apply for the position, at the UNMC job portal, https://unmc.peopleadmin.com/postings/44791.

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