OMAHA, Nebraska (February 22, 2021)—With a little more than eight months before the MidWest Drug Development Conference returns from its one-year hiatus, nine universities have already announced their intention to participate in the two-day event.
The preliminary list of participating institutions:
- Kansas State University
- Mayo Clinic
- Ohio State University
- Purdue University
- University of Kansas
- University of Minnesota
- University of Nebraska Medical Center
- University of Oklahoma
- WARF (University of Wisconsin)
A handful of spots remain open for additional participants, which are expected to fill out in the coming weeks. Previous participants have included Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Iowa, University of Kentucky and University of Missouri, to name a few.
Each participating institution will highlight two or three of their new therapeutic developments in short, 10-minute presentations. Specific information about those presentations will be announced later this summer.
The conference is tentatively scheduled for October 4-5.
“Hopefully, as the vaccine rollout continues, we’ll reach a point very soon when large, in-person events like this will be safe again,” event organizer and director of licensing at UNeMed, Matt Boehm, said earlier this year.
UNeMed is the conference’s primary organizer and sponsor, and the technology transfer office for all Omaha campuses of the University of Nebraska.
The 2020 MidWest Drug Development Conference was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, a dozen universities presented 42 new, drug-related technologies. The audience was a collection of pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, venture capital groups and other potential partners who could help further develop those new technologies.
In 2019, the second year of the conference, 111 people attended, including representatives from 30 companies and investment groups. About 240 one-on-one partnering meetings were scheduled over the two-day conference.
Due to the remaining uncertainty for 2021, however, registrations will remain closed for the time being.
Those interested to learn more about the concern may subscribe for any updates as they happen. They may also reach out to conference organizers to learn more about the conference, speakers, sponsorships opportunities, or other details.
Without question, the brightest highlight from the previous year was the 
Any regular visitor to UNeMed.com is probably familiar with the continued success and growth of Virtual Incision Corporation. In January, the company announced the successful close of its Series B+ round of financing, to the tune of $20 million. The added capitol is expected to help the surgical robotics company clear regulatory hurdles and continue its intended transformation of laparoscopic surgery.
Thanks to the pandemic and UNeMed’s resulting inability to host a live event, the Innovation Awards dropped a few spots after five straight years at the top of previous year-end lists. The virtual Awards ceremony named all 44 UNMC and UNO inventors of pandemic-related inventions as the 2020 Innovators of the Year. UNeMed also honored collaborators Joseph McMordie, MD, and Daniel Surdell, MD, for their device, “Anterior Cervical Space Spreader,” as the Most Promising New Invention of the year. UNeMed also recognized and celebrated the work of UNMC and UNO faculty, students and staff who contributed to a new invention disclosure, a licensed technology or received a United States patent during the previous fiscal year.
The awards will be held via Zoom, and will honor all UNMC and UNO faculty, students and staff who submitted a new invention, were awarded a U.S. Patent or had a technology licensed during the 2020 fiscal year. UNeMed will also name the year’s Most Promising New Invention and will announce the “Innovator of the Year.”
“When they come with a napkin, a lot more work has to be done before you get it pushed through, that’s for sure,” said panelist Mark Keffler, the CEO at Omaha Custom Manufacturing. “When we get a prototype in here, the first thing we have to do is dissect the prototype, figure out what makes it tick.”
OMAHA, Nebraska (October 28, 2020)—Innovation Week continues today with an expert panel examining the local resources available to researchers, inventors and entrepreneurs interested in developing software and web applications.
Among the panel’s recommendations included advice for academic researchers and innovators: Try not doing everything.
