UNMC Startup Company Demonstration Day planned for Oct. 7

September 19, 2013 Comments (2) Innovation Week, News

OMAHA, Neb. (Sept. 17, 2013)—For the first time, the public will get the chance for a close and personal look at new startup companies formed by the innovative research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

SCHEDULED SPEAKERS:

Luis and Danny Lopez, Co-Founders, CardioSys — CardioSys combines advanced mathematical modeling and predictive analytics with data visualization in order to provide helpful insights into the health of individuals. Using fluid algorithms, our platform allows health insurers, third-party administrators, and brokers to forecast preventable life events and mitigate risk.

Anna Boyum, Founder, Elegant Instruments, LLC — A development company that creates and commercializes innovative biomedical technologies to advance healthcare and biomedical research. Its mission is to make life better through the simple and effective solutions it provides. Two University of Nebraska students, Anna Brynskikh Boyum and Tom Frederick, founded the Omaha-based startup.

Sam Sanderson, Founder, Prommune Inc. — Early stage biotechnology company focused on the human and veterinary medicine applications of a novel therapeutic strategy for fighting infections by awakening the body’s own natural immune defenses. Host-directed immunotherapy, or HDI, is induced by a structurally engineered peptide known as EP67. Prommune’s EP67 selectively engages and activates the cell population responsible for innate immunity — the body’s first line of defense against bacterial, viral and fungal infections.

Gary Madsen, CEO, ProTransit Nanotherapy — A seed stage company focused on delivering medication with unique nanoparticles that are nontoxic and biodegradable. The nanoparticles stabilize the drug, have a slow-release profile and can penetrate cell membranes to deliver powerful medications where they can be most effective. The first of several applications of this technology will be delivering antioxidant enzymes in sunscreens and cosmetics to the deep layers of the skin to help prevent premature wrinkles, age spots and even cancer.

Greg Gordon, Founder, Radux Devices, LLC — Created in 2012 to help develop two UNMC inventions that improve radiation protection and decrease orthopedic stress for physicians. The devices also improve workflow and operating table management in endovascular/fluoroscopy suites.

Bruce Lichorowic, CEO, Trak Surgical, Inc. — A surgical tool company built around an innovative software and bone saw package that could change the way joint replacement surgeries are performed. The device is a next generation handheld surgical tool that uses software and a guidance system that may completely eliminate the need for expensive jigs and the specialized staff needed for current orthopedic surgeries

Shane Farritor, Co-Founder, Virtual Incision, Corp. — Founded in 2006, Virtual Incision Corp. is a start-up company developing miniature robotic devices that are placed inside the body during laparoscopic surgery. VI surgical robots are introduced through laparoscopic ports using a special insertion device. Once inside, the robots are controlled by the surgeon and enable complex procedures to be performed with minimally invasive techniques.

Sponsored by UNeMed Corporation, the inaugural UNMC Startup Company Demonstration Day will be held Monday, Oct. 7, at 2:30 p.m. in the Durham Research Center I auditorium. UNeMed is the technology transfer office that helps UNMC’s groundbreaking research go beyond the laboratory.

Demonstration Day is a free and open event that will feature at least six new companies formed on the basis of technology developed at UNMC. Each company will deliver a short, 10-minute presentation, followed by a brief question and answer forum. UNeMed will then host a reception in the atrium with complimentary snacks and refreshments.

Space is limited, so reserve a seat for UNMC Startup Demonstration Day at https://unmcdemoday.eventbrite.com. UNMC employees who register online will also be automatically entered for a chance to win a free iPad 2.

Demonstration Day is a new element of UNeMed’s annual Innovation Week, a celebration of the world-class research and discovery at UNMC.

Innovation Week kicks off with an open house Monday, Oct. 7, at 9 a.m. in the DRC I atrium, where visitors can register another entry for the free iPad drawing, and pick up a free UNeMed T-shirt and other goodies. UNeMed will also offer free beverages at the open house.

UNeMed will host a seminar on Tuesday, Oct. 8, but those details have not yet been finalized.

Innovation Week culminates on Thursday, Oct. 10 with the UNMC Research Innovation Awards Ceremony and Reception beginning at 4 p.m. At the conclusion of the awards, UNeMed will draw for the free iPad 2. The winner must be present to claim the prize or a new name will be drawn.

The event is free, but space is limited, so reserve a seat for the Innovation Awards at https://iw2013.eventbrite.com.

All UNMC employees and students who register and attend the Innovation Awards Ceremony are eligible to win the free iPad.

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UNMC awarded $11.2 million nanotechnology research grant

September 18, 2013 Comments Off on UNMC awarded $11.2 million nanotechnology research grant News

Projects include studies into pancreatic cancer, lupus, hypertension/obesity

by John Keenan, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb., (Sept. 17, 2013)—The University of Nebraska Medical Center has been awarded more than $11.2 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, funding that will allow the university to continue and expand its cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research into nanotechnology.

The grant, which will be awarded over five years, will fund the continuation of an Institutional Development Award to the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE).

UNMC researcher Tatiana Bronich, PhD, is the principal investigator on the grant. Dr. Bronich is the Parke-Davis Chair in Pharmaceutics, UNMC College of Pharmacy, and the director of the Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine. Nanomedicine uses nanomaterials, small polymeric particles, to deliver drugs safely to disease sites, such as cancer tumors.

Tatiana Bronich, PhD

Tatiana Bronich, PhD

“This will further and solidify our efforts in the areas of drug delivery and nanomedicine,” Dr. Bronich said.

“It allows us to continue our truly interdisciplinary research at the university.”

In addition, the grant will support two research core facilities: the bioimaging core, directed by Michael Boska, PhD, radiology department; and the nanomaterials core, co-directed by Dr. Bronich and Dong Wang, PhD, pharmaceutical sciences.

The Nanomedicine COBRE provides UNMC with unique expertise and resources, said Jennifer Larsen, M.D., vice chancellor for research.

“Dr. Bronich has done a great job, not only in mentoring faculty actively involved in this COBRE, but in actively engaging other faculty, including clinical faculty, to identify new opportunities to extend this work into clinical care,” Dr. Larsen said.

The renewal of the Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine grant is a significant accomplishment, said Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the College of Pharmacy.

“This grant was first funded in 2008, with the scientific mission to improve drug delivery, through basic and applied advances in nanotechnology, in order to advance treatment of human diseases,” he said. “This five-year renewal provides the strongest evidence possible that Dr. Bronich and her team of scientists have made considerable progress on this mission — and most importantly, has laid out a compelling plan for their future work.”

Dr. Fletcher said the renewal also affirms that the drug delivery program at the College of Pharmacy and UNMC is both a national and international leader in this area of work — “work that is fundamental to advancing the efficacy of drug therapy,” he said.

The COBRE grant will support five projects:

Project: MUC4 nanovaccine for pancreatic cancer

  • Principal investigator: Maneesh Jain, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology
  • Mentor: Joyce Solheim, PhD, professor, Eppley Cancer Institute

Project: Renal drug targeting for the treatment of lupus nephritis

  • Principal investigator: Karen Gould, PhD, associate professor, genetics, cell biology and anatomy.
  • Mentor: Tatiana Bronich, PhD, Parke-Davis Chair in Pharmaceutics

Project: The role of nanoformulated Cu/ZnSOD in reducing systemic hypertension in obesity

  • Principal investigator: Saraswathi Viswanathan, PhD, assistant professor, internal medicine – diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism
  • Mentor: Irving Zucker, PhD, professor and chairman of the cellular and integrative physiology department

Project: Development of metabolically active linkers (MALs) to improve diagnostic and radiotherapeutic HPMA copolymers

  • Principal investigator: Jered Garrison, PhD, assistant professor, pharmaceutical science
  • Mentor: Surinder Batra, PhD, professor and chairman, biochemistry and molecular biology, Distinguished Helen Freytag Professor of Cancer Biology, associate director for training and education, Eppley Cancer Institute

Project: Neuroprotective regulatory T cells as vehicles for nanoformulated growth factor delivery to an injured brain

  • Principal investigator: Matthew Kelso, Pharm.D., PhD, assistant professor, cellular/integrated physiology
  • Mentor: Howard Gendelman, M.D., chair of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, Margaret R. Larson Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious

———

Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.

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Bridging the ‘Valley of Death’

September 11, 2013 Comments Off on Bridging the ‘Valley of Death’ Blog, News

by Gary Madsen, UNeMed

OMAHA, Neb. (Sept. 10, 2013)—The road from an idea to an actual product is perilous. The stakes are even higher when we start talking about biotechnology ideas that could improve quality of life or perhaps even save lives. In a certain sense it brings to mind trench warfare.

A no-man’s land separates commercial success from the bulwark of good ideas. Anyone trying to bridge that divide — commonly known as the “Valley of Death” by industry insiders — will suffer withering assaults and sometimes overwhelming obstacles. That’s why so few ideas get much further than the back of a napkin.

Gary Madsen

Dr. Gary Madsen, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UNeMed and Co-Founder of ProTransit Nanotherapy

At first blush the comparison to war seems over the top. But as we talk about medical research, it’s no exaggeration to say countless millions of lives could hang in the balance. Too many people are in desperate need of cures and treatments and devices and better diagnostics that could save or extend their lives. And researchers are eager to find those solutions.

Sometimes, the best ways to get those solutions to the people who need them are to build startup companies around new technologies.

But lurking around every corner, it would seem, are numerous “business killers” lying in wait for every new venture—ready to pounce and devour the fledgling company and its promising new invention. The dangers are particularly fierce in the biotechnology field where the cost of a new medication amounts to a high-risk, billion-dollar bet that would make a casino pit boss blush.

That said, new biotech companies make for ideal corporate citizens because — in addition to the potential health benefits to society as a whole — they bring with them high-paying jobs and increased tax revenue. That’s just one reason why Nebraska made attracting high-tech firms one of its top priorities with the so-called T2 Initiative.

But when surrounded by so many hazards, it takes more than a business-friendly state to build a strong beachhead. After 30 years of industrial technology transfer experience, I still find it remarkable that anyone ever sees the other side of that gauntlet.

In fact, I’m not even halfway through building a new startup and it’s already clear I wouldn’t have made it this far without the support, guidance and investment from UNeMed Corporation—the office that helps technologies developed by researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center get beyond the laboratory and into patients’ hands.

Long before I joined UNeMed in 2012 as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Dr. Vinod Labhasetwar had developed a new nanotechnology that could deliver powerful medicines to the deepest layers of skin and tissue. The invention has limitless potential. It can deliver effective cancer treatments or even help prevent skin cancer and wrinkles.

PTNTSo Dr. Labhasetwar and I built a company around the invention: ProTransit Nanotherapy.

I feel good about where we are right now, but I often wonder how university researchers could even contemplate crossing no-man’s land without the kind of help a technology transfer office like UNeMed can provide.

Legal and patent fees alone are enough to derail most technologies. Attorneys, patent offices and consultants can lob bills and fees that can amount to anywhere between $20,000 and $30,000. That’s just patent expenses. When you start adding other consultant fees and additional research, we’ll need to spend more than $1 million before we even design a market-ready product.

Making a discovery, inventing something new, and securing a patent: As incredibly difficult as all that is, it’s only one small portion of the process.

That new invention usually needs to be refined. It needs additional testing and support that typical university research budgets can’t support. So offices like UNeMed seek out collaborators in industry or angel investors to buy into the idea and provide the necessary funding to push it through final development. That is the real trick.

Dr. Labhasetwar

Dr. Labhasetwar, Inventor and Co-Founder of ProTransit Nanotherapy

Most ideas die at that doorstep.

The nanotechnology we licensed from UNeMed nearly suffered the same fate. Industry just wasn’t willing to go out on a limb to help develop the untested nanotechnology.

There are typically years, sometimes decades, of additional testing and development (and millions of dollars) that separate the enlightened scribbles in a researcher’s notebook from a new product at the nearest hospital.

But if the idea somehow survives that long and a collaborative partnership with industry is signed or an entrepreneur like me builds a startup, then the researcher can start to relax. Working without the support of a technology transfer office can become a legal knife fight of contract and licensing negotiations that most researchers shy away from.

UNMC’s technology transfer office shields their researchers from all that. They pay the legal bills, they have built relationships with a ton of people in industry, and they take on all the legal battles.

And UNeMed went far beyond providing just a service to our company. They invested pre-seed money in the company to help us develop a working prototype. Then they helped us secure a $50,000 grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.

ProTransit Nanotherapy has a real chance now, and that means we can one day soon be infinitely more effective at protecting against skin cancer. With additional development on this single UNMC invention — one that UNeMed never gave up on even when industry walked away — we might even roll out more effective treatments for things like diabetes, stroke or sickle cell anemia.

Without UNeMed, we would be just another forgotten casualty in “The Valley of Death.”

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UNMC looking for abdominal aortic aneurysms in $12.2 million study

September 10, 2013 Comments Off on UNMC looking for abdominal aortic aneurysms in $12.2 million study News

Will investigate low-cost antibiotic to determine if it can inhibit enzymes that cause aneurysms

by Kalani Simpson, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (Sept. 9, 2013)—When diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, all most people can do is worry, watch and wait. Timothy Baxter, M.D., professor of surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has compared it to being forced to live with the ticking of a time bomb.

It can take years before an aneurysm is recommended for repair – when it finally grows large enough (about 5.5 cm) that the risk of rupture outweighs the risk of surgery.

“This approach is very unsettling to patients,” Dr. Baxter said.

“Some people, every day they wake up worrying about it,” agreed UNMC’s Jason MacTaggart, M.D., “because even though most abdominal aortic aneurysms rupture at a size greater than about 5 and a half centimeters (2 inches), they can sometimes be unpredictable and cause problems even when small.”
Most would rather do something, anything. Now, at least a few of them can.

UNMC is the clinical coordinating center for a $12.2 million multi-center randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of medical management of aortic aneurysm disease.

The management would be via a pill, which some scientists believe could significantly slow aneurysm growth. The study is being conducted under the auspices of a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The Non-Invasive Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Clinical Trial (NTA3CT) aims to enroll 250 patients with the collaboration of 15 top academic medical centers across the U.S.

In addition to UNMC, the project’s pillar institutions include the University of Maryland Medical Center – for clinical trials management and design; University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health – for aortic imaging; and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis – for blood, lab and genetic testing.

Fifty percent of the trial’s enrollees will receive the antibiotic doxycycline, an inexpensive generic now widely used for acne and other conditions. Dr. Baxter’s preliminary research in animal models shows the drug inhibits the enzymes which weaken aortic walls, thus causing aneurysms.

If successful, it’s an inexpensive, noninvasive, proactive approach.

Dr. MacTaggart, a vascular surgeon, said the surgery to repair aneurysms can come with a mortality rate of up to 3 percent – and a cost of about $20,000. More than 40,000 such procedures are done each year nationwide.

“Multiply all of that together,” Dr. MacTaggart said. “If you can change a $100,000 operation to $10 a year for some pills, it’s going to save the health care system a ton of money.”

But, the study will show more than whether or not the pill works. It should also garner a host of invaluable information.

And its enrollees will be doing something about the disease, rather than just biding time.

Aortic aneurysms affect 3 percent to 5 percent of the population, but are most common in men age 65 and older, often smokers with a family history.

“It’s considered a silent killer,” Dr. Baxter said, “because there are no symptoms until it ruptures. Most aneurysms we find by luck when imaging is done for other medical conditions.”

And then, there is only worrying and waiting as it grows. Nothing you can do.

Until now.

———

Academic health science centers enrolling patients in the clinical trial:

  • Baptist Health Medical Center, Miami, Fla.
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Harvard University), Boston
  • Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio
  • Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Penn.
  • Columbia University Medical Center, New York
  • Northwestern University, Chicago
  • Oregon Health and Science University, Portland
  • University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, Ariz.
  • University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
  • University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Neb.
  • University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City
  • University of South Florida Health South, Tampa, Fla.
  • Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.

National principal investigators:

  • Clinical Coordinating Center Director
  • Timothy Baxter, M.D.
  • Professor, department of surgery
  • University of Nebraska Medical Center

Data Coordinating Center Director
Michael Terrin, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor, department of epidemiology and public health
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Imaging Core Laboratory Director
Jon Matsumura, M.D.
Professor and chairman, division of vascular surgery
Medical director, AortaCore Imaging Lab
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Biomarkers Core Lab Director
John Curci, M.D.
Associate professor, department of surgery
Washington University in St. Louis

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UNMC among national leaders in nanoimaging

September 6, 2013 Comments Off on UNMC among national leaders in nanoimaging News

One of only two U.S. institutions to have atomic force microscope

by Kalani Simpson, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (Sept. 5, 2013)—First, Yuri Lyubchenko, PhD, professor of pharmaceutical science in the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy, has a question: Are you familiar with the concept of a record player?

When the answer is “Yes,” Dr. Lyubchenko is relieved. So many students these days know only iPods, MP3s and streaming. They’ve never put a needle on vinyl.

But that — a record-player needle — is the principle behind the atomic force microscope (AFM).

In much the way a phonograph needle can decipher music in a record’s grooves, the AFM needle is sensitive enough to show very tiny details (nanometer scale) at incredibly high speeds.

Among nine various AFM instruments, UNMC houses a unique atomic force microscope, high-speed AFM. This instrument is capable of the time-lapse nanoscale imaging with video rate.

Until UC Berkley recently acquired a similar instrument, UNMC’s was the only one of its kind in the U.S.

Yet it’s kept without fanfare at the College of Pharmacy, behind an ordinary (locked) door, housed in a closet-sized room. Chances are you haven’t even heard it’s on campus.

But it allows Dr. Lyubchenko’s lab and others to do the kind of work that moves the needle — so to speak.

It holds a unique capability to manipulate single molecules and measure their interaction.

This property was especially important when looking into neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Those diseases are caused by the misfolding and aggregation of proteins. When misfolded states are probed with AFM-force spectroscopy, UNMC scientists are able to identify them and characterize their properties. Researchers are then able to see why this misfolding and aggregation is so devastating.

“The major finding,” said Dr. Lyubchenko, “is that a misfolding dimer has an extremely long lifetime.”

A dimer is comprised of two bonded, structurally similar monomers, the building blocks of complex molecules.

“The high stability of misfolded dimers is a fundamental finding, suggesting that the formation of dimers leads to enormous stabilization of the protein misfolded state.”

Likewise, scientists know that the protein APOBEC3G can block HIV replication. But there are still many details to discover, in order to definitively determine the process.

With the high-speed AFM technology, Dr. Lyubchenko and his team study the nanoscale structure and dynamics of APOBEC3G complexes with the DNA target.
They can actually image what happens.

UNMC scientists also are looking for ways to take advantage of AFM technologies in molecular pharmacology, drug design and other biomedical areas.

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Liu receives award for academic innovation

September 5, 2013 Comments Off on Liu receives award for academic innovation News

From UNMC Today

Dr. Howard Liu

Dr. Howard Liu

OMAHA, Neb. (Sept. 4, 2013)—Howard Liu, M.D., psychiatry, has been recognized with the 2013 Innovations Award from the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry (ADMSEP).

Dr. Liu and his collaborator, Martin Klapheke, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, received the award for their Clinical Simulation Initiative, a project that provides a free national database of online psychiatric teaching cases.

This is the third year for the project, which now encompasses seven online modules dealing with various psychiatric topics.

Read the entire article at UNMC Today

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Innovation Awards is October 10

September 4, 2013 Comments Off on Innovation Awards is October 10 Innovation Week, News

OMAHA, Neb. (Sept. 4, 2013)—UNeMed Corporation announced today plans for Innovation Week 2013, an annual event that celebrates innovation and discovery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

UNeMed, the technology transfer office for UNMC, is hosting the week-long event, which kicks of with an open house on Monday, Oct. 7. Innovation Week culminates with the Innovation Awards on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. in the Durham Research Center I auditorium. Awards will be presented to UNMC researchers, faculty, staff and students who developed a new invention, secured a patent, or signed a licensing agreement for an invention.

Innovation Week 2013

This year UNeMed will also present two special awards honoring the “Innovator of the Year” and the “Most Promising New Invention.” There will also be a drawing where one person will win a free iPad.

The Innovation Awards are open to anyone who wishes to attend, but they must first register at https://iw2013-invite1.eventbrite.com.

Other planned events for Innovation Week include featured speakers and seminars and the “UNMC Startup Demonstration Day,” where startup companies based on UNMC inventions will deliver short presentations about their companies. Innovation Week will also feature giveaways of T-shirts, beverages and other goodies.

A complete schedule of events will be posted to the UNMC calendar soon.

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UNMC ranked among top 75 in world

August 23, 2013 Comments Off on UNMC ranked among top 75 in world News

by Tom O’Connor, UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (Aug. 22, 2013)—The University of Nebraska Medical Center is ranked among the top 75 universities in the world in clinical medicine and pharmacy according to rankings released this month by a leading Chinese university that has been ranking universities worldwide since 2003.

“The rankings validate that UNMC is well on its way to becoming a world-class institution,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “This has always been our goal, so it is reassuring to know that our presence worldwide is growing.”

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is published by the Center for World-Class Universities, Graduate School of Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.

“As the teaching hospital for UNMC, we’ve always known what a high-quality institution we’re partnering with,” said Glenn A. Fosdick, president and CEO of The Nebraska Medical Center. “We take pride in that partnership and look forward to continuing our cooperative relationship in the future.”

UNMC is ranked with 25 other universities as No. 51-75 by ARWU. Only 31 U.S. universities are rated higher. Some of the other U.S. universities rated at the same No. 51-75 level are the University of Arizona, University of Florida, University of Iowa, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Rochester, and Washington University in St. Louis.

UNMC’s ranking is higher than several notable universities, including Case Western Reserve University (76-100), University of Cincinnati (76-100), New York University (76-100), University of Miami (76-100), and The Ohio State University (101-150).

“Obviously, we are in very good company,” said Brad Britigan, M.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine. “It speaks volumes for the quality work being done by our faculty and staff.”

Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the UNMC College of Pharmacy, said: “To be ranked this highly in clinical medicine and pharmacy is very significant, as these are two of the areas that are most impactful on the health and well-being of the public.”

ARWU uses six objective indicators to rank world universities. These include:

  • the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals;
  • the number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific;
  • the number of articles published in Nature and Science, two leading scientific journals;
  • the number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index – Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index;
  • percentage of articles published in the top 20 percent of journals in a specific field; and
  • per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.

More than 1,200 universities are ranked by ARWU every year and the best 500 are published on the Internet. The ARWU rankings are widely cited by the educational community and carry significant influence as experts consider the methodology used to be scientifically sound, stable and transparent.

Harvard University was ranked No. 1 by the ARWU in clinical medicine and pharmacy. Universities rounding out the Top 10 include: University of California, San Francisco; University of Washington; Johns Hopkins University; Columbia University; University of Cambridge; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas; Stanford University; and University of Pittsburgh.

In addition to clinical medicine and pharmacy, the ARWU ranks universities in four other categories – natural sciences and mathematics; engineering/technology and computer sciences; life and agriculture sciences; and social sciences.

Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.

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ProTransit Nanotherapy lands in local media

July 24, 2013 Comments Off on ProTransit Nanotherapy lands in local media News

OMAHA, Neb. (July 24, 2013)—UNeMed’s entrepreneur in residence, Gary Madsen, PhD, was featured on KETV’s July 15, 2013 newscast in a video story about his new startup company, ProTransit Nanotherapy L.L.C. The company licensed a technology developed by former University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher Vinod Labhasetwar, Ph.D. The new company plans to use the novel technology to deliver potent antioxidants to tissue beneath skin, which will make existing sunscreens and cosmetics more effective in protecting the skin from cancer, wrinkles and other skin blemishes.

Other news stories featuring ProTransit Nanotherapy:

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UNMC will access new X-ray microscope at Creighton

July 17, 2013 Comments Off on UNMC will access new X-ray microscope at Creighton News

From an Omaha World-Herald article by Rick Ruggles.

Rat knee

Rat Knee

OMAHA, Neb. (July 17, 2013) — A powerful x-ray microscope, the first of it’s kind in Nebraska or Iowa, will give scientists and researchers across the state a deeper and more detailed look at internal structures.

The Creighton University Medical Center acquired the microscope, the Xradia MicroXCT-200, which produces images that will allow scientists to study with intense detail things like the inner ear and mice embryos, the World-Herald reported.

Dong Wang, PhD, a researcher and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told the World-Herald he will be able to use the advanced technology to help his research in understanding why human implants such as hip or knee replacements tend to loosen over time.

UNeMed recently licensed a technology developed by Dr. Wang to a Chinese startup company.

Creighton purchased the microscope through a $595,000 grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health.

Read the entire article at Omaha.com

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Cattlemen’s Ball shatters fund-raising record for cancer research

July 16, 2013 Comments Off on Cattlemen’s Ball shatters fund-raising record for cancer research News

From UNMC public relations

2013 Cattlemen's Ball

2013 Cattlemen’s Ball

OMAHA, Neb. (July 16, 2013)—The 2013 Cattlemen’s Ball raised $2.12 million to support cancer research, shattering the event’s previous record of $1.49 million by some $600,000, event officials announced Monday.

All of the money stays in Nebraska to support cancer research and local health and wellness programs.

Ninety percent of the proceeds — approximately $1.9 million — will go to support cancer research at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha. Ten percent of the proceeds — around $200,000 — will be distributed as grants to health and wellness organizations in the Paxton-Sutherland area.

Read more at UNMC News.

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Anderson named to U.S. committee on human research protection

July 16, 2013 Comments Off on Anderson named to U.S. committee on human research protection News

Jim Anderson, PhD

Jim Anderson, PhD

by John Keenan, UNMC Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 16, 2013)—Jim Anderson, PhD, associate dean for research in the College of Public Health, has been named to the Advisory Committee on Human Research Protection through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The committee is directed by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The committee’s role is to advise, consult with and make recommendations to Secretary Sebelius as to the responsible conduct of research involving human subjects.

Read more at UNMC News.

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UNMC team finds early heart disease warning with simple blood test

July 10, 2013 Comments (2) News

CORRECTIVE AMENDED, 7/11/13, 12:58 p.m.

by Charles Litton, UNeMed

OMAHA, Neb. (July 10, 2013)—It’s a virtual certainty that everyone over 50—more than 98 million Americans—has coronary artery disease. So do 70 percent of 40-year-olds. And about half of people in their 20s and 30s probably have it too.

Yet heart disease doesn’t kill everybody.

Understanding the difference between those who die and those who don’t has been a confounding riddle for modern medicine.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha—Dan Anderson (left), Michael Duryee (right) and Geoff Thiele (not pictured)—believe they found a way to determine who will develop potentially deadly heart disease with a simple blood test.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha—Dan Anderson (left), Michael Duryee (right) and Geoff Thiele (not pictured)—believe they found a way to determine who will develop potentially deadly heart disease with a simple blood test.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center believe they’ve made a potentially ground-breaking discovery. It’s a simple test that effectively determines whether or not a patient is harboring the dangerous type of heart disease that kills one in four Americans every year. Even better, the test could tell an apparently healthy 40-year-old that they are in the earliest stages of the world’s No. 1 killer.

Most people live with it, blissfully unaware. They only develop complications late in life, such as chronic chest pain or angina. But there are others who unexpectedly suffer a debilitating or fatal heart attack. It doesn’t seem to matter if they’re young, fit and trim or a world famous actor vacationing in Europe.

Coronary artery disease is the accumulation of plaque deposits inside the arteries that feed the heart. As plaque builds up, it restricts blood flow. For people who have the unstable and usually lethal form of the disease, a piece of that plaque can break off creating two potential problems.

While that debris is swept away in the blood stream, things like blood platelets and clotting factor start building up at the rupture site, creating a bottleneck that blocks blood flow. And the debris itself can get wedged further down the line where it could also dam off blood flow.

Either way, the result is a sudden heart attack or stroke.

Unfortunately, that heart attack is too often the first indication that a patient has the lethal form of the disease. But UNMC’s new test could change that.

Dr. Geoff Thiele, a professor of internal medicine, and Michael Duryee, a research coordinator for the Division Rheumatology and Immunology at UNMC’s College of Medicine, made the initial discovery. While looking for clues to help understand inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and alcoholic liver disease, they focused on a molecule that is a strong indicator of inflammation. Known as MAA or malondialdehyde–acetaldehyde, the molecule also appeared to indicate the presence of coronary artery disease.

Dr. Geoff Thiele

Dr. Geoff Thiele

“We thought it was cool scientifically, but we’re not clinical guys,” Duryee said. “We don’t see this everyday.”

Thiele and Duryee brought in cardiologist Dan Anderson, an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiology who is a rare blend of researcher and practicing physician.  He has a frontline view of the battle against the world’s most prolific killer, which annually takes more than an estimated 17 million people. Heart disease accounts for 600,000 American deaths every year.

“In the current realm of understanding disease, we know that inflammation is important in cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Anderson said. “But we really don’t understand a lot about why or how.”

By current measures, Anderson said, about 30 percent of people with heart disease slip through the cracks. For those people, the first indication of trouble may be a killer heart attack in what Anderson called “a failure of medicine.”

“We should have seen and recognized this decades prior, and prevented it,” he said. “People tend to feel okay and think they’re okay. But they’re not even seeing the tip of the iceberg.”

But there are others with the disease who suffer few, if any, ill-effects. Predicting which patients will develop the more deadly form of heart disease is little more than a guess.

Then Dr. Thiele and Duryee knocked on the door.

“I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ From a clinical diagnostic perspective, this becomes invaluable to help understand those different groups of patients,” Dr. Anderson said.

Over the course of two pilot studies, the team tested hundreds of volunteer patients’ blood, and found a remarkable correlation.

“Right now, the data really is incredible,” Dr. Thiele said.

It’s no minor feat for pilot studies to generate significant results with such a small group of patients. Most other studies in cardiovascular research don’t show significant results until thousands of patients are included in a study, Dr. Anderson said.

“We’re seeing differences where we haven’t been able to predict those differences before, and I think that’s the value,” he said.

The initial results have gained attention elsewhere.

The research team and UNMC’s technology transfer office, UNeMed Corporation, are currently in preliminary discussions with several companies on how to translate the results into products that can better factor in a patient’s risk of heart attack

Thiele said that any test developed from the discovery would be cheap and easy to implement with any clinical lab facility’s existing equipment. It would be a simple blood test, not unlike tests that measure blood-sugar levels for diabetics.

The next rounds of testing will be critical to understand how accurate the test can be, particularly studies that follow individual patients over the course of five or 10 years, Duryee said.

If successful, researchers hope the test could be used to definitively tell younger patients in their 40s, 30s or even their 20s whether or not they will develop potentially fatal heart disease. Perhaps even patients in their teens could get early warnings, and begin taking preventative measures.

“That’s what we don’t know, but that’s our goal,” Dr. Anderson said.

***

CORRECTION: The sixth paragraph was amended and the seventh paragraph added to more accurately describe the effects of buildup and subsequent rupture of plaque in coronary arteries.

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UNMC nanotechnology protects skin from cancer and early wrinkles

July 8, 2013 Comments Off on UNMC nanotechnology protects skin from cancer and early wrinkles News

UNeMed, ProTransit Nanotherapy sign licensing deal on drug delivery technlogy from UNMC

OMAHA, Neb. (July 8, 2013)—Nanotechnology developed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center could strengthen things like sunscreen and anti-aging cosmetics into more potent barriers, protecting the skin from UV radiation that can cause wrinkles and skin cancer.

A new startup company, ProTransit Nanotherapy, L.L.C., was founded on the innovation, and hopes to commercialize the nontoxic, biodegradable system within the next 18 months. If successful, the nanotechnology could serve as a platform that can deliver targeted treatments to a vast range of ailments, including stroke and heart disease.

The root cause of many of those diseases are renegade atoms or molecules known as free radicals that damage neighboring cells. The best-known weapons against free radicals are antioxidants. But effectively delivering those antioxidants has been a challenging riddle for modern science.

Vinod Labhasetwar, PhD, former faculty at UNMC’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, appears to have solved that problem.

Dr. Labhasetwar—currently a professor of biomedical engineering at the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio—developed nanoparticles that can carry a wide range of proteins, enzymes and even genetic materials that can be customized to deliver targeted treatments.

Gary Madsen and Michael Dixon signs licensing agreement at UNeMed.

ProTransit Nanotherapy co-founder Gary Madsen (left) and UNeMed Corp. president Michael Dixon sign the licensing agreement on a technology that could make skin care products more protective against harmful UV radiation from the sun. (Photo by Jack Mayfield/UNeMed)

The first application of the nanotechnology will be to deliver a powerful blend of protective antioxidants in topical formulations to protect skin from the sun’s UV radiation—a major cause of skin cancer and premature skin aging.

ProTransit Nanotherapy was formed in collaboration with Gary Madsen, PhD, the entrepreneur in residence at UNeMed Corporation. UNeMed is the technology transfer office at UNMC.

Dr. Madsen will serve as the new company’s president and CEO. Dr. Labhasetwar, a co-founder of the company, will serve as the Chief Scientific Officer.

ProTransit Nanotherapy is also working with UNMC’s Center for Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine to develop facilities for the manufacture of nanoparticles and other nanomedical products.

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Clinical trial set for Parkinson’s treatment

July 3, 2013 Comments Off on Clinical trial set for Parkinson’s treatment News, Success Stories

from a news article written by Rick Ruggles, Omaha World-Herald

OMAHA, Neb. (July 1, 2013)—University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher Howard Gendelman, M.D., will soon start a human trial on a promising new drug treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Howard Gendelman

Dr. Gendelman

Dr. Gendelman, chairman of UNMC’s Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, believes he found a way to halt the degenerative disease’s progression. Current treatments for Parkinson’s largely treat symptoms and are only effective for a short time.

Dr. Gendelman will use a two-step approach to implement his innovative treatment. The first step is to stop the disease’s progression, which will be tested in the upcoming trial.

If it works, Dr. Gendelman can move into the second part of his research: Use a vaccine he’s building to sweep out the faulty protein that causes Parkinson’s.

“We hope to cure Parkinson’s disease,” Dr. Gendelman told the Omaha World-Herald. “I know it’s a lofty goal.”

Read the entire article at the Omaha World-Herald website, Omaha.com.

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My first year as entrepreneur in residence

July 2, 2013 Comments (2) Blog

by Gary L. Madsen, UNeMed | July 2, 2013

It’s been a full year since I began work as the entrepreneur in residence for UNeMed Corporation.   As I look back over the year, I think there are important lessons that others can learn from, especially if you or your organization is about to embark on a similar adventure.

large_gary Madsen_0After spending the last 30 years entirely in the private sector, I was curious: Will my first foray into academia be a success? Can I successfully achieve important goals in this environment?

I hoped that I could fashion the position in a way that would meet the needs of the University and my career desires at the same time. Was this even possible?

The position is structured as a consulting arrangement that pays for about half of my time, which allows me to focus on my other responsibilities such as other consulting opportunities, selling our home in Madison and fixing up a house in Omaha.  UNeMed president Michael Dixon and I agreed upon a set of goals for year one, with a primary focus on identifying a solid technology patented by UNMC that would make a good foundation for a biotech startup company, starting the company and leading the effort to make it a success.  My other goals are centered on helping other UNeMed startup biotech companies, working to improve UNeMed’s licensing processes, and helping EIRs at other facilities around the state.

It is difficult to come into an organization like UNeMed and learn all the procedures and technologies that are important for the organization.  However, I immediately noticed and felt comfortable with their general technology review process and the types of documents they work with.  I have worked in business development like this in several other companies, so I feel that I know the ropes pretty well.  However, the unusual part was all of the medical terms and jargon that are used in this work, so it took a long time to understand some of the technologies.  In addition, every organization has its own set of acronyms and phrases that are foreign to newcomers, so communication in the early days was difficult.  Gradually, I started to learn the ropes and understood better what was going on.   I also met a steady stream of important contacts, supplied by Dr. Dixon who would help me do my job down the road.  I quickly discovered again just how nice and helpful the people of Nebraska are, and how similar the work in academia and industry really is.

As I met more of the faculty, I became involved with several startup efforts that were already underway, being rejuvenated or just beginning.  I love having conversations with budding entrepreneurs who have previously focused only on academic pursuits.  These are world-class researchers who want to learn and understand new areas.  Some of my favorite discussions over the last year were with researchers like Sam Sanderson, Dong Wang, Vinod Labhasetwar, Joe Vetro and Greg Gordon.  I’m amazed by their willingness to take a chance on commercializing their technologies and do everything possible to get viable products to the market.  With serious entrepreneurs like these folks (and many others), I think the future of biotechnology in Nebraska is bright.  To be successful, Nebraska needs to have some major success stories that will attract other entrepreneurs who have a path to follow.

In April of 2013, Vinod Labhasetwar and I founded a nanoparticle drug delivery company, ProTransit Nanotherapy, LLC.  We licensed the technology from UNeMed and will test our prototype product this summer at the Cleveland Clinic under a sponsored research agreement.   I’ve discovered, to my great delight, that there is a flourishing and expanding nanomedicine group at UNMC, so I’m trying to tap into their expertise anywhere that I can

So as it turns out, I successfully reached my primary goals as an EIR.  I’m pleased to report that I recently signed up for another year with UNeMed and continue to be committed to helping anyone I can who is interested in a biotech startup company in Nebraska. Even our grand-parenting goals were met when our grandson, Cole, was born last September right here in Omaha….

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