Pack Ventures, a new venture capital fund that is collaborating with the 91探花, aims to help entrepreneurs launch new innovations and grow startups that emerge across the UW, while also giving Husky alumni access to investment opportunities.

Pack VC is independently run and is building affinity to the UW, lowering the threshold to investing and leveraging the deep relationships with innovators who have a 91探花affiliation 鈥� spinouts from campus and alumni-founded companies. The 91探花and Pack Ventures signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year, formalizing the relationship.

Pack Ventures is now a preferred venture partner of the 91探花and CoMotion, the 鲍奥鈥檚 collaborative innovation hub. On the back of this agreement, Pack Ventures launched their second venture fund and is raising $30 million to invest in more Husky founders. The second fund already has more than 50 investors.

Ken Horenstein, Pack Ventures鈥� founder, said the fund also will help attract faculty and students to the UW, increase philanthropy to the 91探花and help the 91探花engage alumni who are looking to invest in emerging companies. 听Horenstein has committed to donating up to 2% of his personal proceeds to the 91探花and is encouraging all fund investors to make a similar pledge.

鈥淚’m kind of a marketplace. I’m trying to pair people who have investment dollars to good investment opportunities,鈥� Horenstein said, emphasizing companies that will succeed and are likely to have a positive social impact on a global scale.

鈥淧art of my calculus to focus on the 91探花is: I think the talent is world class. I think the resources are world class. And there’s not enough attention here, which has created what we call in finance, 鈥榓lpha,鈥� which is an overlooked opportunity that will perform better than the rest of the market,鈥� he said.

Horenstein said over the past decade the 91探花had more than $30 billion in exit valuations, a broad measure of the worth of companies, intellectual property and other assets. With additional nurturing, Horenstein said, that number will grow.

The 91探花is one of the top institutions nationwide receiving federal funds for research 鈥� more than $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2023, according to the 91探花Office of Research. That figure is an indicator of the quality and creativity of 91探花faculty and staff 鈥� and quite often these faculty go on to start spinoffs to amplify and scale the impact of their research.

Pack Ventures was an idea that germinated at first Innovation Roundtable in 2020, part of former Provost Mark Richards’ agenda to help take 91探花research and discoveries to a higher level of excellence and impact. The Roundtable brings together some of the top names in venture capital and industry from the Pacific Northwest. Participants in the first Roundtable suggested the creation of an Innovation Imperative website that aggregates all things entrepreneurial across 鲍奥鈥檚 three campuses, helped bring to the Foster School of Business, had a vision for and contributed to the diversification of the 91探花innovation ecosystem.

Chris DeVore, creator of Founders鈥� Co-op, a Seattle based venture fund, participated in that first Innovation Roundtable. He noticed that similar universities with 鲍奥鈥檚 research funding had venture capital funds within their ecosystem. While state law prohibits the 91探花from investing directly in startups, there was an opportunity to bring more early seed funding to companies emerging from the school. Entrepreneurial success leads to entrepreneurial wealth, DeVore said, and fostering that cycle can lead to a number of positive outcomes.

鈥淚f we’re better at supporting entrepreneurs, it will, in the long run, support our advancement goals as an institution,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s the capsule.鈥�

The 91探花has many cornerstones in place to support an innovation culture, but Pack Ventures taking on this work helps supplement and complete the landscape, said Mike Halperin, a member of the Innovation Roundtable, a life sciences investor and an enthusiastic 91探花supporter.

鈥淭here’s a different role to be played by a venture fund, and in particular one which has its DNA, its roots and its goals 100% in supporting the vision and mission of the 91探花, in support of the population of the state of Washington,鈥� Halperin said.

Horenstein earned his bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees at the 91探花and he already was mentoring participants at CoMotion, the innovation center that provides 91探花researchers with the tools, connections and acumen to transform ideas into economic and societal impact. Fran莽ois Baneyx, the CoMotion director and 91探花vice provost for innovation, said Horenstein has experience working for M12, Microsoft鈥檚 venture fund, and is a community builder who is equipped to deal with the complexity of running a fund.

鈥淜en has quickly become an integral part of the fabric of our innovation enterprise,鈥� Baneyx said. 鈥淗e talks to our alumni. He talks to our students. He’s really keen on helping build up the 91探花entrepreneurial ecosystem.鈥�

Now entering its second fund and its third year, Pack VC has raised more than $10 million from more than 100 investors and invested in 29 companies run by people that have connections to the UW, including faculty, students and alumni. These companies have raised more than $130 million in additional venture capital funding or grants.

Pack Ventures helps those organizations with mentorship and critical early funding. Investments can take years to realize gain 鈥� many companies fail early on 鈥� but some will breakthrough and deliver returns of up to 50 times the original investment. Unlike other venture funds that have high-dollar investment minimums for limited partners to get access to the fund returns, Pack Ventures lowered the initial threshold, actively embracing people who have been historically excluded from the venture marketplace.

The fund also hires 91探花graduate students to serve as fellows. Lucy Maynard, a bioengineering doctoral student and current Pack Ventures fellow, said the experience has demonstrated the fundamentals of meeting founders, doing due diligence, understanding the financials and writing investment memos. In the lab, Maynard is working on therapeutics that rewire biology, but she wanted to round out her experience.

鈥淰C has always been an avenue that’s been of interest to me,鈥� Maynard said. 鈥淚’ve seen science from the academic lens, I’ve seen it from the industry lens and I’ve had a few opportunities to sort of explore it from a startup lens. And so, VC was that final lens.鈥�

Pack Ventures checked the boxes, she said, especially the goal of cultivating entrepreneurship at 91探花and in the Pacific Northwest.

Rainfall Health CEO Ahmed 鈥楨ddie鈥� Qureshi was an 91探花undergraduate when he first developed a technology platform for better diagnostics. Since then, Qureshi has been building a digital health platform at Rainfall Health that leverages artificial intelligence to improve healthcare delivery to rural and underserved communities. He built the company as part of the Creative Destruction Lab program in the Foster School, and that鈥檚 when he met Horenstein and the team at Pack Ventures.

The meeting led to early seed funding 鈥� and today Rainfall Health has 11 employees and has received more than $3 million in two funding rounds from multiple investors, including prominent healthcare executives. They鈥檙e hoping to do for healthcare what Airbnb did for hospitality and Uber did for transportation 鈥� make healthcare accessible to the 70 million Americans who live two hours or more from a hospital. Building the business with mentors from Pack Ventures, the 91探花and the talent in the Pacific Northwest has helped Qureshi鈥檚 business flourish.

鈥淚t makes such a big difference when people are ready and willing to believe that the system can change and improve,鈥� Qureshi said. 鈥淭hat’s half the work right there.鈥�

Another startup to receive Pack Ventures investment dollars is Monod Bio, a spinout from 91探花Medicine鈥檚 Institute for Protein Design. GeekWire that Monod Bio and other spinouts from IPD now are valued at more than $1 billion. Monod Bio used technology built at the 91探花and optimized it for scientists to use in a laboratory, a multibillion-dollar industry. They鈥檙e also developing new clinical diagnostics. Founded in 2021, the company set up shop at and utilized facilities at Fluke Hall, said David Shoultz, a cofounder, chief operating officer and an affiliate professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health.

鈥淭he first day, thanks to CoMotion and their incubation services, we were able to already have office and lab space,鈥� Shoultz said.

Pack Ventures injected capital in two rounds of funding and today Monod Bio has raised $25 million and has 26 employees operating in office and lab space in Seattle鈥檚 South Lake Union neighborhood. Despite the relatively small investment amount from Pack VC, the relationship has 鈥渙utsized鈥� value thanks to Horenstein鈥檚 strategic guidance and his ability to tap into a vast professional network.

Horenstein said he hopes to see innovations impact the world and not be limited to a laboratory.

鈥淲e’re progressing science,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to see it actually have an impact on patients or customers or industries.鈥�

Over 30 years of dentistry, Sami Dogan has treated just about every kind of tooth ailment. Cavities are simple to fill. Dental implants have become routine. But there鈥檚 one problem, he said, that annoys even the most experienced dentists: hypersensitivity, the painful sensation sparked by contact with hot, cold or acidic food.听听

鈥淲e see patients with hypersensitive teeth, but we can鈥檛 really help them,鈥� said Dogan, a . 鈥淲e have all these repair options available in the market, but they鈥檙e all transient. They focus on treating the symptoms and not addressing the root cause. I see my patients after a couple of weeks, several months, again coming to my practice complaining about the same issue.”听

So a few years ago, Dogan began working with a team of 91探花materials engineers who had set out to develop a natural protocol to rebuild lost tooth minerals, which they believed could also become听permanent fix to this painful condition. Their solution, , builds new mineral microlayers that penetrate deep into the tooth to create effective, long-lasting natural protection.听听

The ultimate goal, Dogan said, is to provide easily accessible relief for the millions of adults worldwide who suffer from tooth sensitivity.听

The painful sensation emerges when acids, like those created after saliva breaks down sugar, wear away at tooth enamel. Uninterrupted, that wear 鈥� called demineralization 鈥� can expose the pathways connecting the tooth鈥檚 hard exterior with its softer interior, dentin and pulp. Nerves and blood vessels are left defenseless, and pain ensues.鈥��听

The body has no way to repair or regrow worn enamel, which is the only non-living tissue in the human body. To reverse that loss, the 91探花researchers designed their solution to be molecularly biomimetic, meaning it closely resembles the molecular processes by which the body develops teeth.听听

At the heart of that process is a peptide 鈥� a short chain of amino acids 鈥� derived from the larger protein amelogenin, which is key in the biological development of human teeth. Named sADP5, the specifically tailored peptide grabs onto calcium and phosphate ions 鈥� the main components of tooth mineral 鈥� and uses them to build new mineral microlayers.

鈥淥ur technology forms the same minerals found in the tooth, including enamel, cementum, and dentin alike, which had dissolved previously through demineralization and caused the sensitivity,鈥� said lead author , who began this work as a postdoctoral researcher at 91探花and is now an assistant professor at the . 鈥淭he newly formed mineral microlayers close the communication channels with the tooth nerves, and then hypersensitivity shouldn鈥檛 be an issue for you.鈥�

The peptide can be integrated into nearly any type of oral health product. In preclinical trials, participants received a dental lozenge the size of a cough drop, with a core of calcium and phosphate coated in a layer of peptide-infused flavoring. Researchers have also designed peptide-based formulations including mouthwash, dental gels, tooth whiteners, and toothpaste.鈥��听

鈥淭here are lots of different design and delivery methods,鈥� said , an assistant teaching professor of materials science and engineering at the 91探花and co-author of the paper. 鈥淭he most important thing is the peptide, the key ingredient in the given formulation, and it鈥檚 working.鈥濃��听

This research was conducted in the at the 91探花under the direction of , a professor of materials science and engineering. Other authors include John Hamann and Eric Hall from the 91探花Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund, Gap Funds, and the 91探花Department of Restorative Dentistry’s Spencer Funds.鈥�听

For more information, contact Sarikaya at sarikaya@uw.edu, Fong at hfong@uw.edu, Dogan at samido@uw.edu or Yucesoy at denizyucesoy@iyte.edu.tr. 听

For more than 20 years, the 91探花 has been home to a database built, maintained and expanded around the goal of helping to prevent health complications from adverse drug reactions, one of the of injury and death in health care settings.

This year, the 91探花School of Pharmacy鈥檚 , or DIDB 鈥� the core research tool from the school鈥檚 nonprofit team 鈥� is celebrating both for innovation and two decades of independent funding through licensing agreements with companies, research institutes and regulatory agencies around the globe.

鈥淭he award from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics is a great acknowledgement of the impact we鈥檝e had in the drug development space,鈥� said Dr. , DIDB co-founder and director of Drug Interaction Solutions. 鈥淲e built something from scratch at the 91探花, and now it is internationally recognized as an authoritative research tool, with over 180 organizations from 40 different countries as subscribers.鈥�

The Drug Interaction Database is a highly detailed, structured matrix of cross-linking entries designed to support research and regulatory scientists in academia, pharmaceutical companies and other organizations in their evaluation of drug interactions and drug safety. Entries for the database are curated by 91探花scientists from a wide range of drug-related documents, including clinical studies, drug developer publications, toxicity case reports and FDA New Drug Applications reviews.

The database is continuously updated as new information about drugs becomes available. Currently, the site has more than 170,000 entries involving in vitro (or “test-tube experiments”) and in vivo (in humans) data on metabolic enzymes and drug transporters (proteins in the body that help drugs pass from one organ to another); interactions with other drugs or with foods, herbs, tobacco and genetics; and other factors.

The Drug Interaction Solutions team of experts not only thoroughly reviews drug interaction information but also helps researchers use the system effectively.

鈥淭he impetus to initiate this database resulted from my work with antiepileptic drugs.

My eureka moment occurred in 1994 when I became able to segregate the clinical interactions of the drug phenytoin (Dilantin) according to two distinct but related enzymes. That 鈥榙iscovery鈥� propelled my efforts to pursue the development of the database,鈥� said , the founder of the DIDB and its principal investigator until 2009, when he retired from the UW. Levy has in the field of drug disposition and drug-to-drug interactions听and remains an advisor to the director.

鈥淭his award recognizes the excellence and dedication of the team of database researchers, as well as the input I received from colleagues in the departments of Pharmaceutics and Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, and the Department of Neurological Surgery in the School of Medicine,鈥� Levy said.

After establishing the plan for building the database and recruiting Ragueneau-Majlessi, Levy was able to gain funding initially through seed grants from several pharmaceutical companies. In 2002, the university began licensing access to the database through . Since then, Drug Interaction Solutions has remained a nonprofit venture with licensing revenues used to cover the costs of scientific and technical maintenance, as well as the development of new features.

鈥淭he DIDB is a prime example of a university-sourced innovation maintained by the university and made available as products directly to customers, as opposed to licensed to others or spun off as a company,鈥� said Ro茂 Eisenkot, senior innovation manager at CoMotion. 鈥淎s a longtime partner of the program, 91探花CoMotion has been collaborating with the team to build its licensing offerings and expand into new markets, while supporting all partner contracting activities such as risk management, managing distributors, fee collection and license renewals.鈥�

While the database is not intended for doctors in clinical settings to use directly, Ragueneau-Majlessi explained, it is evolving in that direction through the integration of its data into the tools that help doctors make drug choices and manage adverse drug interactions.

According to the FDA, two-thirds of patient visits result in a prescription, with more drug combinations being used to treat patients. Adverse drug reactions 鈥渋ncrease exponentially with four or more medications,鈥� the agency . In addition, herbals and food products (including fruit juices) can significantly affect various common medications, so multi-drug interactions are frequent in clinical situations.

鈥淚t should not be acceptable that a person can be given two drugs with a major adverse interaction when we know the mechanism behind that interaction,鈥� Ragueneau-Majlessi said. 鈥淲e have the mechanistic and quantitative understanding that allow us to predict drug interactions, and that is very powerful clinically. Adverse drug interactions can be prevented.鈥�

On its website, the Drug Interaction Solutions team the DIDB can support the growth of personalized medicine and the trend toward selecting the most appropriate drug and dose for each unique patient.

鈥淚 really believe that is the next stage for the database,鈥� Ragueneau-Majlessi said. 鈥淲e are now in the era of precision dosing and personalized therapy. And, even if we can鈥檛 prevent all drug interactions, we can manage them. If you understand the mechanism of the drug and its interactions, you can make sure that an individual patient is not negatively affected. Knowledge is power.鈥�

Levy and Ragueneau-Majlessi will officially receive the from the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics in March at the society鈥檚 annual meeting. The award honors scientists in clinical pharmacology who 鈥渉ave demonstrated leadership in the application of significant, innovative science to clinical drug development.鈥�

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For more information contact Marie-Christine Bodinier, senior marketing manager for Drug Interaction Solutions, at mariecb@uw.edu.

Creative Destruction Lab, a nonprofit organization for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies, will launch its third U.S.-based location, CDL-Seattle, this fall. Based at the 鲍奥鈥檚 Foster School of Business, CDL-Seattle will be a partnership with Microsoft Corporation, the 91探花College of Engineering, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and CoMotion, 鲍奥鈥檚 collaborative innovation hub. The initial area of focus for CDL-Seattle is computational health.

“The rapid growth of new machine learning applications focused on enhancing human health combined with innovations in sensor technology and other complements has created a flood of new entrepreneurial opportunities that will benefit society,鈥� said Ajay Agrawal, founder, Creative Destruction Lab, and professor at the University of Toronto鈥檚 Rotman School of Management. 鈥淲e’re thrilled to partner with one of the world’s great research institutions, the 91探花, located in such a vibrant hub of global leaders in technology commercialization 鈥� the Seattle region.”

In January 2020, 91探花Provost Mark Richards announced the formation of the听 91探花Innovation Roundtable,听comprised of some of the region鈥檚 leading venture capitalists, angel investors and innovation leaders. One of the roundtable鈥檚 working groups, co-chaired by Emer Dooley, Pat Hughes Faculty Fellow at Foster, and Bill McAleer, founder of Voyager Capital, focused on identifying and assessing the best accelerator model to implement at UW. They evaluated five different models and selected Creative Destruction Lab as the best option.

A partnership of investors 鈥� Artie Buerk, Neal Dempsey, Bill McAleer, Rob Short and Steve Singh 鈥� backed CDL-Seattle, helping the initiative gain early momentum.

鈥淚 view CDL as an engine for scaling and funding deep-tech companies, which supports our brand of having an 鈥榠nnovation mindset,鈥欌�� said Frank Hodge, the Orin and Janet Smith Dean of the 91探花Foster School of Business. 鈥淚t will also offer students a highly experiential, hands-on entrepreneurial education and opportunities to work with startups in an objectives-based accelerator.鈥�

Over nine months, CDL鈥檚 program provides a marketplace for technical startup founders to learn from the insights of experienced entrepreneurs, increasing their likelihood of success.

The first focus area of computational health is well suited to the strengths of 91探花and the strength of the region in terms of computing, medicine and life sciences. While the past decade saw increasing use of digital health technology, the next decade will center on artificial intelligence and edge computing, with the proliferating use of health sensors. The field of computational health exists at the interface of biomedical signal processing, computational modeling, machine learning and health informatics to drive innovation in research, clinical and customer-facing applications.

鈥淐DL-Seattle is the missing link in the 91探花innovation ecosystem and our region,鈥� said Fran莽ois Baneyx, director of CoMotion, 91探花Vice Provost for Innovation, and the Charles W.H. Matthaei Professor of Chemical Engineering. 鈥淚t has the potential to transform and unify research and commercialization activities in the computational health space and will help establish Seattle as a center of gravity for these sectors, while growing the strengths we already have here.鈥�

鈥淭hink of computational health as a powerful tool in unraveling a complex big-data puzzle,鈥� said Dooley. 鈥淲hether it’s mapping the immune system, mining population health data to address inequity, or helping optimize individuals’ health care, AI and machine learning are essential tools. Washington state has incredible cloud computing, AI and machine learning expertise and a vibrant biotech sector. We need to bring the two closer together.鈥�

Experienced entrepreneurs who have founded, led and sold successful tech companies, along with world-leading scientists, engineers and economists, will serve as mentors to participating startups. In addition, 91探花students and faculty will have an opportunity to apply their expertise and learning to advance science- and technology-based companies in computational health. The successful commercialization of cutting-edge science and technology achieved through CDL, which began in Toronto, has already led to the creation of over $8 billion Canadian dollars in equity value.

Creative Destruction Lab is a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. Its nine-month program allows founders to learn from experienced entrepreneurs, increasing their likelihood of success. Founded by Agrawal in 2012, the program has expanded to 10 sites across four countries: Oxford (Sa茂d Business School, University of Oxford), Paris (HEC Paris), Atlanta (Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology), Madison (Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Seattle (91探花, Foster School of Business), Vancouver (Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia), Montreal (HEC Montr茅al), Calgary (Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary), and Halifax (Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University).

Selected ventures at 91探花will begin the nine-month CDL program in November 2021. For more questions, contact听cdl-seattle@creativedestructionlab.com. Applications are currently being accepted online at creativedestructionlab.com/apply.

听

A commitment to innovation powered the 91探花 to a by The Princeton Review. The 2021 ranking marks an all-time high 鈥� solidifying 91探花and the Foster School of Business as a leader in entrepreneurial education and incubation within the Pac-12 and across the Western United States.

The Princeton Review sent to more than 300 undergraduate and graduate schools offering entrepreneurship studies. The survey looks at the opportunities for aspiring student entrepreneurs both inside and outside the classroom including the quality and quantity of courses, faculty and mentors available.

鈥淲e are a world-class innovative community built on the impactful work and collaboration of the Foster School鈥檚 Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, our faculty and partners like 91探花CoMotion across the UW,鈥� said , Orin and Janet Smith dean of the Foster School. 鈥淭he insights we foster together will better humanity and propel us forward for a better tomorrow.鈥�

91探花and the Foster School also rose seven spots . The 40+ survey data points in the ranking methodology include the number of startups founded by recent alumni. Over the past ten years, graduate alumni have launched more than 540 ventures independent of the school and brought in over $270 million in fundraising and investment. During the same timeframe, undergraduate alumni launched more than 468 independent ventures and raised over $85 million.

During the past five years, executed more than 1,950 licenses and spun out 73 startups which have gone on to raise over $4.4B in funding. Today, 91探花spinoffs employ more than 4,000 people in the state of Washington.

鈥� 91探花is consistently ranked as the most innovative public university, and with some of the most creative faculty and students in the world, innovation is truly part of our DNA,鈥� said , 91探花vice provost for innovation and director of CoMotion. 鈥淲e are thrilled to help these scientists transform their ideas into economic and societal impact that makes a difference at the global scale.鈥�

91探花education and programming work in symbiosis with one of the top startup ecosystems in the world.听In FY 2018, the university drove $15.7 billion in economic activity for the state. In late January, 91探花created an Innovation Roundtable featuring leading venture capitalists, angel investors and innovative leaders. 91探花also launched a new Innovation Imperative website focused on both the on-campus and regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The Foster School鈥檚 and operate as hubs for community, faculty and student collaboration 鈥� working with colleges and department across the UW-Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell campuses (as well as the which operates in partnership with China鈥檚 Tsinghua University and Microsoft) to connect students to major VC firms, angel investing groups and entrepreneurs in every industry in the region.

The Buerk Center open to colleges and universities across the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alaska 鈥� as well as the non-academic program. Since 2010, more than 85% of those who received seed funding from the Accelerator are still in business today.

鈥淥ur commitment to empowering students to create impactful ventures has never been stronger,鈥� said , director of the Buerk Center. 鈥淲e believe in creating academic and extracurricular experiences with both depth and breadth while also supporting dedicated initiatives to diversity, equity and inclusion. Together, 鲍奥鈥檚 students, faculty and community partners are building a model for growth that rivals any in the world.鈥�

The Foster School features the (YEOC), a six-week end of summer program, as well as a women鈥檚 . In 2020, 鲍奥鈥檚 signature had female students as founders or cofounders on 37% of the 97 teams that competed.

Entrepreneurship students are also given the access and opportunity to participate in programs in partnership with global leaders such as , , the , the , as well as fellowships in technology commercialization and social entrepreneurship.

In the past several years, 91探花also partnered to the at CoMotion, , and the WE-REACH Biomedical Entrepreneurship Center, among others.

The Princeton Review rankings and will also be published in the December issue of Entrepreneur Magazine.

With $4 million in matching funds from the National Institutes of Health, the 91探花 has created a new integrated center to match biomedical discoveries with the resources needed to bring innovative products to the public and improve health.

鈥淭he 91探花 and regional partner institutions produce some of the most exciting biomedical discoveries and technologies in the world, but we always find it challenging to support their product development as they move into the early commercialization phases,鈥� said the new center鈥檚 executive director听, a professor in the 91探花School of Pharmacy.

With well over a billion dollars in听research funding听annually, the 91探花 is an engine of discovery and generates more than听$15 billion听in the state鈥檚 economy.

鲍奥鈥檚 newly funded Washington Entrepreneurial Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (WE-REACH), with an annual budget boosted to $1.4 million by contributions from other partners, is organized to mentor and support biomedical entrepreneurs as well as provide project funding to fuel four to six biomedical startups a year with up to $200,000 each.

Those projects will include innovative disease treatments, new drugs, diagnostics, genetic testing and health technologies. Ho said the center will support innovation steps not typically supported by research grants, such as human clinical trials or the development of and access to products.

In addition to the NIH, WE-REACH partners include the UW听,听, the听听and the听. Innovators will receive guidance from multiple academic departments and regional institutions. Those institutions include the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, Seattle Children鈥檚 and other universities in the five states that make up the听听region.

鈥淲e are delighted to welcome WE-REACH as a partner,鈥� said听, executive director of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences.听鈥淎t ITHS we are committed to accelerating the translation of discoveries to the clinic. WE-REACH investigators will be able to leverage ITHS programs and resources, so they can help us in our mission to improve health in our communities. This is a very exciting area of translation that we are happy to support.鈥�

WE-REACH is one of five national commercialization听听selected for funding by the NIH in 2019.

鈥淭he journey of biomedical discoveries to products that improve people鈥檚 health is expensive and risky. The process requires strategic investment of know-how as well as financial support from public-private partnerships,鈥� said Ho.

鈥淪pinning life science innovations out of research institutions requires expertise and funding that is hard to source in the academic environment,鈥� adds听, assistant vice president, innovation development at CoMotion, 鲍奥鈥檚 collaborative innovation hub. 鈥淲E-REACH builds on the infrastructure CoMotion has developed, including our gap fund and training, to provide critical resources needed to de-risk promising technologies into preclinical and clinical development.鈥�

The new center will be located in the South Campus Center on the 91探花鈥檚 Seattle campus and at the Institute of Translational Health Sciences in 91探花Medicine South Lake Union. It will be staffed by Professor Rodney Ho, Executive Director; Terri Butler, Associate Director of Outreach and Partnerships; Matthew Hartman, Coordinator; Christine Jonsson, Administrator; and new hires in project management and technology management roles.

For information on the new center and how to submit a grant proposal,听please contact Matthew Hartman at听WEREACH@uw.edu听or 561-339-0676.听The next round of grant funding requires a declaration of intent by Feb. 7 and complete submission by May 1.

NIH Grant: 1 U01 HL152401-01

Learn more about the 鲍奥鈥檚 Population Health Initiative: a 25-year, interdisciplinary effort to bring understanding and solutions to the biggest challenges facing communities.

Baneyx is also director of CoMotion, 鲍奥鈥檚 collaborative innovation hub dedicated to expanding the economic and societal impact of the 91探花community. In addition, he is the Charles W.H. Matthaei Professor of Chemical Engineering and an adjunct professor of Bioengineering, and the director of the Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales, a multi-institution Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the Department of Energy.

As Vice Provost for Innovation, Baneyx drives the long-term strategy and vision for 鲍奥鈥檚 innovation imperative. He helps promote the economic and societal impact of the university鈥檚 innovation activities, as well as explore and leverage emerging opportunities and global strategic partnerships that benefit 鲍奥鈥檚 innovation ecosystem.

鈥淔ran莽ois will lead the critical work of expanding the economic and social impact of our University鈥檚 innovators, and I am deeply grateful to him for bringing his creativity, expertise and commitment to this endeavor,鈥� Richards said.

The position reports directly to the Provost and is part of the President鈥檚 Cabinet.

On Monday, January 27, the 91探花 launched its inaugural Innovation Roundtable. Co-chaired by Baneyx and Bryan White, founder of Sahsen Ventures, the 91探花Innovation Roundtable represents a cross-section of the regional investment and economic development community, including leading venture capitalists, angel investors and innovation leaders. Its aim is to optimize technology transfer effectiveness, create a vibrant life science innovation ecosystem, and identify opportunities for private/public partnerships to advance 鲍奥鈥檚 economic and societal impact.

鈥淚 am very pleased to partner with such a fantastic group of people to help us continue to grow the innovation ecosystem at the 91探花and beyond,鈥� Baneyx said. 鈥淚 look forward to learning from them and am excited to see the positive results this group will yield.鈥�

Innovation Roundtable members serve as 91探花innovation ambassadors in the broader community, providing connections and ideas that may further the university鈥檚 innovation strategies. Members include:

• Adriane Brown, venture partner, Flying Fish
• Neal Dempsey, managing general partner, Bay Partners
• Chris DeVore, managing partner, Founders Co-Op
• Emer Dooley, executive director, Alliance of Angels Seed Fund; Faculty Fellow, Foster School of Business
• Greg Gottesman, co-founder and managing director, Pioneer Square Labs
• Mike Halperin, co-chair, 91探花General Campaign
• Ron Howell, CEO, Washington Research Foundation
• Charlotte Hubbert, partner, Gates Foundation Venture Capital
• Matt McIlwain, managing director, Madrona Venture Group
• Bill McAleer, founder and managing director, Voyager Capital
• Amit Mital, CEO and founder, Kernel Labs
• Susan Preston, managing member, SeaChange Fund, Seattle Angel Fund, and Element 8 Fund
• Sheila Remes, vice president of strategy, Boeing Commercial Airplanes
• Linden Rhoads, former vice provost of the 91探花Center for Commercialization
• Julie Sunderland, managing director, BioMatics Capital
• Tachi Yamada, venture partner, Frazier Healthcare Partners

Ex-Officio Members:

• Ana Mari Cauce, 91探花president
• Mark Richards, 91探花provost

Baneyx fills a position formerly held by Vikram Jandhyala, who died in March.

鈥淔ran莽ois is a respected researcher, teacher and innovator with connections throughout academia and industry, as well as firsthand experience with startups,鈥� Richards said. 鈥淚 am confident that with his interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to his work and leadership, Fran莽ois will build upon 颁辞惭辞迟颈辞苍鈥檚 success and further propel the University鈥檚 culture of innovation.鈥�

CoMotion is the 鲍奥鈥檚 collaborative innovation hub dedicated to expanding the economic and societal impact of the 91探花community. By developing and connecting to local and global innovation ecosystems, CoMotion helps innovators achieve the greatest impact for their discoveries.

Baneyx is the Charles W.H. Matthaei Professor of Chemical Engineering and an adjunct professor of bioengineering. His research lies at the confluence of engineering, biology and nanotechnology.

鈥淚 am honored to succeed Vikram at the helm of CoMotion and I look forward to helping our incredibly talented faculty and students innovate for the greater good,鈥� Baneyx said.

Baneyx currently directs the Center for the Science of Synthesis Across Scales, a multi-institution Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. He previously served in a number of leadership positions at UW, including site director of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, director of the Center for Nanotechnology and most recently chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering. He is also the co-founder of , a 91探花spinoff.听Baneyx is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences.

Baneyx earned a doctoral degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, was a postdoctoral researcher at DuPont and joined the 91探花faculty in 1992.

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Most medical advancements of modern life started in the laboratory. Some, like the polio vaccine, sprouted from years of research directed toward combating a specific disease. Other breakthroughs, like penicillin, were discoveries in “basic” research later shown to have a clinical benefit. But translating a discovery into a clinical treatment can take years 鈥� though penicillin was first isolated in 1928, it took about 15 years to fully realize its clinical potential and develop a pipeline for mass production.

Researchers at the 91探花 are among the winners of a startup challenge to shorten the transition time from lab bench to patient. The team, including members of professor ‘s in the 91探花Department of Bioengineering, was selected based on its proposal and business plan to develop a targeted drug delivery system for breast cancer. As one of 10 teams winning the National Cancer Institute’s , the group will receive assistance and support from NCI and other partners in the often daunting transition into the business world of drug development.

Pun credits , the UW’s hub for innovation and spinoffs, for facilitating their entry into the challenge.

CoMotion connected Pun and 91探花bioengineering graduate student Chayanon Ngambenjawong with Elizabeth Cho-Fertikh, a scientist and founder of Washington, D.C.-based , and together they drafted a business proposal for a drug delivery system targeting a specific population of tumor-promoting cells present in most solid cancers.

Their team proposal relied on years of research into these tumor-promoting cells, known as tumor-associated macrophages or TAMs. When this proposal in the startup challenge, they then developed a business plan and pitched it to a panel of experts and judges. As a winner of this second and final round in the competition, Pun and partners will be ushered through a multistep process of incorporating a company, meeting investors and launching their startup.

Pun and her team believe targeting TAMs may help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and other anticancer drugs.

“TAMs are a specific type of cell found within tumors, and past research indicates that they can interfere with the body’s own antitumor activity and clinical treatments,” said Pun. “So if you can find a way to specifically target and eliminate TAMs, this could help boost the efficacy of cancer treatments.”

Pun’s group a short peptide sequence displayed on the surface of TAMs in mouse tumors. Human TAMs should contain a similar sequence, and the to exploit this sequence as the basis for a novel drug delivery system against TAMs in breast cancer. But that could just be the beginning.

“TAMs play an important role in almost any type of major cancer,” said Pun. “So, our hope is that the lessons we learn in developing this treatment against breast cancer TAMs can be applied to other types of tumors.”

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For more information, contact Pun at spun@uw.edu.

Two 91探花 undergraduates have won a $10,000 for gloves that can translate sign language into text or speech.

The Lemelson-MIT Student Prize is a nationwide search for the most inventive undergraduate and graduate students. This year, 91探花sophomores and 鈥� who are studying business administration and aeronautics and astronautics engineering, respectively 鈥� won the “Use It” undergraduate category that recognizes technology-based inventions to improve consumer devices.

Their invention, “SignAloud,” is a pair of gloves that can recognize hand gestures that correspond to words and phrases in American Sign Language. Each glove contains sensors that record hand position and movement and send data wirelessly via Bluetooth to a central computer. The computer looks at the gesture data through various sequential statistical regressions, similar to a neural network. If the data match a gesture, then the associated word or phrase is spoken through a speaker.

They honed their prototype in the 91探花 鈥� a campus space that offers communal tools and equipment and opportunities for students to tinker, create and innovate. For Azodi and Pryor, that meant finding a way to translate American Sign Language into a verbal form instantaneously and in an ergonomic fashion.

“Many of the sign language translation devices already out there are not practical for everyday use. Some use video input, while others have sensors that cover the user’s entire arm or body,” said Pryor, an undergraduate researcher in the in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics and software lead for the Husky Robotics Team.

“Our gloves are lightweight, compact and worn on the hands, but ergonomic enough to use as an everyday accessory, similar to hearing aids or contact lenses,” said Pryor.

The duo met in the dorms during their freshman year and discovered they both had a passion for invention and problem solving. Azodi has technical experience as a systems intern at NASA, a technology lead for 91探花Information Technology and a campus representative for Apple. His long history of volunteer work 鈥� which includes organizing dozens of blood drives and working with Seattle Union Gospel Mission, Northwest Harvest and Ethiopia Reads 鈥� gave motivation to build a device that would have real-world impact.

“Our purpose for developing these gloves was to provide an easy-to-use bridge between native speakers of American Sign Language and the rest of the world,” Azodi said. “The idea initially came out of our shared interest in invention and problem solving. But coupling it with our belief that communication is a fundamental human right, we set out to make it more accessible to a larger audience.”

http://youtu.be/4uY-MyoRq4c

The team received support and mentoring from Mike Clarke, who manages the CoMotion MakerSpace and met the students after one asked for help with some soldering equipment that turned out to be broken.

“We disassembled it and fixed it together while talking about their sign language translation project. I recognized from working and talking with Thomas and Navid that they were standouts and that the invention they made was really impressive,” Clarke said.

Pryor and Azodi’s first target audience is the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and those interested in learning and working with American Sign Language. But the gloves could also be commercialized for use in other fields, including medical technology to monitor stroke patients during rehabilitation, gesture control and enhanced dexterity in virtual reality.

Their “Use It” Student Prize is one of seven awarded by the Lemelson-MIT Program this year. Each winning team of undergraduates will receive $10,000, and each graduate student winner will receive $15,000. The winners of this year’s competition were selected from a diverse and highly competitive applicant pool of students from 77 colleges and universities across the country.

“This year’s Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winners have outstanding portfolios of inventive work,” said Lemelson-MIT Program faculty director Michael Cima. “Their passion for solving problems through invention is matched by their commitment to mentoring the next generation of inventors.” Students interested in applying for the 2017 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize can complete this .