NSF grant to Theromics for ablation therapy technology
April 2024. Theromics Inc. received a $1M STTR Phase II grant from NSF for HeatSYNC™, a nano-polymer gel that enhances the effectiveness of ablation therapy of abnormal tissue and allows controlled delivery of drugs directly into soft tissue with reduced side effects.
Shukla elected to AIMBE College of Fellows
April 2024. Anita Shukla has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. Shukla’s research focuses on biomaterials such as microbe-responsive drug-delivery systems and targeted nanoparticle therapeutics that address global health issues in infectious diseases.
Ayanian presents swarming drones at 2024 SXSW
April 2024. Nora Ayanian presented at the 2024 SXSW Conference. She shared multi-robot systems and swarms, as well as recent work on robot art. Her research focuses on solutions that allow non-experts to use teams of robots safely and effectively.
New Yosemite-American Cancer Society Award
April 2024. Yosemite, an oncology-focused venture capital firm, and the American Cancer Society have launched the Yosemite-American Cancer Society Award with an initial commitment of $13.2 million. The grant program will support research on methodologies, feasibility studies, and high-risk/high-reward projects.
AtomICs wins Baylor’s 2024 New Venture Competition
April 2024. AtomICs, a data storage and processing startup founded by Brown faculty and former grad students, won first prize in Baylor’s 2024 New Venture Competition. The technology uses a novel patented technique to harness small-molecule mixtures to store digital information.
Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP named to the National Academy of Inventors
April 2024. Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, director of the Legorreta Cancer Center and associate dean for oncologic sciences, has been named to the National Academy of Inventors Class of 2024 Senior Members. This distinction recognizes Dr. El-Deiry’s success in patents, licensing, and commercialization and for producing technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society.
Transposon Therapeutics announces Phase 2 results
March 2024. Transposon Therapeutics, which is developing oral therapies for neurodegenerative and aging-related diseases, announced final results from its Phase 2 study of TPN-101 to treat progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and interim results from its Phase 2 study of TPN-101 to treat C9orf72-related ALS/FTD.
Sprint for Women's Health
March 2024. NIH’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced Sprint for Women’s Health, the first major deliverable from the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. ARPA-H committed $100 million to the effort, which will collaborate with ARPA-H’s Investor Catalyst Hub.
BTI's focus on commercialization
March 2024. Since 2020, Brown has executed nearly 40 sponsored biomed research agreements, secured 24 biomed-related patents, and made more than 60 biotech licensing deals. Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) has funded 21 proposals—totaling $2.1 million—from 19 faculty members.
El-Deiry named NAI Senior Member
March 2024. Wafik El-Deiry (department of pathology and laboratory medicine) has been named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Senior Members are faculty, scientists, and administrators from member institutions who have produced technologies that impact society.
Dean Desai elected to National Academy of Engineering
February 2024. Dean of Engineering Tejal Desai has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional honors accorded to an engineer. A Brown alum and biomedical engineer, Desai joined the University as dean in 2022.
Coulombe and Raimondo MIT competition finalists
February 2024. Brown engineering professors Kareen Coulombe and Theresa Raimondo were among twelve finalists for the 2023–2024 MIT-Royalty Pharma Prize Competition, a program that supports female faculty entrepreneurs in biotechnology and provides them with resources to help take their ideas to commercialization.
Engineering faculty meet with Helen of Troy
February 2024. Representatives from Helen of Troy (OXO, Hydro Flask, PUR) met with Engineering faculty members Vicki Colvin,Daniel Harris, Robert Hurt, and Kimani Toussaint in late January to discuss potential collaboration opportunities. Contact tech-innovations@brown.edu for further information.
Bolden Therapeutics receives $1.5M in financing
February 2024. Brown licensee Bolden Therapeutics, co-founded by Justin Fallon, Neuroscience, and Ashley Webb, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry, received $1.5 million in pre-seed convertible note financing to advance its preclinical development of antisense oligonucleotides to promote neurogenesis.
Harris earns CAREER Award from NSF
February 2024. Assistant professor of engineering Daniel Harris has been awarded a five-year $570,000 Faculty Early Career Development grant from the National Science Foundation for his work integrating experimental and theoretical research on the motion of solid particles at a fluid interface.
New Life Sciences Impact Awards - Request For LOI
January 2024. The Division of Biology and Medicine is pleased to announce the newly established Brown Innovation Fund, which is intended for granting Life Sciences Impact Awards to Brown faculty to support development of life sciences technologies with the potential to achieve commercialization. Applicants must submit a letter of intent by Monday, February 5, 2024. Visit the BBII webpage and contact Karen Bulock, Managing Director of Brown Biomedical Innovations (karen_bulock@brown.edu) for complete information.
BTI wins Most Impactful Program award
January 2024. BTI won Venture Café Providence’s 2023 Most Impactful Program award for its successful inaugural Innovation Showcase event, which was attended by nearly 300 investors, academic researchers, and entrepreneurs.
[SAVE THE DATE] Are you curious about start-ups?
January 2024. Join us for Faculty Entrepreneur Connect to meet entrepreneurially minded faculty. Our next session features Jason Harry, professor of the practice of technology and entrepreneurship, speaking on faculty roles in spinout companies. Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. at the Nelson Center.
Brown signs exclusive license agreement with Startup AtomICs, Inc.
January 2024. AtomICs, a data storage and processing startup founded by former graduate students Dana Biechele-Speziale and Selahaddin Gumus, Brenda Rubenstein (Chemistry), and Jacob Rosenstein (Engineering), uses a novel patented technique to harness small molecule mixtures to store digital information.
Startup founder Derek Stein named a Top 25 CEO of Rhode Island
January 2024. Key Executives named Brown professor Derek Stein (Physics) one of The Top 25 CEOs of Rhode Island for 2023. Adept Materials, founded by Stein, has developed an eco-friendly two-layer system of directional moisture control for use in construction, health care, and apparel.
FluxBrain accepted into the Nucleate Activator Program
January 2024. Biotech masters student Nancy Tran, in collaboration with Chris Moore, was accepted into the Nucleate Activator program for their startup in development, FluxBrain. FluxBrain is developing innovative approaches for controlling permeability of the blood-brain barrier for drug delivery applications.
Brown researchers named to 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list
January 2024. Brown faculty and inventor, George Karniadakis (Applied Mathematics and Engineering) has been named by Clarivate Analytics to the 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list. Brown researchers Kenneth Mayer (Bio Med/Medicine) and Shouheng Sun (Chemistry) also made the list.
BBII pre-proposals due December 15
December, 2023. Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) has launched a new proposal cycle. Interested applicants should review the full information on the BBII website. Pre-proposal applications should be submitted by email by Dec. 15.
PLM awarded patent
December, 2023. Eric M. Darling, Nicholas R. Labriola, and Edith Mathiowitz (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine) received a patent for methods that use inverse emulsification to fabricate hyper-compliant polymer particles for use in regenerative medicine, drug delivery and assays, and other applications.
Center on the Biology of Aging awarded patent
December, 2023. John M. Sedivy and Marco De Cecco, Center on the Biology of Aging, received a patent for therapeutic compounds consisting of at least one transcriptase inhibitor (islatravir, censavudine, or elvucitabine) that prevent, delay, or reverse age-associated inflammation.
Chemistry and Medicine awarded patent
December, 2023. Jerome R. Robinson (Chemistry) and Xiang Dong (Medicine) received a patent for catalyst systems that facilitate the ring-opening polymerization of (rac)-β-Butyrolactone (rac-BBL) for the production of sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based materials and for the stereospecific synthesis of aliphatic polyesters.
Innovation@Brown Showcase event highlights
November, 2023. BTI held its inaugural event in October during Rhode Island Startup Week. Watch a video of highlights from the event and interviews sharing the exciting innovation happening in and around Brown.
Brown joins ARPA-H Inventor Catalyst Hub
November, 2023. Brown joined the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub consortium of universities, companies, investors, foundations and agencies that will collaborate with ARPA-H to catalyze breakthroughs in science and medicine. Contact Neil Veloso for information.
Calling all faculty, postdocs, and grad students in STEM!
November, 2023. Equalize takes national action around the disparity of women academic inventors forming university startups. Participants receive education, a field-specific mentor, and access to networks that drive new entrepreneurial connections. Apply for 2024.
Vikas Srivastava and team develop new drug delivery system
November, 2023. A team of Brown biomedical engineers led by Vikas Srivastava developed a hydrogel-based delivery system that balances pH levels in the tumor environment while greatly enhancing the cancer-fighting activity of the encapsulated chemotherapy drug.
BTI releases 2023 Annual Report
October, 2023. Brown Technology Innovations’ 2023 Annual Report includes stories about faculty inventors, startup company Walah Scientific (William Fairbrother), and new initiatives for FY24.
Slater Technology Fund invests in Brown startup XM Therapeutics
October, 2023. Jeff Morgan’s XM Therapeutics has received a new round of funding led by Slater Technology Fund. XM Therapeutics will use this new round of funding to focus on pre-clinical studies and cell-based assays for specific diseases.
Anita Shukla named Top 10 Emerging Leaders
October, 2023. The National Academy of Medicine named Anita Shukla (SoE) as 2023 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars. Shukla's research focuses on designing responsive and targeted biomaterials for drug delivery and regenerative medicine.
Are you curious about start-ups?
October, 2023. Join us for Faculty Entrepreneur Connect to meet entrepreneurially-minded faculty. Our next session features Ted Howell, RI’s legal entrepreneurship guru, speaking on business formation basics. 10/20 @ 10am at the Nelson Center. Register.
Innovation at Brown Showcase awards
October, 2023. BTI held its inaugural event on October 5! This year’s award recipients: Startup of the Year award to Walah Scientific Founder, Will Fairbrother; Inventor of the Year to Wafik El-Deiry; and Innovation of the Year to Kareen Coulombe.
Generative AI in research: great potential along with IP issues
September, 2023. Researchers contemplating using generative AI tools should be cognizant of intellectual property (IP) issues related to its use. Visit our Initial Guidance for Researchers: Generative AI in Research site or contact tech-innovations@brown.edu.
Three new NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) funding opportunities
September, 2023. The NIA has three funding opportunities to support entrepreneurial education and early-career scientists: Mentored Entrepreneurial Career Development Award, Entrepreneurship Enhancement Award, and Entrepreneurial Small Business Transition Awards. Learn more about these awards.
Registration open! Innovation@Brown Showcase on October 5, 2023
August, 2023. The Innovation@Brown Showcase will highlight Brown/Rhode Island startup activity, celebrate groundbreaking inventions, and offer networking opportunities with like-minded investors, academic researchers, and entrepreneurs. Learn more and join us!
Calling faculty interested in startups!
August, 2023. The MIT Faculty Founder Initiative program provides hands-on opportunities to learn from industry leaders about their experiences, ranging from licensing technology to creating early startup companies. Brown faculty members can apply to the program by 8/18/23. Please let VP_Research@Brown.edu know if you apply.
Sony Corporation's 2023 Research Award Program
August, 2023. The Sony Focused Research Award provides an opportunity for university faculty, research institutes, and Sony to conduct collaborative, focused research. Applications are accepted until 9/15/23. Learn more and apply. Please contact your Tech Innovations director with any questions.
AtomICs wins 2023 Heartland Challenge Award
August, 2023. Brown startup AtomICs secured the 2023 Heartland Challenge and Delta Solar Innovation Awards at the Heartland Challenge venture capital competition. AtomICs won more than $50,000 for their patented data storage and retrieval processes.
Brown Technology Innovations sees rise in invention disclosures
August, 2023. Tech Innovations has received more invention disclosures in FY23 than at this point last year. BioMed, School of Engineering, and Computer Science lead the way with Brown having a total of 94 invention disclosures for the fiscal year.
BTI welcomes Rebecca Rossi!
May, 2023. Rebecca joins the Brown Technology Innovations (BTI) team as the new Patent and Agreement Data Coordinator.
Save the date: Innovation@Brown Showcase on October 5, 2023
May, 2023. The Innovation@Brown Showcase will highlight start-ups in the Brown/RI technology ecosystem. The event is an opportunity for investors, academic researchers, and entrepreneurs to network and learn about groundbreaking inventions.
Have an invention? Tell BTI!
May, 2023. BTI has updated their invention disclosure form. When a report is received, BTI works with faculty to evaluate the novelty, patentability and commercial utility of inventions and if filed, will help to negotiate licensing deals. Learn more here.
BTI now accepting Brown Innovations Fellows for 2023
May, 2023. Interested in learning about patenting and technology commercialization? Apply for the Brown Innovation Fellows Program! Graduate students, postdocs, and medical students can apply to the paid internship. Applications due 5/26. Apply here.
Graduate Entrepreneur Connect networking event on 5/19/23
May, 2023. At the BTI-hosted Graduate Entrepreneur Connect, attendees will meet other graduate student and postdoctoral entrepreneurs, Brown Innovation Fellows, and members of BTI and the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship. Learn more here.
El-Deiry to serve on American Cancer Society Scientific Advisory Council
May, 2023. Dr. Wafik El-Deiry will serve as a new member of BrightEdge’s Scientific Advisory Council. BrightEdge, the innovation arm of the ACS, specializes in investments in early-stage companies developing cutting-edge, cancer-focused technologies.
Humphrey Maris receives inaugural Career and Innovation Impact Award
May, 2023. Humphrey J. Maris, professor emeritus of physics and professor of physics received BTI’s Career and Innovation Impact Award on 4/24 for his groundbreaking work in ultrafast ultrasonics and semiconductor metrology and technology. Read more here.
Faculty: Are you curious about how to create a start-up?
May, 2023. Join us for Faculty Entrepreneur Connect, a new group for faculty inventors to meet and network with other entrepreneurially-minded faculty. Our first meeting is at the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, 6/2/23 at 10am. Learn more here.
Karniadakis noted as ML expert to follow in 2023
April, 2023. Mathematics and engineering professor George Karniadakis was noted as a machine learning expert to follow by Digilab Academy based on his groundbreaking work in Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs). Read about his work in ML and AI here.
Brown startup Pedialydx’s technology completes clinical study
April, 2023. Pedialydx’s technology was utilized in a recent study that analyzed premature infants’ cries for acoustic features that may predict future behavioral and developmental deficits. Preliminary results suggest its potential as a noninvasive diagnostic.
Padture elected to MRS 2023 Fellows Class
April, 2023. Professor Nitin Padture was elected to the Materials Research Society (MRS) 2023 Fellows Class for his research in advanced composites, high-temperature coatings, and emerging photovoltaics. Padture has been awarded eight patents in his career.
Brown scientists to present at world’s largest cancer research meeting
April, 2023. Brown faculty, students, post-docs, and staff will attend the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in Orlando, FL this month. Investigators from the Legorreta Cancer Center will present work across many areas of cancer research.
BTI hosts FM Global roundtable
March, 2023. Researchers from the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES) and the School of Engineering met with senior leaders from FM Global to discuss climate change and risk management in relation to the insurance industry, with a focus on climate science, technology, policy, and solutions.
NEMIC launches virtual classroom
March, 2023. Want to embark on a Medical Device or Digital Health entrepreneurship journey? Our partners at NEMIC just launched the NEMIC Virtual Classroom. Learn where you want, when you want!
The Engine, Spring 2023 Blueprint program
March, 2023. The Engine is seeking applications from aspiring entrepreneurial scientists and engineers for their Spring 2023 Blueprint program. The program website contains additional information and a section to apply by Friday, March 17.
PedialyDX receives multiple accolades
February, 2023. PedialyDX, recently secured a $1.8M SBIR Phase 2 grant from NICHD, and an Exclusive License Agreement with Brown, that will allow them to conduct a 7-site study to conduct further research on their NOWS recognition device.
Brown Innovation Fellow Josephine Kalshoven is published
February, 2023. Brown Innovation Fellow Josephine Kalshoven’s story “Connected Player” has been published in Nature Futures, the publication’s award-winning science fiction section.
Machine learning technology to prevent pipeline leaks
January, 2023. Dr. Srivastava and colleagues are developing a new machine learning technology that utilizes convolutional neural networks (CNN) to analyze ultrasound wave patterns in metal pipelines to locate cracks and prevent catastrophic events like gas explosions.
Dr. Laiwalla to participate in Equalize Program
January, 2023. Dr. Laiwalla has been accepted to the 2023 MedTech cohort of the 6-month Equalize Program, pairing women academic researchers with mentors in entrepreneurship across therapeutics, medical technologies, physical sciences, and digital tools sectors.
New patent awarded to Brown in Engineering
January, 2023. A patent was recently awarded to Dr. Sherief Reda’s lab in the School of Engineering for new technology in deep neural networks (11,521,047).
BTI staff featured in Tech Transfer Central article
January, 2023. Neil Veloso and Brian Demers were featured in the January 2023 University-Industry Engagement Advisor discussing technology scouting, startups, and industry-academic partnerships and commercialization timelines.
A new method found to deliver medication to malignant brain tumors
December, 2022. Researchers in Sean Lawler’s lab demonstrated a new approach in mice for delivering medication using a modified peptide to cross the blood-brain barrier. This method can directly treat tumors that cause aggressive, lethal brain cancer. Read more.
Dr. Tejal Desai featured in Fall issue of AWIS magazine
December, 2022. Tejal Desai ‘94 recently sat down with the Association for Women in Science for the fall issue of AWIS Magazine. This interview comes on the cusp of her return to Brown as the next dean of Brown’s School of Engineering.
Brown ranked 19th in PitchBook’s 2022 startup rankings
December, 2022. PitchBook released its rankings for the top 100 colleges producing the most entrepreneurs who have founded venture capital-backed companies. Brown came in 19th with a total of 511 founders, 476 companies, and a sum total of $34.9B raised.
The Engine to host the 2nd annual cohort of Whiteboard in January 2023
December, 2022. The Engine, a venture firm from MIT, will host the 2nd cohort of the Whiteboard program, designed to help faculty navigate the transition of their technology from academic labs into tech startups. The workshop will be held on Jan. 20, 2023. Register.
Brown startup AtomICs takes top honor in Get Started RI
December, 2022. AtomICs, which created a molecule-based data storage system, won the annual Cox Business Get Started RI competition. As winners of the “Shark Tank” style pitch event, the startup was awarded $50,000 and technical assistance from Cox Business.
Patents awarded to Brown in Engineering, Computer Science, and Chemistry
December, 2022. Patents were recently awarded to Brown for research from the labs of Kenneth Breuer, Engineering (11,467,058); Roberto Tamassia, Computer Science (11,468,009); Shouheng Sun, Chemistry (11,472,923); and David Borton, Engineering (11,464,964).
Ph.D Candidate Cel Welch Makes Forbes' 30 Under 30 - Science List
December, 2022. Forbes Magazine unveiled its 30 under 30 Class of 2023 list recognizing young leaders working to solve the world’s biggest problems. Biomedical engineering Ph.D. Candidate Cel Welch made Forbes’ Science List for work on novel cellular diagnostics.
Apply Now for the 2023 NEMIC Accelerator
December, 2022. NEMIC is now taking applications for the 2023 Med Tech + Digital Health Accelerator Program. This 6-month intensive business program is designed to educate entrepreneurs on how to navigate the startup to commercialization process. Apply.
Brown, Wexford Science & Technology Bring Wet Lab Space to Providence
November, 2022. Wexford Science & Technology plans to transform 62,000 sq. feet of its Point 225 Providence building into wet lab research space. Brown plans to lease half of this space, while the remainder will be available for life sciences companies.
RI Broke Ground on New State Lab Facility
November, 2022. On Oct. 24, Rhode Island broke ground for the construction of a seven-story building in Providence to house new RIDOH State Health Laboratories. Space will also be available for Brown’s life sciences labs and interested biotechnology companies.
Now accepting applications: Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII)
November, 2022. BBII is an accelerator fund supporting biomedical technologies with high impact potential to become attractive to industry partners and investors. Pre-proposals accepted now through Dec. 16. Learn about BBII or contact Karen Bulock for details.
Bolden Therapeutics Receives $406,466 SBIR Grant From The National Institute On Aging
October, 2022. Bolden Therapeutics, a startup founded by Professor Justin Fallon and former student Johnny Page, received an SBIR grant from the NIA to fund the development of antisense oligonucleotides for the potential treatment of CNS illnesses. Read more.
Brown’s Welch and Tripathi are Finalists in the IET’s Global Innovation Awards
October, 2022. Biomedical engineering Ph.D. candidate Cel Welch and Professor Anubhav Tripathi are in the top five global finalists in the Institute of Engineering and Technology’s Solution in Digital Health and Social Care category for their TissueSHOCK technology.
BTI Report Highlights a Strong Year for Brown Startups and Faculty Inventions
September, 2022. The Brown Technology Innovations office has released the 2022 Annual Report. Recent highlights include an increase in issued patents, licensing agreements, and biomedical business ventures driven by continued support and initiatives from the BBII, and Entrepreneur Connect programs.
Brown Biotech Startup Sublicensee Ocean Biomedical Acquired for $345M
September, 2022. In a potential jumpstart for the biotech markets, Ocean Biomedical, a Brown startup Sublicensee specializing in cancer therapeutics, entered a $345M merger deal with Aesther Healthcare Acquisition Corp. Read more.
Brown Doctoral Student to Design a More Inclusive Pulse Oximeter
September, 2022. Pulse oximeters fail to accurately measure blood oxygen levels in patients of color. To combat this issue, Brown doctoral student Rutendo Jakachira of the Toussaint Lab is developing a pulse oximeter that works on all patients, regardless of melanin levels.
BTI launches Innovations Fellowship Program
September, 2022. Brown Technology Innovations (BTI) has launched the Brown Innovation Fellows program for graduate students, medical students, and postdocs interested in applying their scientific and technical expertise to projects in technology evaluation, market research, and intellectual property. The four inaugural interns include Josephine Kalshoven, Liam Connolly, Xiaozhou Fan, and Alex Wong.
BTI hires new Science Communications Intern
September, 2022. The Brown Technology Innovations (BTI) office has hired Julia Hecking as the new Science Communications Intern. Julia is a current Master’s student in Brown’s Biotechnology program.
3 New Sponsored Research Agreements at Brown
August, 2022. Brown Technology Innovations facilitated two collaboration agreements with a semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company to support research by Daniel Mittleman (Engineering) with $330,000 using Terahertz for imaging and circuit diagnostics.
Dr. Edith Mathiowitz’s lab (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine) continues a longstanding partnership with a biotechnology company to provide research related to sustained-release microspheres for immune therapy.
New Patent for Gabriel Taubin
August, 2022. Dr. Gabriel Taubin (Engineering and Computer Science)’s research projects emphasize low cost precise 3D scanning systems, 3D scanning for 3D printing, industrial applications of 3D scanning systems, and more generally digital fabrication. This month, Brown was awarded a method patent (#11,425,356) to calibrate an uncollimated laser diode for 3D imaging applications.
Karniadakis Receives Vannevar Bush Fellowship
July, 2022. George Karniadakis, a professor of applied math and engineering, is one of nine faculty scientists and engineers from across the U.S. to receive a Vannevar Bush Fellowship with the Department of Defense (DoD). Read more, here.
New Patents to Brown
July, 2022. Brown was recently awarded two patents. Stefanie Tellex (Computer Science) continues to shine with another innovative patent (US 11,383,386) related to robotic drawing. Nitin Padture (Engineering) and National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) received a patent for their joint work on perovskite films and methods (US 11,387,420).
Bolden Therapeutics Awarded SBIR Grant
June, 2022. Brown startup, Bolden, was awarded a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant for $497,500 from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health. Bolden Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that develops therapeutics to promote neurogenesis in patients with diseases that affect cognition, such as Alzheimer’s. Read more, here.
BTI hosts The Business of Innovation
May, 2022. BTI is hosting The Business of Innovation: Practical Considerations for Researchers, Entrepreneurs and Investors (and those looking to get into it), on May 18th, 2022! We will bring together venture capitalists, CEOs, corporate attorneys and university leaders for a panel discussion around startups, investing, and finance.
This event is geared towards faculty, graduate students, and postdocs interested in learning more about these fields and/or starting their own new venture. Reception to follow. Register here.
Introducing Brown Innovation Fellows!
May, 2022. Brown Innovation Fellows is a paid internship program for graduate students, postdocs and medical students interested in technology commercialization. We are launching our first cohort in July 2022. This program is a part of Brown Technology Innovations (BTI), which is responsible for managing the university’s patent portfolio and driving commercialization of Brown-developed technologies.
The Job Description and Application due May 27, 2022 can be found here.
New Patents to Brown
May, 2022. A new patent was awarded last month for joint work between George Konidaris (Computer Science) and Duke University on methods facilitating motion planning of self-driving cars (US11292456B2). The technology is licensed to Realtime Robotics, a growing company in the automation industry.
New Patents to Brown!
April, 2022. A jump from last month, we are celebrating three new issued patents. The patents include development of nanoparticles used to treat fungal infections, methods for treating alcohol use disorder, and microtissue manipulation techniques.
AtomICS wins first-place venture prize
April, 2022. AtomICS, a joint student/faculty venture focused on harnessing small molecules for digital information storage took first-place at the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship’s Venture Prize pitch night. Brenda Rubenstein (Chemistry), and Jacob Rosenstein (Engineering) lead this venture with two graduate students.
Inventor’s Toolkit: Digital Health Commercialization Seminar Series
April, 2022. #ICYMI The Digital Health Commercialization Seminar Series, hosted by BTI and Life Span, covered a range of topics from preparing a string pitch to how to achieve FDA approval. Catch up on the seminar talks, here.
Inventor’s Toolkit: Industry Night: Data & Technology
April, 2022. Presented by the Brown Women's Network and co-sponsored by BTI. Please join us for Industry Night: Data & Technology on May 9 as students and young alumnae are invited to connect with Brown students. Register here.
Digital Health Commercialization Seminar Series
March, 2022. Alongside the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health, BTI will host a weekly seminar series on how to bring digital health innovations to market. Hear from digital health strategy experts and our legal partners to guide your entrepreneurial journey. More here.
New Patents to Brown
March, 2022. A new patent was awarded to work by Christopher Moore (Neuroscience) for a bioluminescence-driven optogenetic approach to modulate activity of an excitable cell (US11242374B2). The invention can be used to treat conditions related to neuron bursting, like epilepsy.
RightHill Ventures has officially launched!
March, 2022. Backed by a core of university-based groups and entrepreneurs, RightHill Ventures recruits key players from the national pool of industry and entrepreneurial talent to identify and fund innovators developing solutions to the world’s most challenging problems. Learn more.
Inventor’s Toolkit: Certificate in Digital Health Innovation
March, 2022. Brown offers an online Digital Health Innovation Certificate program for those interested in learning about the lifecycle of digital health solutions, from design to implementation. More here.
Brown faculty join AAAS fellows
February, 2022. Five Brown faculty are honored in this year's class of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows. Jill Pipher, Vice President for Research, has also been recognized as a 2021 National Academy of Inventors Fellow!
Jake Kurtis the “Malaria Hunter”
February, 2022. Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Jake Kurtis, has dedicated his research efforts to developing a vaccine against malaria. Read more about the mission of inventors Jake Kurtis and Dipak Raj to identify the treatment for Plasmodium falciparum malaria, here.
Inventor’s Toolkit: CoresRI
February, 2022. CoresRI offers a directory of research facilities, instruments, and services in RI. The website was developed as a collaboration between medical and academic institutions across the state to maximize use of and collaboration through these important resources.
Brown Licensee, RIC is a 2022 Prism Award Finalist!
January, 2022. Research Instruments Corporation (RIC) is a 2022 Prism Award finalist. RIC has developed an X-ray source that produces clearer images while using less radiation. The Prism Award recognizes top new optics and photonics products on the market. More here.
New Patents to Brown
January, 2022. Starting the year off with a new patent to Brown (US20210018193A1) licensed to Derek Stein's (Physics) startup Techstyle Materials, which has developed smart building materials to create more energy efficient structures.
Quantum-Science Leap 2021
January, 2022. In case you missed it! Four Brown researchers gave short talks on their work in Quantum computing and sensing. The goal of the panel was to share Brown’s efforts towards powerful advancements in the field of quantum science. Video here.
Welcome Andrew Bond to Brown Technology Innovations
December, 2021. Brown Technology Innovations is thrilled to have Andrew Bond join our team as Senior Director of Business Development. He will support life science researchers and inventors as they engage with our office.
Andrew Bond has over twenty years of experience in biotechnology, genomics, and computational biology research and product strategy. Prior to joining Brown, he served in executive roles at Universal Sequencing Technology, 1CellBio, Gen9, and PrimeraDx.Andrew Bond brings to BTI extensive experience in building life science startups and will support Brown life science researchers interested in commercial ventures or industry partnerships. Andrew has a PhD in Molecular Genetics from University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Accepting Applications: Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact
December, 2021. The Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) is an accelerator fund that supports biomedical technologies with high impact potential to become attractive to industry partners and investors. BBII is accepting applications due by Dec. 16. Learn more about BBII here.
Brown Alum, Christina Bailey-Holt, in Forbes 30 Under 30
December, 2021. Christina Bailey-Hytholt has been recognized in Forbes 30 under 30 in science. Christina, an incoming assistant professor at WPI, is a Brown alum who worked in the Tripathi and Shukla Labs and is a co-inventor on several Brown technologies. Christina’s research at Brown included the development of an in vitro placenta model which can be used to investigate how medications interact at the maternal/fetal interface, and liposome development for antifungal delivery, a method aimed to minimize damage to healthy cells. Read Christina’s Forbes profile here.
Inventor’s Toolkit: True Stories from a Startup Master
December, 2021. RIBio is hosting RI Innovator Series: Zen and the Art of Starting Up a Start-up January 2022. Chesley Chen, Life Sciences Principal at CliftonLarsenAllen, will share insights on popular start up topics using real life examples. The topics range from discovering a business model, to how to lead a team, and how to raise money for your startup.
Date January 13, 2022
Time 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
Register here
RIBio connects innovators, educators, and capital and government partners across Southeastern New England with the goal of advancing the life sciences through collaboration, education, and advocacy. Learn more about RIBio here.
Brown to Attend JPM Health Conference 2022
November, 2021. Brown Technology Innovations will attend the annual JPM Healthcare Conference, which will take place January in San Francisco, CA. Please contact us (tech-innovations@Brown.edu) with news or connections related to the conference.
Accepting Applications: Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact
November, 2021. The Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) is an accelerator fund that supports biomedical technologies with high impact potential to become attractive to industry partners and investors. BBII is accepting applications due by Dec. 16. Learn more about BBII here.
Brown Licensee, Theromics, Awarded Small Business Technology Transfer Grant
November, 2021. Brown licensee, Theromics, Inc. was recently awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer Grant and a patent (US11076916). The technology, a thermal accelerant, is a joint development between Brown and Rhode Island Hospital/Lifespan. The thermal accelerant is used during hyperthermal tissue ablation, a non-surgical treatment used to destroy tumor tissue. The accelerant is deposited at the tumor boundary and promotes faster heating in fields further away from an antenna used to provide heat. The result is more precise tumor removal and protection of nearby, healthy tissues.
Deeplite Wins AI Tech Award
November, 2021. The Montreal start-up, Deeplite, licensed Brown technology developed by Sherief Reda (Engineering) with the goal of making computing faster and more accessible. Deep neural networks, a facet of artificial intelligence, are capable of data modeling, prediction, and have applications such as facial recognition. Faster neural networks minimize cloud and hardware requirements which can translate to lower costs and supporting AI on smaller devices.
Deeplite’s effort and progress were recognized at the largest AI development meeting to date, AI DevWorld, where they were awarded Best in Deep Learning Technology. Learn more about Deeplite here.
Developments in Clean Energy
November, 2021. Nitin Padture Ph.D. (Engineering) and his team recently published data on use of a molecular glue that significantly enhances durability of perovskite solar panels. Use of perovskite, compared to silicon, holds promise of greatly increasing energy efficiency of solar panels. However, a current limitation to their use is knowing whether they can last as long as silicon solar panels, due to certain sensitivity to heat and moisture. Learn more about perovskite solar panels and Brown’s contribution to solar energy efficiency in this video.
Bolden Therapeutics Awarded Small Business Technology Transfer Grant
October, 2021. Last month, Brown startup, Bolden, was awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) grant of $500,000 from the National Institute on Aging for their approach to enhance neurogenesis. Bolden Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that develops therapeutics to promote neurogenesis in patients with diseases that affect cognition, such as Alzheimer’s.
Bolden has licensed several patents produced from Brown University faculty inventors. The projects funded by the SBTT grant will be completed in collaboration with the labs of Justin Fallon, PhD (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry, MCB) and Ashley Webb, PhD (MCB). The work of Fallon and Webb has identified molecular pathways whose activity stimulates neurogenesis. Bolden plans to develop therapeutics that could promote neurogenesis and improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients. Read more, here.
New Patents to Brown
October, 2021. Keeping apace with prior months, three new patents were awarded to Brown for research from the labs of Michael Black, Computer Science, Sherief Reda, Engineering, and Ben Kimia, Engineering.
Michael Black and his team have developed a method to estimate body shape from a series of images. Standard measurements are computed from a series of images captured in different poses. Potential applications for this technology are body scanning, advertising, and online clothes shopping (CA2734143C).
A new patent was awarded for Sherief Reda’s work which accelerates iris recognition (US 11,113,553). Iris recognition is considered a secure and more reliable form of biometric identification that is becoming increasingly common in electronic devices.
Ben Kimia has developed a system which links visual information captured by a wearable device to path data for an indoor location. Together with an audio interface, the wearable device guides the user to their destination (US 11,112,261).
Inventor’s Toolkit: RI Startup Week Oct 2021
October, 2021. The first-ever Rhode Island Startup Week happens this month at RI Hub, a network of innovators, investors, students, citizens and those interested in building our economy through new ideas. Rhode Island Startup Week, October 18-22, is five days of events that showcase RI’s startup community, where local entrepreneurs can connect.
Events will include presentations from startups on topics from blockchain to digital health, pitch contexts, and tips and tricks on challenges such as IP management, financial modeling, and how to connect with VCs.
One highlight is an event hosted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which will share best practices for successfully securing a grant from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Register here, and learn more about Rhode Island Startup Week, here.
About RIHUB: Located at the Wexford Innovation Center (225 Dyer St, Providence), RI Hub is dedicated to bringing together students, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to effectively support entrepreneurship in Rhode Island. Founded in 2019 by Governor Gina Raimondo, Brown University, IBM, University of Rhode Island, Commerce RI, Arizona State University and MassChallenge, RIHub is Rhode Island’s first Innovation Campus and provides a new entry point for global accelerators such as MassChallenge and IBM Alphazone.
Inventor's Toolkit: Climate Risk, Insurance & Innovation
September, 2021. CIC Providence will host Climate Risk, Insurance & Innovation on October 6th. The event will highlight innovation within the context of insurance and climate risk. Innsure (not a typo) connects investors, students, and academics, bringing leaders together through action. More here.
New Patents to Brown Inventor's Toolkit: Climate Risk, Insurance & Innovation
September, 2021. Last month, Brown was awarded three patents: (1) for Jacob Rosenstein’s work on chemical computation methods (US 11,093,865); (2) Samir Gadre’s innovation to facilitate human training of robots (US 11,090,813); and (3) Peter Weber’s spectroscopy enhancing chemical vapor detection (US 11,099,129).
Faster Neural Networks to Tackle Data Modeling Challenges
September, 2021. George Karniadakis (Applied Math and Engineering) and his team recently received press coverage for DeepONet, a method they developed that uses neural networks to solve families of Partial Differential Equations (PDE). More here.
Oxford Nanopore Announces IPO in London
September, 2021. Oxford Nanopore announced a London IPO after reaching a $3.3B valuation. Nanopore offers DNA sequencing products and rapid COVID-19 tests. The company has licensed imaging and sequencing technologies from Derek Stein (Physics) and has sponsored related research in his lab. More here.
FY2021 in Review: Putting Brown Technology First
August, 2021. Brown Technology Innovations’ 2021 Annual Report highlights our highest recorded number of invention disclosures and 87% growth in industry sponsored research agreements, driven by Brown faculty inventors. The report walks you through progress towards Tech Innovations’ goals surrounding putting Brown technology first, stewarding Brown inventions, marketing and networking, and deal execution. You can also read our top stories and collaborations in the report, here.
BBII Funds Faculty Projects With Potential for Patient Benefit
July & August, 2021. Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) will fund four projects to accelerate their commercialization.The projects include drug developments to treat glioblastoma and a rare childhood genetic disorder, growth of human biomaterials, and videography improvements to enable collaboration in surgery. More, here.
A Year of Innovation
July & August, 2021. Congratulations to Brown faculty for the most productive year for inventions to date with 90 invention disclosures received to date, surpassing the previous high of 76 in 2017!
Drug Delivery Advances: New License Agreements to Brown
July & August, 2021. Therapyx has licensed from Brown a proprietary protein micronization and encapsulation process developed by Edith Matthiowitz (Engineering). The process involves a crystalline matrix that enhances storage ability for active drugs and effectively shields them from environments that promote degradation, including the disease microenvironment. This method helped Therapyx develop a unique second-generation platform technology, EXStaM (patent pending) that allows commercial scale microencapsulation of therapeutic proteins.
Therapyx is a biotech company dedicated to the development of microparticulate therapeutics to treat infectious disease, immune-mediated inflammatory disorders, and cancer. Our collaboration with Therapyx has been ongoing since 2011. Read more about EXStaM and Therapyx, here.
New Patents to Brown
July & August, 2021. Brown was awarded a new patent last month (US 11,034,019) for a method enabling a robot to learn a mapping between English language commands and Linear Temporal Logic expressions, developed in the lab of Stefanie Tellex (Computer Science).The patent, which relates to robotics, would allow for non-experts to engage with particular robots without programming knowledge.
Brown Tech Innovations Participates in CDH 2021 Virtual Conference
July & August, 2021. Last month, the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health hosted it’s 2021 virtual conference, “Leveraging Digital Health for the Post-Pandemic World.” The goal of the conference was to explore a role for digital health in ethical and effective reduction of mental illness, violence, and opioid use. Tech Innovations Director, Neil Veloso moderated the panel "Scaling for Impact: Digital Health investors discuss their metrics for success" with speakers Keith Kerman, MD; Rajiv Kumar, MD; Aike Ho; and Aneesha Mehta. Watch the symposia, here.
Inventor’s Toolkit: RI Startup Weekend 2020
July & August, 2021. RIHUB is hosting RI Startup Weekend online this year on November 20-21. The online event offers business and technology workshops, networking, and an opportunity to meet RI startup founders. More info and registration, here.
Brown Joins Program for Streamlined Technology Licensing
June, 2021. Brown is one of fifteen leading universities who will aggregate their engineering and physical science patents into broad bundles of technologies for commercialization as part of the University Technology Licensing Program (UTLP). This strategy streamlines the process for technology licensing from multiple universities to interested companies and investors.
The culmination of discussions that began five years ago, Brown now joins Caltech, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, University of Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, SUNY Binghamton, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, and Yale as part of the UTLP. These universities will pool together patents across several technologies, including power management, image processing, and data management.
Developments in Clean Energy
June, 2021. Nitin Padture’s research team has developed a molecular glue that increases the efficiency of perovskite solar cells in converting sunlight into electricity. This work, published in Science, was included in a recent patent application guided by Brown Technology Innovations.
Stabilizing the multi-layered structure of the perovskite solar cells has been a big challenge to the expanded use of solar energy. Padture’s team identified a compound that forms strong bonds with different layers of the cells. This discovery extends the length of time at which the cells retain 80% of their peak efficiency from 700 to 4,000 hours. Full story here.
Nitin Padture is a Professor of Engineering and Director of the Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation at Brown.
Oxford Nanopore Raises $217M
June, 2021. Oxford Nanopore raised $217M in a recent funding round to further develop its genetic sequencing technology. The UK-based company offers sequencing technology capable of analyzing a single DNA or RNA molecule at a time while providing data in real time.
There are many applications for nanopore technology from clinical to biological research. Most recently, OxFord Nanopore developed a rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19.
Derek Stein (Physics) has a long standing relationship with Oxford Nanopore leading to sponsored work in product development. Full story here.
Inventor’s Toolkit: Marketing to Industry
June, 2021. AUTM offers a guide for matching technologies with an industry partner in their Marketing to Industry Toolkit, here. These can be used to organize ideas and conversations with Brown Technology Innovations.
Explore Commercial Applications of Life Sciences Research
June, 2021. In this short video, our team describes ways that Brown researchers can explore commercial pathways for life sciences discoveries, including licensing, sponsored research agreements, and startups. We also describe Brown's accelerator fund in life sciences, the Brown Biomedical Innovation to Impact program.
Brown Licensee, Deeplite, Raises Funds to Expand AI Access
May, 2021. Deeplite, a start-up based in Montreal, closed a $6-million seed fundraising round to “bring AI to Everyday Life”. Power and processor capacity are two big limitations to AI and deep learning. Deeplite’s automated software engine enables AI computing on any device.
BTI supported the development of a collaboration between Sherief Reda and Deeplite which led to the licensing of key IP from Brown to make this possible. Full story here.
New Patent on Sensors Awarded to Brown
May, 2021. Brown was awarded a patent for research by Gang Xiao (Physics) on ultrasensitive magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) sensors (US 10,983,182). The patented MTJ sensor--which can achieve a sensitivity of 30 picoTesla--has applications in the disk drive and semiconductor industry.
Coulombe Earns NSF CAREER Award
May, 2021. The National Science Foundation bestowed a CAREER Award to Kareen Coulombe, Assistant Professor of Engineering, Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology. The award supports work included in a recent patent application (guided by the Brown Technology Innovations office).
Coulombe’s NSF project aims to understand the onset of atrial arrhythmias in non-inherited Wolff-Parkinson White (WPW) syndrome. Her team will develop cardiovascular tissue in a dish using patient-derived human induced pluripotent stem cells through a collaboration with RI Hospital. The vast majority of WPW patients lack an inherited genetic mutation; the in vitro cardiac models will help identify biomechanical and biochemical stressors that contribute to atrial arrhythmia. Full story here.
New Center for Alzheimer’s Research at Brown
May, 2021. With two gifts to the university totaling $30 million, Brown will establish a new Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research (Brown News). The new center will focus on the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease, drawing together research scientists and physicians from Brown’s Division of Biology and Medicine and the Carney Institute for Brain Science. One of the early goals of the center is to establish a biomarker facility dedicated to collecting patient samples to identify disease biomarkers and test treatment efficacy.
By fostering collaboration, the new research center will augment Brown’s existing strength in neuroscience and neurodegenerative research. The Brown Technology Innovations office continues to support new neuroscience startups and partnerships, including Bolden Therapeutics and BridgeBio.
Brown neuroscience researchers interested in exploring commercial applications of their work can start the disclosure process here or email us at tech-innovations@brown.edu.
Save the Date: 2021 Conference on Digital Health at Brown
May, 2021. The 2021 Digital Health Virtual Conference will be held on June 22. Open to the public, this conference will explore how digital health has transformed over recent years and what its future may hold. Hosted by the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health. More details forthcoming. The CDH website.
Inventor’s Toolkit: Fridays for Founders
May, 2021. RIHub facilitates connections between entrepreneurs and industry leaders through its many programs, including mentoring, networking, and community events. Now, RIHub has launched a program that provides entrepreneurs, faculty, and students an opportunity to book a 30 minute one-on-one consultation with a business expert. Learn more about RI business laws or how to tell compelling stories through marketing with Fridays for Founders.
Biomedical Entrepreneurship Summer Course
May, 2021. The University of Vermont is offering an intensive Biomedical Entrepreneurship summer course in June. The course will present a roadmap on how to bring products to market, the deadline to apply is May 15th.
New Patents to Brown
April, 2021. A new patent has been issued this month for work in the lab of Dr. George Karniadakis (US 10,963,540). Professor of Applied Mathematics and Engineering, Karniadakis uses machine learning to model physical and biological systems. This patent is for an approach that uses differential equations to analyze objects.
Building a Faculty Inventor’s Toolkit
April, 2021. BTI kicks off a monthly initiative to share resources focused on educating and encouraging faculty interested in patents, startups and licensing. Check out this playlist of short podcasts, A Guide to University Spinouts hosting several researchers and entrepreneurs. Sangeeta Bhatia, (Brown class of ’90), Professor of Engineering at MIT, has launched multiple biotech companies leveraging nanoparticles developed in the lab for medical use. Pulling from her own experience, Dr. Bhatia shares a “playlist” of short podcasts describing what a faculty entrepreneur should know before starting a new company.
“How do I know when technology is ready to be commercialized?” That is just one of many questions answered by a panel of academics who have launched startups, business development directors, and current CEOs.
BridgeBio collaborates with Brown
April, 2021. Brown is partnering with BridgeBio to advance new treatments for neurological diseases with genetic origins. BridgeBio will work with scientists to evaluate discoveries made in the lab and develop them into potential treatments for patients. The partnership will support Brown scientists as technologies transition to clinical development and maintain Brown scientists involved as company leaders through BridgeBio’s affiliate companies.
Bridging Industry with University Technology
April, 2021. The annual AUTM meeting supports engagement between industry partners and university tech transfer offices. This year’s virtual AUTM meeting took place in March and featured 39 exhibitors including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and the National Institute on Aging. The keynote speakers were Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to go into space, and Dr. Antwi Akom, Director of the Social Innovation and Urban Opportunity Lab.
2021 Quarter 3 Report
April, 2021. A key strategy to achieve financial sustainability is to achieve diversity in revenue streams. As our office is part of a university-wide strategy to diversify funding sources, we are glad to report some initial success. See our Quarterly Report, here.
Exclusive Insights from JPM 2021
March, 2021. At a conference, the conversation in the hallways is often where the insights and connections happen. While the JP Morgan Health Care Conference was not in person in San Francisco this year—like it usually is—the Brown Technology Innovations team attended the virtual meetings. One year into the “Decade of Neuroscience”, the JPM Conference was a chance to learn about which neuro-technologies and strategies life science companies are pursuing. This report shares our insights about where companies are looking for innovation.
A Year Later, Brown’s Contributions to COVID Solutions
March, 2021. Looking back a year—everyone is doing it—we see Brown inventors who pivoted to find ways to address the pandemic.
First up: making schools and public spaces safer from COVID-19 and Influenza A virus H1N1 in under one minute. Amanda Jamieson, a respiratory virologist (Molecular Microbiology and Immunology), performed independent testing of a nano-material, GC Ink™. According to her report release at the end of February, GC Ink™ neutralized 100% of the virus present.
This fast-acting, extremely effective, and safe formulation of graphene and silver nanoparticles can be applied to masks and other PPE, and in particular, applied to filters in ventilation systems. When used in filters and masks, GC Ink™ is highly effective at trapping and neutralizing airborne coronaviruses and other viruses/bacteria for several weeks. When used in wipes, GC Ink also leaves a thin, highly effective, safe layer of protection against viruses and bacteria that lasts for 24 hours. The press release is here.
Last spring, researchers in Dan Harris’s lab began developing a rapidly-deployable ventilator, addressing critical shortages worldwide. The design utilizes 3D-printed mechanical components, off-the-shelf parts and open-source electronics that allow for easy use in resource-limited settings. Called Brun02, the team—which now includes collaborators from other universities—is working to submit a specific variant of the BrunO2 ventilator prototype to the United States for review under the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) authority. Brown recently signed a collaboration agreement with Stanford and the University of Utah for continued work on this project. See the Brun02 website for more.
Streaming Now: More Patent Awards and Disclosures to Brown
March, 2021. Last month, Brown was awarded three patents. Christoph Rose-Petruck and Brian Sheldon led the research behind an in-situ x-ray scatter imaging of battery electrodes (US 10,833,374). Nitin Padture and Yuanyuan Zaho’s team patented discoveries from their work with the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) on perovskite films and methods (Padture, Zhao, US 10,910,569). The most recent patent from Gabriel Taubin—whose work has led to many patent awards to Brown—was for a method that uses high frequency sinusoidal patterns to measure three-dimensional objects (US 20190101382A1).
Also, we are proud to share that we passed last year’s total for number of disclosures—a key entry point to explore commercial applications of research—before the third quarter was out (53 YTD 2020, vs 54 Q3FY2021). Brown researchers can start the disclosure process here.
Brown Networks at JPM Annual Health Conference
February, 2021. The J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference presents a unique opportunity to connect with investors and companies in the biomedical field gathered in one place. While the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2021 JPM meeting to occur remotely, Brown Technology Innovations seized the opportunity to meet with dozens of clients. The team highlighted 20 faculty members with transformative innovations and intellectual property in the health space. Those technologies fit into five biomedical categories:
- Better diagnosis. Harrison Bai and the Brown Baby Cry team led by Barry Lester are among those using machine learning and other advanced technologies to improve the speed and accuracy of disease diagnosis.
- Drug delivery. Researchers including Anita Shukla and Edith Mathiowitz focus on ways to ensure that medication most effectively reaches its intended target in the body.
- Laboratory test beds. Kareen Coulombe, Jeffrey Morgan, and Gregorio Valdez build new powerful platforms for laboratory testing, allowing new pharmaceuticals to be tested on three-dimensional bioengineered tissue.
- Unlocking neurodegenerative disease. A number of Brown faculty members concentrate on the detection and treatment of brain diseases afflicting millions of Americans, including Alzheimer’s disease and NPH.
- Novel treatments. Nikos Tapinos, Wafik El-Deiry, and Elena Oancea have developed creative treatments for conditions from obesity to COVID-19.
The BTI met with representatives from 45 companies, from biosciences venture capital firms like Northpond Ventures to pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and AstraZeneca to neuroscience-focused firms such as Neuron23.
Brown Hosts Elm Street Ventures
February, 2021. Tech Innovations hosted Elm Street Ventures (ESV) in January to showcase five life science research projects with potential for commercial applications. The ESV principals provided useful feedback on new ideas emerging from faculty inventors. The faculty presenters and technologies included:
- New method fabricates decellularized human extracellular matrix morsels for tissue regeneration, especially after myocardial infarction. Blanche Ip, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology (research). Jeffrey R. Morgan, PhD, Professor of Medical Science and Professor of Engineering.
- Novel technology uses synthetic oligonucleotides to target and knock out expression of specific enhancer RNAs in glioma stem cells that are correlated with decreased survival in glioblastoma patients. Nikos Tapinos, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery (research).
- A novel diagnostic technology to detect normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), which is often misdiagnosed as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Alexander Fleischman, PhD, Provost’s Associate Professor of Brain Science.
- A 3D in vitro screening platform for toxicity testing uses stem cell-derived human cardiac microtissues to quantify dose-dependent changes in electrical activity. Kareen L. K. Coulombe, PhD, Assistant Professor of Engineering and Assistant Professor of Molecular Pharmacology.
- Research by Justin Fallon enabled Startup Bolden Therapeutics’ development of treatment for central nervous system diseases based on stimulation of endogenous neural stem cells to promote neurogenesis. Justin Fallon, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior.
Brown Technology Innovations Connects Brown Inventors with Experienced Entrepreneurs
Peter O’Neill, a serial entrepreneur most recently Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations and former CEO of Custom Orthopaedic Solutions, describes his view on Lester’s innovation: "This technology applies machine learning algorithms to analyze audio information from baby cry that is not discernable to the human ear, resulting in a powerful diagnostic tool."
Congratulations to Dr. Megan Ranney, new Associate Dean for Strategy and Innovation
February, 2021. Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, has announced that Dr. Megan Ranney has agreed to serve as the School’s Associate Dean for Strategy and Innovation. Dr. Ranney has served in an informal advising role to the Dean for several months on many key initiatives critical to the School. The School of Public Health press release is here.
______________________________________________________________________
Welcome Melissa Simon to Brown Technology Innovations
January, 2021. Brown Technology Innovations is thrilled to have Melissa Simon join our team as Business Development Director.
She will work with Dave Potter supporting life science researchers and inventors. Melissa has over fifteen years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, development, and commercialization. Prior to joining Brown, Melissa served as the VP of Life Sciences Business Development for RI Commerce, responsible for strategically growing Rhode Island’s life science ecosystem. A graduate in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, she also holds a PhD in biomedical engineering from Columbia University.
Biogen “Golden Ticket” for Startup from Justin Fallon’s Lab
Patent Award: Lighting and Circadian Rhythm
January, 2021. Disturbances in circadian rhythms, particularly sleep regulation, can dramatically affect performance and often play a role in industrial and engineering disasters. Last month, Brown University/Bradley Hospital jointly received a US Patent (US 10850061) for a lighting system for circadian control and performance enhancement.
The invention, developed from research led by Dr. Eliza Van Reen, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior, consists of behavior- or illumination-sensing hardware and a lighting system that controls both lighting intensity and timing. The system could be used to treat jetlag and age- or disease-related circadian changes, to compensate for insufficiently illuminated workplaces, and to enable team work by individuals on divergent work/sleep schedules. The other members of Dr. Van Reen’s team are Gustavo E. Fernandes, Jingming Xu, and Mary A. Carskadon. Drs. Van Reen and Fernandes are founders of the startup Circadian Positioning Systems.
Spotlight on BBII
January, 2021 The Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) fund received special attention in the Dean’s report from the Warren Alpert Medical School. Lead by Karen Bulock, BBII was established in 2018 and has awarded funds to two cohorts so far, and is in the process of awarding a third this spring. See page 37 of their full research report.
2021 Quarter 2 Report
January, 2021 Brown faculty research and innovation came roaring back in 2Q21 with continued increases in invention disclosures. By all comparisons - from first quarter 2020 numbers to the nadir of fourth quarter 2020, at the depths of the pandemic quarantine - there has been a marked uptick in invention disclosures by Brown faculty. See our Quarterly Report, here.
______________________________________________________________________
Accepting Applications: Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII)
December, 2020. Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) is an academic accelerator fund dedicated to supporting academic biomedical technologies--with potential for high impact--to become well-defined product opportunities that are attractive to industry partners and investors. More details are here. Deadline: December 17.
Techstyle Materials named to Cleantech Group’s “50 to Watch” for 2020
December, 2020. Techstyle Materials, founded and led by Professor Derek Stein (Physics), has been named to Cleantech Group's "50 to Watch" companies for 2020. More on Cleantech's announcment is here.
Patent Awards in November: Chromatography
December, 2020. The second patent issued this year to Brown for research led by Dr. Yongsong Huang (US 10,843,165), this patent covers a unique chromatographic separation system using selenium containing functional groups (the first patent was US 10,549,255). Chromatography is used to separate organic compounds. Beyond applications in academic and pharmaceutical research, chromatography is used most frequently for quality control and research in the food industry. This patent was licensed to a world-wide leader in chromatography and in analytical and organic chemistry. Dr. Hunag’s team includes Yongsong Huang, Jose C. Aponte, Rafael Tarozo, James Dillon.
DRIVEN Ignition Fund: Funding Opportunity for Commercial-focused Biomedical Projects
December, 2020. The DRIVEN Accelerator Hub, an NIH/NIGMS-funded consortium serving biomedical entrepreneurs in Northeast IDeA states, is pleased to offer funds for innovations or discoveries that need additional experimentation before company formation. Internal application deadline January 11, 2021. More details here, or email Karen_Bulock@Brown.edu, Director of the Brown Biomedical Innovation to Impact (BBII) Fund.
back to top
________________________________________________________
2021 Quarter 1 Report
November, 2020. In our first quarter of FY21, Brown Technology Innovations has maintained a focus squarely on executing the strategy and systems installed over the previous fiscal year. See our Quarterly Report, here.
Start Up Weekend Coming for Entrepreneurs
November, 2020. Brown, led by Brown Technology Innovations, is a prime supporter of RI Hub’s “Rhode Island Startup Weekend 2020,” a free online program with two days of learning and networking for those starting companies Nov. 20-21. Events will include a startup showcase, guest speakers, workshops, and a “Great White Shark Tank." Brown is committed to growing the innovation economy of Providence and Rhode Island and is a lead organizer of RI Hub, a network to build the economy. See more.
Slater Technology Fund Secures Award to Work with Brown on Health-Care Startups
November, 2020. The RI Congressional delegation announced an award of $300,000 to Slater Technology Fund (Providence) from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s 2020 Build to Scale Capital Challenge. The grant enables Slater to work with Brown to support health-care technology startups. Senator Whitehouse’s announcement is here (Whitehouse link), and our news recap is here.
The initiative, called Translational Ventures, will help identify seed-stage technology companies focused on health care technologies. Brown Technology Innovations will work with Slater partners Thorne Sparkman and Bob Chatham to find new technologies, founders and funders to support the growth of emerging companies in the region.
The award was made possible thanks to RI’s congressional delegation, US Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed, and US Congressmen David Cicilline and Jim Langevin. Senator Whitehouse's press release about this award is here.
Brown to attend JPM Health Conference 2021
November, 2020. Though shifting to an online platform like BIO2020, the annual JPM Health Conference will indeed take place in January. Brown Tech Innovations will send a team. Please contact us if you have interesting news or company connections related to the conference (tech-innovations@Brown.edu).
According to the Health Management Journal, topics may include: digital health, artificial intelligence, deep learning, gene editing and bioengineering, mental health, implantable technology, wearable technology, m-Health, Tele-health and telemedicine, quantified self, behavioral science and psychology, funding and finance, startups and entrepreneurship, data analytics, preventative care, personalized care, service automation and collaboration.
The conference provides an opportunity to showcase Brown research and innovation to companies, investors and entrepreneurs. All facets of healthcare are represented including therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices and digital health.
Steady Pace Continues: Patent Parade
November, 2020. Three patents were awarded to Brown last month for research led by Gang Xiao, Amit Basu and Christoph Rose-Petruck. Dr. Xiao (Physics) led the research behind the US Patent (10832711) awarded to Brown for a method for processing high volumes of data in computer hardware systems. Dr. Basu (Chemistry) discovered a family of molecules that inhibit the development of gram-positive bacteria (U.S. Patent 10829440). Dr. Rose-Petruck (Chemistry) received a patent for his application of in-situ x-ray scatter imaging of battery electrodes (U.S. Patent 10833374).
back to top
________________________________________________________
Meet the Advisory Board for Brown Technology Innovations
October, 2020. Packed with seasoned entrepreneurs and business executives, we are excited to introduce the Advisory Board for Brown Technology Innovations. The full list is here, and please stay tuned for a public event with this group in the spring.
Got an Idea? Invention Disclosures are Easy and... Trending
October, 2020. Last quarter, our office received 22 invention disclosures, a 57% increase over the same period last year. We hope this is a trend among faculty; invention disclosure is a critical first step towards exploring commercial applications of academic research. Learn more.
Recognition for Inventors: US Patent Awards
October, 2020. Brown has been awarded 37 patents in the past 18 months for faculty inventions. We will mail these inventors special certificates--which we hope they will proudly post in their labs--and digital badges for their social media profiles.
back to top
________________________________________________________
A Year in Review: the FY2020 Annual Report for Brown Technology Innovations
September, 2020. Our team is excited to share the first annual report for Brown Technology Innovations. Our strategy of “Putting Brown Technology First” enables us to serve our two customer bases: faculty inventors and technology developers. While the global pandemic has drastically changed the landscape for taking Brown research into the market, our new strategy has helped us build resilience and is weathering this test well. This report encompasses metrics and achievements during the entire 2019-2020 fiscal year. Read our full report here: Annual Report.
Brown signs MSRA with a Social Media Company - Augmented Reality Research 
September, 2020. Brown Technology Innovations recently facilitated a master sponsored research agreement (MSRA) with a major social media company. The first Statement of Work signed under the MSRA will support research by Sherief Reda (Engineering) with $218,000 over two years to develop models for quantifying hardware utilization and power consumption of mobile augmented reality devices.
Patent Awards This Month
September, 2020. Brown was awarded three U.S. patents this month, two for research in Dr. Jack Elias’ lab, and one for Stefanie Tellex. The Elias lab patents address antibody reagents, one for treating NASH, NFALD or Metabolic Syndrome (#10,752,700), and the other for treating cancer (#10,766,968). Dr. Tellex’s work addresses eye in hand robot designs (#10,766,145). Dr. Tellex (left) is Associate Professor of Computer Science. Dr. Jack Elias (right), is Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Frank L. Day Professor of Biology, Professor of Medicine.
back to top
________________________________________________________
BBII 2020 Awards Announced
August 2020. Brown Biomedical Innovations to Impact (BBII) made its second round of awards last month. Five projects led by Brown University research teams have each been awarded $100,000 to help translate their scientific discoveries into commercial products that benefit patients. Below is an overview of the selected projects.
- Advancing gene therapy for osteoarthritis: Qian Chen, a professor of orthopedic research and medical science, is developing a gene therapy treatment for post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). PTOA is a condition caused by physical trauma, such as sports injuries and fractures, which affects about 5.6 million people in the U.S. annually. His laboratory is developing genetic treatment of PTOA through non-viral delivery of the IL-1Ra gene, using a technology called Nanopieces that it has established. The goals are to develop the first disease-modifying drug for PTOA and to increase the commercial potential for Nanopieces to become a platform technology for broader gene therapy delivery.
- Making therapeutic drugs safer for the heart: During the development process, new drugs must be tested for harmful effects on the heart, called cardiotoxicity, and this project aims to develop a more predictive human cell-based test to establish safe drug exposures. The team of Kareen Coulombe, an assistant professor of engineering and medical science, Bum-Rak Choi, an associate professor of medicine (research), and Ulrike Mende, a professor of medicine, has built a new human cardiotoxicity testing platform using engineered 3D human heart microtissues from stem cells to quantify dose-dependent changes in electrical activity. The project’s comprehensive arrhythmia risk assessment of test compounds is aimed at streamlining drug development, reducing the risk for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias and advancing safe drugs for patients.
- Developing antibodies to fight malaria: Jonathan Kurtis, chair of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School, is developing antibody-based therapeutics for malaria. Malaria is a leading cause of death in developing countries, infecting hundreds of millions of individuals and killing more than 450,000 children each year. The spread of parasites resistant to compounds threatens recent progress achieved by antimalarial campaigns and underscores the urgent need to identify new antimalarial therapeutics. In previous work, Kurtis and his team discovered PfGARP, a previously unrecognized vaccine candidate. In this project, the lab will focus on developing highly effective monoclonal antibodies targeting PfGARP.
- Analyzing infants’ cries for signs of opioid withdrawal: Barry Lester, director of the Center for the Study of Children at Risk at Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School, is searching for signs in newborn infants of opioid withdrawal or Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). His lab’s technology provides an objective measure of their cries and could improve the accuracy of NAS diagnosis. The research team is developing a handheld device to be used by nurses and physicians that will use a cloud-based algorithm to determine if an infant’s cry meets criteria for NAS. Improving the diagnosis would provide better treatment for these infants, reduce hospital stays and lower costs, the researchers say.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of antifungal nanoparticles: Anita Shukla, an assistant professor of engineering, is working to reduce dangerous fungal infections that have high mortality rates and often involve long-term and costly treatment. This research will involve antifungal liposomal nanoparticles developed in the lab, which have the potential to overcome challenges including reducing toxicity of anti-fungal compounds. The lab will complete in vitro and in vivo characterization of nanoparticles enhanced with fungi-targeting agents and investigate their effectiveness.
Karen Bulock, managing director of BBII, said the goal of commercial development program launched by the University in 2018 “is to support biomedical technologies that need additional work to become products that have commercialization potential,” explaining there is often a gap between the time when federal research funding ends and private investors are ready to invest.
BBII, an accelerator fund that supports academic biomedical technologies that have potential for making a substantial impact in health care, is run by the University’s Division of Biology and Medicine in collaboration with Brown Technology Innovations, part of the Office of the Vice President for Research. Press release.
Patents in July: Novel Materials and Methods for Drug Delivery
August, 2020. Last month, Brown received a US Patent (#10,722,468) for drug delivery research led by Dr. Edith Mathiowitz, Professor of Medical Science and of Engineering.
Therapeutic drug compounds that are based on proteins or other biologics have become increasingly common and important. But the harsh conditions in the stomach and gastrointestinal tract make delivery of these drugs a challenge. As a consequence, most protein-based drugs must be delivered intravenously or subcutaneously.
This new patented invention describes new compositions of matter that stabilize proteins and bioactive agents so they can be delivered by any route of drug administration – including oral, and inhalation routes – providing new drug delivery solutions.
The invention involves embedding bioactive agents in a new nanoparticle – a crystalline matrix. The crystalline matrix confers enhanced stability to the embedded bioactive agents making them capable of passing through the stomach without substantial degradation.
Exclusive license option to Bolden for research in Justin Fallon’s Lab
August, 2020. Justin Fallon, Professor of Medical Science, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, has optioned intellectual property to Bolden, his newest startup.
Dr. Fallon’s lab studies neurogenesis, targeting Alzheimer's and other secondary conditions. The Executive Chairman of Bolden, Charlie Polsky, a prominent member of the Chicago life sciences start-up ecosystem, will be key to maximizing the potential of this license agreement. Brown Technology Innovations is continuing to explore with Dr. Fallon how Bolden could use the license.
back to top
________________________________________________________
Leaders in Regenerative Medicine: Kareen Coulombe and Diane Hoffman-Kim
July 2020. Regenerative medicine, an emerging field, allows a broad range of testing for toxicity and other health threats without using animal testing. Two Brown researchers, Dr. Kareen Coulombe and Dr. Diane Hoffman-Kim have been part of the Bioengineering Research Partnerships project, funded in 2016 by the NHLBI (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute).
In its final stages of the 5 year award, the Advisory Board selected 2 of the 5 teams to be the focal point of the remaining funds; Dr. Coulombe and Dr. Hoffman-Kim were selected. Coulombe studies heart tissue and Hoffman-Kim studies nerve fibers. Brown Technology Innovations has received interest from bioengineering companies for technologies that could emerge from their work.
A New Month, New Patents!
July 2020. Keeping our average of two patents per month, in June, Brown was awarded patents for discoveries by Derek Stein (Physics) for smart materials used in construction, and Nitin Padture and Yuanyuan Zhou (SoE) for the application of perovskite in solar panels. Stein’s work on smart materials was also included in a license to TechStyle, a startup in construction products (US Patent #10,704,794). Padture and Zhou lead the research on perovskite in solar panels (US Patent #10,714,269). An innovation that could make solar panels more affordable, it also makes them more flexible. While it has not yet been licensed, Brown Technology Innovations has entertained interest from the renewable energy industry.
Q4 Wrap Up
July 2020. Brown Technology Innovations puts Brown University’s Technology First to drive commercial outcomes that benefit the University and society. This wrap-up highlights our initiatives, results and lessons learned in 4Q20.
back to top
________________________________________________________
Our First Virtual Open House
June 2020. At our first virtual open house June 17, faculty met Executive Director Neil Veloso, heard success stories about Brown startups from Derek Stein and Jake Kurtis, and gained insights on commercialization from alum Kris Brown ‘89 P ‘22. See it here. Stay tuned for our next one- we will announce it on our listserv (email Betsy Loucks to join) as well as in OVPR Research Notes and through Today@Brown.
Brown at BIO 2020
June 2020. One of the largest biomedical and technology conventions in the world with 3,245 companies and 5,713 delegates this year, BIO 2020 was virtual. Dave Potter represented over thirty researchers at Brown to over fifty biotechnology companies, including research in neurology, oncology, digital health, the biology of aging, and vaccines.
Energy Storage: New Patent Issued for Research by Palmore
June 2020. Brown was issued a US patent for research done by Dr. Tayhas Palmore (Engineering) and her graduate student Dan Liu (alum, Chemistry) (US 10,763,065). The disclosure relates to energy storage compositions that can be used as cathode materials as well as methods of making energy storage compositions using hydrothermal processes.
back to top
________________________________________________________
COVID-19 Clinical Trial Industry Contract
May, 2020. Brown Technology Innovations executed a contract with an industry sponsor for a clinical trial to be overseen by Dr. Stefan Gravenstein, Professor of Medicine and Director, Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care. The trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate whether prophylaxis with the industry sponsor’s therapeutic compound reduces the incidence of COVID-19 among residents of nursing home facilities. The name of the company is being kept confidential for now.
Brown Technology Innovations at BIO 2020...Online
May, 2020. Brown Technology Innovations, the commercialization arm of the university, will showcase several life science inventions from Brown at the 2020 Biotechnology Industry Organization conference (BIO). Normally one of the largest fixtures of the life sciences international conference trail each year, this year’s event will be online. BIO will feature partnering/networking opportunities for Brown to connect with potential investors and collaborators from life science and pharma companies. Please contact Betsy Stubblefield Loucks and David Potter if you have interesting news or company connections related to BIO 2020. https://www.bio.org/events/bio-digital
Brown Technology Innovations- Our name change is official!
May, 2020. We have officially changed our name to Brown Technology Innovations. You formerly knew us as the Office of Industry Engagement and Commercial Venturing, and some may recall the predecessor of IECV, known as the Tech Ventures Office (T-VO). Under new leadership from Neil Veloso but with the same staff, our team will pursue a new strategy to bring inventions from Brown research teams to have an impact through commercial channels. More about us: new strategy, same team.
back to top
________________________________________________________
Creating Quantum Safe Signatures
April, 2020. With the concurrent rise of cryptocurrency and quantum computing, an inevitable collision will occur, as quantum computing will break existing cryptocurrency/blockchain security measures. Jeffrey Hoffstein and Joseph Silverman, professors in the Brown Mathematics Department, are working on solutions that compress quantum safe signatures and utilize lattice technology to provide safe and effective blockchain security solutions. The project is attracting venture capital interest.
With existing quantum safe signatures, a direct transition to blockchains will decrease the "transactions per second" by orders of magnitude. This is because these quantum safe signatures are orders of magnitude larger than non-quantum safe signatures, and transactions per second is inversely proportional to the size of the signature. For both crypto assets and exchanges, $2 trillion and $19 trillion markets respectively, if this transition is not made, existing crypto secure technology will be broken in seconds. Any solution to protect blockchains against quantum threats needs to be both secure and efficient to maintain and improve blockchain performance.
The Lattice Based approach for blockchain security developed by Hoffstein and his colleagues is intended as an improvement over existing methods. Technologies such as ECDSA, the one presently in primary in use for protecting blockchains, have excellent Public Key and Signature Sizes, but will be broken by quantum computers. Existing Lattice Based quantum safe approaches have such large signature sizes that they would be impractical if used.
For these reasons Brown researchers, and collaborators Berk Sunar and Yarkin Doraz at Worcester Polytechnic, believe developing a secure blockchain methodology in a post quantum computing world has both academic and practical applications. It furthers Brown's contributions to mathematics knowledge and in practical terms could help protect the future of finance for years to come.
back to top
________________________________________________________
Cheaper and Better: Invention of an Industrial 3-D Scanner
March, 2020. Imagine a tool that looks like a small projector that can scan your water bottle and tell you what you need to know to build it from scratch...or a rare part for your old car...or a piece of machinery for which you need to figure out a new supplier. Dr. Gabriel Taubin (Engineering and Computer Science) has identified algorithms that enable the capture of information about 3-D objects that would help designers understand how they are made.
Dr. Taubin’s breakthrough means that scans could be done using commercially available hardware that is much less expensive than current solutions.
This month, Brown was issued a patent for Dr. Taubin’s work. The intellectual property in the patent has been licensed to an early stage startup called Riven, who raised $2 million in seed capital last year, and is on track to raise $10 million this year to get to the next stage.
Dr. Taubin’s current research projects emphasize low cost precise 3D scanning systems, 3D scanning for 3D printing, industrial applications of 3D scanning systems, and more generally digital fabrication. A demonstration video can be found here.
The Patent Parade Continues
March, 2020. Each month, our office will share the latest patents that Brown is awarded for inventions by our faculty. This month, we are glad to share that Brown was issued a U.S. patent for an invention by Dr. Gilead Barnea called "Methods for Labeling and Manipulating a Cellular Circuit" (Allowed U.S. Utility Patent, application no. 15/558/90). This invention for understanding the brain adds another important component to the Carney Brain Science Center's innovation platform for leadership in neurological cellular technology.
back to top
________________________________________________________
Brown Receives Two Patents, One for Breakthrough in Cancer Therapeutics, One For Chromatography
February 2020. Brown has been issued two patents this month. The first is for a possible breakthrough tool for cancer therapeutics. Dr. Karl Kelsey and his colleague, John Wienecke, at the University of California San Francisco, have invented a new methodology for understanding cellular response to cancer diagnostics and treatment. The current state of the art methods were developed in 2004, and are widely understood to be insufficient.
Dr. Kelsey’s method provides information about cellular activity using a process that is much faster, more reliable, and cost efficient. Understanding the response of the immune system to disease, injury and therapy can significantly impact health care outcomes. The patent will make it easier for Dr. Kelsey to attract proof of concept funding from industry and other research partners.
Chromatography: No More Silver Nitrate
Brown also received a patent for a novel material for use in chromatography called metal thiolate chromatographic material, or MTCM. Discovered by a research team led by Dr. Yongsong Huang, Professor of Geological Sciences, MTCM will improve upon a process developed half a century ago. Chromatography is used to separate organic compounds. Beyond applications in academic and pharmaceutical research, chromatography is used most frequently for quality control and research in the food industry.
The current approach to chromatography involves silver nitrate, which is notorious for its limitations. Challenges include material instability, unwanted staining, silver ion bleeding and leaching into resulting compounds, and incompatibility with mass spectrometry. Silver nitrate has a short shelf life, and is not reusable.
MTCM solves all those problems and is superior to silver nitrate in every respect. Because it acts on carbon-carbon double bonds (pi bonds), it can be used in every separation application where silver nitrate was formerly used--and more--but without any of the problems associated with silver nitrate. Currently, silver nitrate is the only stationary phase media available on the market that targets pi bonds for separation, which means there is a ready need and opportunity to introduce MTCM to the market.
back to top
________________________________________________________
Neil Veloso Arrives as New IECV Executive Director
January, 2020. Neil Veloso is the new Executive Director of Brown’s Office of Industry Engagement and Commercial Venturing. The Executive Director is the most senior officer in the University focused on commercializing Brown innovations through new venture creation, industry collaborations and licensing with strategic partners.
Neil has spent two decades at the intersection of academic research, healthcare and commercialization. As a consultant and advisor, he worked with leading academic medical centers and institutions, private and public universities, and investors. Neil has held senior roles in commercialization as the Executive Director of technology transfer at Johns Hopkins University and a Senior Director at Cleveland Clinic Innovations. He has transactional experience in the fields of therapeutics, information technology, engineering and diagnostics with both established companies and venture-backed startups.
The University's official announcement in Today@Brown is here.
RIHub launches new accelerator: Innovations in Urban Living
January 2020. RIHub has partnered with The CoWrks Foundry to launch the Innovations in Urban Living Accelerator (IULA).
IULA is a 24-week startup accelerator designed to help entrepreneurs improve the urban infrastructure and systems in India and in other emerging economies by leveraging a combination of technology, policy and local ingenuity. Teams will receive up to $40,000 and must have an incorporated company by the time the program starts. Anyone may apply (no need to be affiliated with Brown). Apply here by January 31, 2020.
$200,000 from Hyundai awarded to Brown’s Bat flight and Aeromechanics Laboratory
January 2020. Starting Phase III of the Brown-Hyundai Research Collaboration, Hyundai awarded $200,000 to a research team jointly led by Dr. Kenny Breuer in Engineering and Dr. Sharon Swartz in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Their collaborative team will develop an enhanced understanding of bat flight and apply it to the modeling and design of flying robots.
This award comes at the end of a 1.5 year process which began with the Hyundai Visionary Challenge. Led by Alberto Bortoni and Xiaozhou Fan, PhD candidates in EEB and Engineering respectively, and undergrad neuroscience and biology concentrator Undergrad Alexander (Sascha) Morris - the team, successfully competed in the fall of 2018, and presented at the Hyundai Mobility Innovators Challenge that November. This past fall, Alberto and Xiaozhou returned to San Francisco to share the team's vision for how bat flight can inform the future of drone technology.