Faculty from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University and local entrepreneurs were recently recognized for their groundbreaking research with $200,000 in prizes.
The awards were made by the two universities, the Abell Foundation and the Maryland Department of Commerce as part of a day-long 2016 Innovation Showcase. The event was cohosted by the Johns Hopkins Alliance for Science and Technology Development and the University of Maryland, Baltimore Commercial Advisory Board.
First awarded in 2010 to support early-stage research and enable commercialization, the Maryland Department of Commerce prizes are two $25,000 grants to startup companies affiliated with Hopkins and UMB. In addition, the schools awarded two $25,000 prizes to university researchers, and the Abell Foundation awarded two $50,000 prizes to university researchers to address critical funding gaps in the translation to market of promising university research and invention.
Maryland Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Ben Wu presented prizes to two startups: Paitagen, LLC, a UMB spinout developing fast, accurate and inexpensive tests to detect bacteria and fungi; and Max and Haley, a spinout of Hopkins Technology Ventures, developing fully integrated hardware, software and treatment protocol solutions for neurological rehabilitation.
Other prizes went to researchers Bob Ernst for his research on Anti-Sepsis Lipid A-based (ASLA) Therapeutics, and Aaron Chang who is developing a system for prevention of acute kidney injury called Renalert.
Winners of the Abell Foundation awards are UMB inventor Erimy Polf who created the 3D Gamma Imaging System for Medical Applications; and John Murphy and William Bishai who are developing of a Second-Generation, Improving Ontak for cancer immunotherapy at Johns Hopkins.
“We are proud to collaborate with Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the Abell Foundation to help advance the groundbreaking research being spun out of these world-class universities from the lab into the commercial marketplace,” said Commerce Deputy Secretary Ben Wu. “I salute all of the faculty innovators and entrepreneurs for the important role they play in keeping our state on the cutting edge of innovation and discovery.”
“More faculty at Johns Hopkins than ever are interested in translating their technologies from bench to bedside,” said Christy Wyskiel, Senior Adviser for Enterprise Development at Johns Hopkins University. “The Alliance meeting allows us to showcase many of these inventions and startups, demonstrating the breadth of innovation occurring right here in Baltimore. We are grateful for the support from the Maryland Department of Commerce and from the Abell Foundation.”
“This again was an outstanding showcase of our best translationally-focused and commercially-oriented technologies,” said Jay A. Perman, MD, president, University of Maryland, Baltimore. “These awards will stimulate further discovery and we are excited about the prospects for this year’s winners.”
Robert C. Embry, Jr., President of the Abell Foundation, added, “The Innovation Showcase offers a terrific opportunity for exceptional research-based discoveries among faculty and researchers at both institutions to be showcased and promoted.”
The annual meeting was attended by more than 200 venture capitalists, seasoned biotech entrepreneurs and business development executives from the biopharma industry. Judging committees evaluated presentations from startups and university researchers before selecting the two winners.
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from https://mdbiznews.commerce.maryland.gov/2016/11/local-startups-win-25000-research-commercialization/
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