News - UF Innovate

Genetic Cause of Als and Dementia Repaired by RNA-Targeting Strategy Developed at UF Scripps

Scientists at UF Scripps Biomedical Research have developed a potential medicine for a leading cause of ALS and dementia that works by eliminating disease-causing segments of RNA. The compound restored the health of neurons in the lab and rescued mice with the disease.

IPOs Could Be Headed for a Rocky Road in 2023

Initial public offerings appear likely to remain sluggish for at least several months to start 2023, while special purpose acquisition companies, which provide businesses with alternative paths to public listings, face headwinds of their own. Hear what University of Florida professor Jay Ritter, has to say about a possible IPO drought.

Biogen and Alcyone Therapeutics Announce License and Collaboration Agreement To Evaluate a Novel Device To Improve Patient Experience and Access to Neurological Aso Therapies

Biogen Inc. and Alcyone Therapeutics have entered into a license and collaboration agreement to develop Alcyone’s ThecaFlex DRxTM System, an implantable medical device intended for subcutaneous delivery of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies into the intrathecal space. Through this agreement, Biogen aims to leverage the ThecaFlex DRxTM System with a goal of improving the patient treatment experience and accessibility for a broader population of people suffering from neurological disorders, such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

New College of Engineering Graduate Is on a Mission To Break Barriers to Space Travel for People With Disabilities

Ever since Eric Shear was a child, he has looked up to the sky, watching the stars and wondering “what’s out there.” With a curious brain wired for space exploration and degrees in physics, planetary science and, as of Friday, a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Florida, it seems natural that Shear pursues his lifelong dream to travel into space. There’s only one problem. Shear was born profoundly deaf, meaning he can only hear random sounds — like a dog’s loud bark or a jet engine — that are at least 80 decibels, and that bars him from flying to space with NASA or any other space agency, for now. “My ultimate goal is to be an astronaut,” Shear said, “but if I can’t journey into space, I want to be involved from the ground and develop life-support technologies that assist those who do fly.”

Three CHE Assistant Professors Receive the NIH Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award

Three faculty at the University of Florida Department of Chemical Engineering received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R35 Early-Stage Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA). Each researcher was awarded a five-year, $1.8+ million award. MIRA awards provide investigators with greater stability and flexibility in funding, while enhancing their ability to take on ambitious scientific projects and approach problems more creatively.

Satellite-Mounted Telescopes Get a New Focus: Earth

With Garmendia leading the way, UF, the State of Florida and the Spanish government developed a plan for a $10 million collaboration to develop small satellite telescopes to look for dark matter, and to conduct Earth observations. Over the next several years — with support from UF Research, the Florida Space Research Institute (now Space Florida), and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council — Guzmán and the Satlantis team based at UF Innovate’s The Hub in downtown Gainesville worked with astronomy department engineers on the new telescope.

From Fighting Shoplifting to Pioneering Gene Therapies, the Startups in This Accelerator Are on the Front Lines of “Super Creativity”

The startups within UF Innovate, as well as the accelerator itself, are vivid examples of what creativity and innovation expert James Taylor, based in Scotland, describes as SuperCreativity—a phenomenon that many business leaders are trying to foster in today’s fast-changing business environment. It is a concept that goes beyond creativity or innovation alone.

Jupiter Scientist Courtney Miller Named BioFlorida’s Entrepreneur of the Year

Praising her ongoing passion for developing a new class of treatments for cancer and addiction, Florida’s biotechnology industry organization, BioFlorida, has awarded its 2022 Weaver H. Gaines Entrepreneur of the Year award to Courtney Miller, Ph.D., director of academic affairs and a professor at UF Scripps Biomedical Research in Jupiter, Florida.

UF AI Center To Push Boundaries of Ag Research

AI will create a fourth agricultural revolution, achieving huge gains in farm productivity the way the introduction of tractors, synthetic fertilizers and genetics did in previous eras. The speed and success of that revolution depends on how well land-grant university innovators. The groundwork for the revolution has been laid by more than a century of UF/IFAS establishing credibility through its citrus science. Working with a UF/IFAS faculty member comes with assurance that growers’ data will be protected.

Florida’s Life Science Leaders United To Celebrate 25 Years of Innovation and Growth in the State

BioFlorida's 25th Annual Conference united statewide leaders of Florida's life sciences industry representing biopharmaceutical, medical technology, and digital health companies, globally recognized research universities and research institutions, and the state's health systems to spotlight the continued momentum and success in science, business, and public policy and spur collaboration and future growth.

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