UF Innovate Hosts First Fast Break Ventures Summit
Investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs convened at the University of Florida Stephen C. O’Connell Center for UF Innovate | Ventures’ first-annual Fast Break Ventures Summit. Over 100 attendees met on center court for an afternoon filled with discussion on the state of venture capital in Florida and to hear pitches from six startup companies.
UF Start-Up Helps Fight Mosquitoes in Areas Hit Hardest by Hurricane Ian
A product developed in a University of Florida lab designed to protect American soldiers from insect-borne diseases is helping wage war against the surge of mosquitoes in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ian.
The Inzecto Mosquito Trap, co-created by Phil Koehler, a UF distinguished professor in the department of entomology and nematology, is an easy-to-use, environmentally friendly, and effective mosquito-killing device. The Gainesville-based company donated 100,000 traps this week to communities struggling with large populations of mosquitoes due to the floodwaters left behind by the hurricane’s rain and storm surges.
Dr. Barry Byrne Named Innovator of the Year
The annual event honored Dr. Barry Byrne as Innovator of the Year for his contributions to gene therapy and highlighted six teams of inventors for their Inventions of the Year.
Novel Target Discovered for Potentially Treating and Preventing Osteoarthritis
Scientists at UF Scripps Biomedical Research have described a specific protein that manages activities within chondrocytes, a critical cell type that maintains healthy cartilage in joints. As people age and stress their joints, their chondrocytes begin to fail. The UF Scripps team found that activating a specific protein in these cells called RORβ (beta) could restore multiple factors needed for smooth joints to healthier levels, helping to control inflammation.
Wertheim Foundation provides lead gift of $100 million to UF Scripps
The University of Florida today announced that the Dr. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Family Foundation has provided $100 million — the largest gift from an individual donor in university history — to elevate the stature of UF Scripps as one of the world’s leading forces in biomedical research and to advance the leading-edge work of faculty at the campus in Jupiter, Florida.
TearClear Announces Positive Topline Results From Clear Phase 3 Study for the Treatment of Glaucoma
TearClear, an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company that transforms trusted drugs into branded best-in-class therapies, announced that the company’s will file a NDA with the FDA on their lead product. This product will offer patients the first and only means of delivering preservative-free doses of latanoprost from conventional multi-dose bottles.
Here’s How AI Could Bring Better Fruit to Your Table
Researchers at the University of Florida envision a quicker method: exploring the natural variations in plant genetics using artificial intelligence. The applications extend far beyond blueberries, a growing sector of Florida’s $182.6 billion agriculture industry. Their brainchild, the AI Connoisseur, would not only give Florida farms an edge, but make healthy food more palatable to more people, bringing varieties with heirloom-quality flavor within everyone’s reach. All they’d have to do is teach a computer to taste.
$12.6 Million Department of Energy Grant Funds Advanced Quantum Research Center
The Center for Molecular Magnetic Quantum Materials at the University of Florida has received a $12.6 million, four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue its work developing next-generation quantum materials for advanced applications in computing and energy.
This Geneticist’s Goal: Cure the Disease That Runs in His Family
Dr. Eric Wang has always been interested in understanding how biological systems function, but in part entered this field and joined the team at UF because he has family members affected by myotonic dystrophy. He is personally motivated to better understand DM and related diseases, and to find treatments.
New HiPerGator Simulations “Solve Mother Nature” To Address Real-World Problems
In one of the most intensive uses yet of the University of Florida’s HiPerGator supercomputer, UF engineers have faithfully reproduced the turbulence and complexity of hot air rising along a wall — a previously impossible simulation with applications in home fire safety and heating and cooling.