“Heavy-Hitting LI BioMentor Initiative Makes It Official”

The Long Island BioMentor Initiative (LIBMI) officially accepted its first program applications in a “launch event” at the de Seversky Mansion on Thursday May 10, 2018. Already a year into a “pilot phase,” the LIBMI was developed in league with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Venture Mentoring Service which employs an “objective team-mentoring model” for early-stage businesses that champions one strict rule above all others: The uber-qualified mentors are prohibited from investing in, pitching business to or otherwise profiting from their mentees.

Read the full article from Innovate Long Island.

Chronus Pharmaceuticals Receives Phase I STTR

Chronus Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has received a $299,172 Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award in partnership with the Department of Chemistry at Stony Brook University.

Funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be used to establish feasibility of an antibody diagnostic for detecting childhood tuberculosis. The research will be lead by LIBH Researcher Nicole S. Sampson, PhD in the Department of Chemistry, who will serve as principle investigator on the award and work in close collaboration with Chronus Pharmaceuticals.

Celmatix awarded $4.5M to expand in NYS

Celmatix, a next-generation women’s health company, has been awarded $4.5 million from Empire State Development’s New York City Regional Economic Development Council (REDC), to expand its headquarters in Manhattan.

Piraye Yurttas Beim, PhD, Founder and CEO of Celmatix stated “New York State has been there for Celmatix every step of the way as we’ve transitioned from ambitious startup to innovative next generation women’s health company. From the training I received through New York State’s Center for Biotechnology program at Stony Brook University, to the support we received from the Empire State Development START-UP New York program when it was time to build our first lab, and now, with this award as we prepare to take the next step in the evolution of our company, we are honored to have continued support to grow and thrive in New York.”

Additional Articles: pharmiweb

Entrepreneurship Training Program from NIH & CDC: I-Corps

Funding Opportunity Now Available for 2018 Summer Cohort of I-Corps at NIH

Did you know that the NIH and CDC offer entrepreneurship training program for small businesses?

I-Corps at NIH is an experience-based program designed specifically for small biotech businesses. Through this 8-week program, you will learn how to build a strong business model that could help bring your technology to patients.

The Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for 2018 Summer Cohort of I-Corps at NIH is now available: PA-18-517. More information sessions will be available in early 2018 to help you better understand the program. In the meantime, please refer to the following resources to learn more about the program:

  • FOA: PA-18-517
  • Application due date: March 5, 2018, by 5 PM local time
  • Cohort schedule: June – August 2018
  • Program Information: I-Corps at NIH Program Page
  • Recordings of previous info sessions: Webinar Materials page

If you have any questions about the program, please contact NCI SBIR (ncisbir@mail.nih.gov).

CFB Director Elected Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI)

Clinton Rubin, PhD, Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University has been elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). According to the NAI, election as an NAI Fellow is a high honor bestowed upon academic innovators and inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions and innovations that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society. Dr. Rubin and fellow SBU Distinguished Professor Dr. Arie Kaufman will be inducted as NAI Fellows during its 2018 national meeting in Washington, DC, on April 5.

With the election of the 2017 class there are now 912 NAI Fellows, representing over 250 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. The 2017 Fellows are named inventors on nearly 6,000 issued U.S. patents, bringing the collective patents held by all NAI Fellows to more than 32,000 issued U.S. patents.

Professor Rubin, founding chair of Stony Brook’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, pioneered research in understanding the role of mechanical signals in the musculoskeletal system and has patented technology that includes use of low frequency mechanical signals (vibrations) to combat disease like osteoporosis and obesity.

More on Dr. Rubin’s election as an NAI Fellow can be access here and here.