Tag Archives: stony brook university

Center for Biotechnology Tapped for New Healthcare Security Innovation Program

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Stony Brook University Happenings recently profiled the Center for Biotechnology’s designation as on of eight national accelerators under the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Division of Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe).  Excerpt below, read the full article here.

Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight an infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. It’s dangerous and often deadly. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 250,000 people die from sepsis each year, and it is a leading cause of hospitalization in the U.S.

What if a simple test could identify the onset of sepsis as soon as it occurs? Better yet, what if wearable technology was available to alert doctors about sepsis in a patient before they ever show symptoms?

This may be possible in the future thanks to Stony Brook University’s participation in the federal government’s new BARDA-DRIVe initiative.

Stony Brook, NY; Stony Brook University: Center for Biotechnology’s (CFB) Director of Operations Diane Fabel talks with Alyssa Tuthill, Instructional Support Associate/Biomedical Engineering Labs Manager while Graduate Research Assistant Vaughn Greene works with samples.

The initiative, launched by the Division of Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe), will be overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

BARDA has selected Stony Brook’s Center for Biotechnology as one of eight national accelerators across the country to assist in scouting faculty innovators and businesses that are developing health security technology that meets the program’s goals. The initiative plans to focus first on sepsis and the early detection and diagnosis of infections that threaten national health. More goals will be identified over time. 

“National health security is essential for optimum public health, enabling our society to thrive,” said Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. President Stanley is a biomedical researcher who specializes in emerging infectious diseases. He also chairs the Innovation Committee for the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council.

“With a proven record of research, discovery, innovation and product-development in the biomedical sciences, Stony Brook’s Center for Biotechnology is poised to become an important contributor to the BARDA-DRIVe initiative,” he said. “I am certain that the Center will advance and accelerate research discovery, and strategically collaborate with biotech companies to find solutions to better manage sepsis and emerging national health issues.”

Anton Xavier Joins CFB in Technology and Business Development Role

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Former Pfizer Senior Scientist and Scout Anton Xavier has joined the Center for Biotechnology in the role of Assistant Director of Technology and Business Development. Within this role at the Center, Anton will focus on the development and implementation of technology and business development strategies that will increase sponsored research, company formation, strategic alliances, and investment with external partners. Anton will also provide oversight to the Center’s Commercialization Associates offering technology / business development services and education to entrepreneurial faculty and emerging companies.

During his tenure at Pfizer, Anton had duties within the External Science and Innovation group (ES&I) focusing on sourcing, screening, and evaluating early through to late stage (inter)national biopharma ventures, entrepreneurial academic PI technology, private/public/local government funded life science initiatives, and funding vehicles which aligned with Pfizer’s R&D interest for investment and strategic partnerships. Additionally, Anton led efforts within Pfizer R&D from discovery through to late stage development of targeted therapeutics for oncology indications.

Prior to Pfizer, Anton’s experience was within a wider field of bioscience, including regenerative medicine, infectious disease, and cardiovascular biology where he developed multiple therapeutic, platform, and diagnostic innovations for military and industrial needs.

Anton is currently a mentor and adjunct faculty member for early stage life science ventures with E-Lab NYC, ABCT (Accelerator for Biosciences in Connecticut), NSF’s I-Corps program, the British Consulate NYC, Business France, and Cornell / Columbia University, where he provides critical industry based science, strategy, and business development input for bio-venture development.

Anton earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, a Master of Science (MSc) in Toxicology from Imperial College London and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with Microbiology from Queen Mary University of London.

Anton can be reached at the Center for Biotechnology by emailing anton.xavier@stonybrook.edu

“Heavy-Hitting LI BioMentor Initiative Makes It Official”

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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

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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.

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

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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.