Tag Archives: LIBH

Long Island Bioscience Hub Announces Latest Funded Projects

Posted on by
Reply

Innovative phase-0 proof-of-concept center continues advancement
of commercially promising biomedical innovations.

The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University, on behalf of the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH), announced the recipients of the fourth round of funded projects under the Hub’s technology development and commercialization initiative. Funding for five projects totaling $400,000 has been awarded to applicants from the Hub’s partner institutions. Partner institutions include Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at Northwell Health. Over the last two years, more than $2.5M has been awarded to further the development of commercially promising technologies.

There are two categories of awards under the LIBH funding initiative – Feasibility and Proof-of-Concept. “Feasibility awards” are funded at up to $50,000 and designed to rapidly test the feasibility of new ideas in a “fail-fast-or-proceed” format, or to add value to existing intellectual property leading to new market applications. Proof-of-Concept awards provide up to $100,000 for targeted, milestone driven support for further development, testing, and analysis of existing intellectual property.

In this cycle, two feasibility awards have been given to Stony Brook University researchers exploring technologies that include a novel anti-fungal for life threatening blood infections and a new computational method for macrocyclic drug discovery. Proof-of-Concept projects this cycle include a drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB combination therapy, a novel therapeutic for the treatment of colorectal cancer, and a next-generation medical imaging tool with applications in mammography.

“While the Long Island Bioscience Hub is only two‐years in existence, it has already had major impacts including the establishment of four companies.” said Clinton T. Rubin, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Director, Center for Biotechnology. “Additionally, this round of funding further enhances the LIBH-REACH pipeline that already has resulted in eight patent applications, five options/licenses and more than forty SBIR/STTR applications related to REACH technologies and small business clients.”

“I applaud the efforts of the Long Island Bioscience Hub as they continue to draw out the cutting edge biomedical innovations that exist within our research labs and their work with faculty innovators and the local bioscience community to accelerate commercial development.” said Dr. Richard Reeder, Vice President for Research at Stony Brook University. “Stony Brook University is deeply committed to the translation of basic research and the Hub’s successes demonstrate that we need to continue to foster the activities of the Hub.”

The technology development awards made available by the LIBH are specifically aimed at growing a pipeline of commercially promising biomedical technologies that can be out-licensed for further development or serve as the foundation for new company formations in the region. The main goal of the LIBH is to foster the development of therapeutics, preventatives, diagnostics, devices and research tools emerging from LIBH partner institutions that address diseases within the NIH’s mission.

Funded Projects –May 2017 Awards

“A Small Molecule Drug for the Treatment of Systemic Candidiasis” Nicolas Carpino, PhD and Jarrod French, Stony Brook University – Feasibility Award

“BRIKARD, a Program for Macrocyclic Drug Discovery” Evangelos Coutsias, PhD, Stony Brook University – Feasibility Award

“Selenium multi-Well Avalanche Detectors for Medical Imaging Applications” Amirhossein Goldan, PhD, Stony Brook University – Proof of Concept Award

“Developing Novel miR-129 Mimic Based Therapeutics for Colorectal Cancer” Jingfang Ju, PhD, Stony Brook University – Proof of Concept Award

“Azasteroid for Combination anti-TB Therapy” Nicole Sampson, PhD, Stony Brook University – Proof of Concept Award

Download a PDF of the press release here.

LIBH Researcher Published in Nature Communications

Posted on by
Reply

Dr. Sasha Levy, Marsha Laufer Endowed Assistant Professor of Physical and Quantitative Biology for the Laufer Center and the Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology at Stony Brook University, recently had an article published in Nature Communications related to his research supported by the Long Island Bioscience Hub.

In the article, Dr. Levy’s group has described a next-generation high-throughput system for studying protein-protein interactions in yeast, without the limitations of previous techniques, by monitoring relative barcode frequencies across time periods. This allows large scale study of protein interaction changes across dynamic environments, and can be used for rapid drug screening assays.

Access the article here.

Getting Serious About BioEntrepreneurship in New York

Posted on by
Reply

Center for Biotechnology BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence and Founder and CEO of Traverse Biosciences, Joseph Scaduto, recently penned a powerful article discussing the importance of human capital to the growth and sustainability of New York’s bioscience ecosystem.

“…the prospect of “jumping ship” into a new bioscience venture is not just risky, it is downright scary, if not financially impossible, exacerbated further by the frightening lack of alternative job opportunities in the high-probability event of failure. In my opinion, this seemingly insurmountable and geographic “barrier to entry,” defined by the comparatively excessive risk of bioentrepreneurship, is a primary reason why New York continues to struggle to develop, cultivate and grow a vibrant, dynamic and self-sustaining bioscience industry cluster.”

Read the full article here.

 

CFB Director Testifies Before Joint Congressional Hearing

Posted on by
Reply

On Thursday May 4, 2017 Center for Biotechnology Director Dr. Clinton Rubin was fortunate to testify at a joint congressional hearing on “Improving the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs”. Dr. Rubin was present to discuss the NIH-REACH Program – which is the program that supported the creation of the Long Island Bioscience Hub.

Dr. Rubin spoke about the importance of initiatives like REACH which promote the development of “Phase 0” proof-of concept centers embedded within university communities. The activities of these centers are critical in promoting under-realized innovations out of academic labs and into the hands of patients as Universities often face significant challenges when it comes to commercializing translational research. He talk about the fact that in a very short amount of time, the three hubs created by the REACH program have already seen major impacts at our institution, fostering new intellectual property, increasing credibility with the investor community, promoting a shift in the academic culture, attracting new licensing opportunities, and most importantly, catalyzing the formation of new companies – some of which have successfully secured SBIR funding.

Programs like REACH fuel the growth of the small business community around university centers, and drives science towards successful new treatments for disease.

The committee hearing is available to view at this link. Dr. Rubin’s comments begin at 2:53:06

CFB Director Clint Rubin and Director of Operations Diane Fabel at a joint congressional hearing on May 4, 2017.

Commercialization Fellowship for High School Students & Undergrads

Posted on by
Reply

The Center for Biotechnology is seeking one or more qualified and motivated high school /undergrad students interested in learning about and supporting technology development and commercialization of new biomedical innovations on behalf of the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH). The LIBH is a National Institutes of Health-designated Research, Evaluation, and Commercialization Hub (REACH), one of only three such centers in the country. The LIBH supports the development and commercialization activities of its partner institutions including Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Candidates for the Fellowship will have completed their sophomore year in high school through junior year in undergraduate studies. Candidates should have a GPA of no less than a 3.0, and have an interest in exploring careers in a biomedical field. Interested candidates should send a one-page statement of interest detailing their academic accomplishments and describing what they would like to gain from the Fellowship experience, along with a transcript to: Kristina Duryea kristina.duryea@stonybrook.edu.

Selection Process:
Deadline for application materials is May 1 – June 2, 2017.
Additional admissions procedures (including interviews, by telephone or in person) may be required.

Notification:
Applicants will generally be notified by June 9, 2017. One-two applicants are expected to be selected.