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Issue 5 - Nov, 2015                                                                                        @UCSF_Catalyst


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In This Issue:

  • UCSF Catalyst News
  • Farewell to Ruben Rathnasingham
  • Moving Towards the Clinic, an Update on Past Catalyst Awardees
  • Advisor Updates
  • Translational Research Funding Opportunities
  • Upcoming Events

Catalyst News:

  • Catalyst Seminar: Data Reproducibility in Preclinical Discovery, Is it a real Problem?:  On Sep 17th UCSF Catalyst brought a panel of academic and industry thought leaders for a lively discussion on the issue of data reproducibility in academic research.  Moderated by Cathy Tralau-Stewart, head of the Therapeutics track of the Catalyst Awards, the panel explored causes and potential solutions for a problem that has been receiving national attention in both scientific and popular media. Watch video or read article.
     
  • UC BRAID: Bringing Together the Power of the UC Clinical and Research Enterprises:  Accelerating product development across UC was a topic of discussion at the annual retreat of UC BRAID (Biomedical Research Acceleration, Innovation and Development) on Oct 16thJune Lee, the Director of Catalyst and the Chair of the cross-campus Drug, Device, Discovery & Development (D4) workgroup, presented the two main efforts of D4 – multi-campus partnerships with industry and UC Drug Discovery Alliance.  UC BRAID’s other focus areas include multi-campus contracting and IRB approvals for clinical studies, participant recruitment, biobanking, and child health. See events page.  

New Partnerships:

  • Sigma-Aldrich & Catalyst Partnership: Catalyst is happy to announce its new strategic collaboration with Sigma-Aldrich.  The collaboration will allow Catalyst to expand the Awards program through additional funding and in-kind contribution, and to receive technical insight and market guidance from Sigma-Aldrich on UCSF’s translational projects in tools and reagents space.  Read article.
  • Cisco & CDHI Partnership: Center for Digital Health Innovation (CDHI) formed a new collaboration with Cisco to jointly develop an interoperability platform for integrating and sharing heath care information from multiple sources and among multiple entities.  A collaborative center will be established on the Mission Bay campus to develop the platform and pilot it at UCSF.  Aenor Sawyer, Assoc. Director of Strategic Relations at CDHI and the head of Digital Health track of Catalyst Awards) was instrumental establishing the partnership.  Read article.
Farewell to Ruben:  
 
Catalyst’s Ruben Rathnasingham to Lead Health Product Innovation Efforts at UT Austin 
It is with mixed emotion that we announce that Ruben Rathnasingham, Catalyst’s Associate Director, has taken on a new role of Assistant Dean of Health Product Innovation at the Dell Medical School of UT Austin. There, Ruben will spearhead the biomedical product development and innovation efforts and will lead the Texas Health Catalyst funding program.  We’ll miss Ruben greatly at UCSF and wish him success with this exciting new opportunity!
Moving Towards the Clinic: 
 

Charles Chiu, MD PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine, was an awardee in the Catalyst program and in the Center of Accelerated Innovation, with related projects to develop and validate metagenomic next-generation sequencing platform for diagnosis of acute infectious diseases.  With promising preliminary data demonstrating the robust performance of this assay platform and the associated rapid data analysis tool, Dr. Chiu’s project was one of two winners of the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine.  With funding from CIAMP, Dr. Chiu’s team will conduct prospective clinical studies to compare the metagenomic NGS platform to conventional testing and will implement the platform across three UC sites.  The project is a collaboration with several industry partners including Quest Diagnostics, who will provide clinical samples for assay validation.
Advisor Updates: 


Translational Research Funding Opportunities:

  • Cancer Center's Target Validation Initiative: UCSF’s Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Catalyst program are kicking off a new initiative to accelerate translation of promising research into new cancer therapeutics.  The initiative will provide support for to UCSF investigators to validate key studies in additional in vitro and in vivo models, to develop companion biomarkers, and to initiate hit and lead discovery activities.  For more information, see RFP or contact Cathy Tralau-Stewart. Apply by Nov 7th;
  • UC Center for Accelerated Innovation (UC-CAI):  A multi-campus consortium consisting of UCSF, UC Davis, UCSD, UCLA and UC Irvine, is opening its next funding cycle for technology development grants in the disease areas of NHLBI (heart, lung, blood, and sleep) and NIDA (drug abuse) interest areas. Up to $200K. For more information, see RFP or contact Cathy Tralau-Stewart. LOI due Nov 15th Pre-apps due Dec 1st-8th; Related Webinars
  • Wellcome Trust Seeding Discovery: Funding for early (screen-to-lead) and late stage (lead-to-clinical) drug discovery projects.  Funding levels are project-specific (can be $1M+).  Pre-apps due Nov 4th;
  • NIH/NCATS Bridging Interventional Development Gaps (BrIDGS):  In-kind support and resources for advancing promising therapeutic agents through late-stage pre-clinical development toward an Investigational New Drug (IND) application and clinical testing.  Rolling deadline;
  • NIH/NCATS Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND): in-kind support and resources for pre-clinical development of therapeutic candidates intended to treat rare or neglected disorders, with the goal of enabling an Investigational New Drug (IND) application.  Rolling deadline;
  • The Biomarker Factory: funds biomarker projects from early discovery to validation studies. Up to $800K. Rolling deadline;
  • NIH/NINDS Office of Translational Research: multiple translational opportunities for technology development in neurological diseases and stroke.  Explore opportunities
  • NIH BRAIN Initiative Human Research Opportunities: Industry Partnerships to Facilitate Early Access to Neuromodulation and Recording Devices for Human Clinical Studies. Pre-apps due: Nov 18th; Full apps due: Apr 26th.

Upcoming Events:

 
UCSF
  • Entrepreneur's Club w/ Gini Deshpande, PhD, Founder & CEO, NuMedii: Mission Bay, Mission Hall, Rm 1401,  5:30-7:30pm, Tues, Nov 3rd; Tickets;
  • Entrepreneurship Center's "Startup 101" Information Session & Mixer: Mission Bay, Mission Hall, Rm 1401, 5:30-7:30pm, Thurs, Nov 5th; Register;
  • Orthotic & Prosthetic Innovation & Technology Symposium: Millberry Union Event & Meeting Center. 7am - 5pm, Fri, Nov 6th; Register & Agenda
  • Getting the Attention of Pharma: Positioning Your Early-Stage Company. Interested in partnering with Phizer? Greg Naeve from Pfizer to speak. QB3@953, 953 Indiana St., SF 12-1pm, Weds, Nov 11th; Tickets;
Community
  • Digital Health: Rethinking Healthcare in a Digital World: Thurs, Nov 5th, 12-6 pm, Palo Alto; More info;
  • QB3's Startup in a Box office Hours @ UC Berkeley: Want to learn more about how QB3 Startup in a Box can help you get your life science startup off the ground? Tues Nov 10th, Reserve a spot;
  • ABCs of the FDA – How to set a preclinical roadmap: Thurs, Nov 12th, 11:30am-1pm. JLABS Innovation Center; Tickets;
  • CLSA Event:  The Reimbursement Decision - The Payer's Point of View: Marriott Marquis Hotel SF, Tues, Nov 17th; Register;
  • Personalized Medicine World Conference 2016 Silicon Valley: Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA, Jan 24th-27th; More info

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UCSF Catalyst Awards Program
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
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Nov
7
Cancer Center & Catalyst Target Validation Initiative: 
To accelerate promising translational research into new cancer therapies. Apply by Nov 7th
 
Dec
8
UC Center for Accelerated Innovation:
Grants for technology development in NHLBI and NIDA therapeutic areas. Apply by Dec 8th
Related Webinars
Nov
3
Entrepreneur's Club with Gini Deshpande.  11am-12pm Register
Nov
5
Startup 101:  Info Session & Mixer Register
Nov
5
Digital Health: Rethinking healthcare in a digital world:  Conference in Palo Alto 12-6pm Register
Nov
6
Orthotic & Prosthetic Innovation & Tech Symposium:  7am-5pm Register & Agenda
Nov
10
Start up in a Box Office Hours w/ Crystal Nyitray Stanley Hall, UC Berkeley Sign-up
Nov
10
UC Center for Accelerated Innovation:
Application Webinar Series, Intellectual Property: Nov 10th 11am-12pm Register
 
Nov
11
Getting the Attention of Pharma: Positioning Your Early-Stage Company. 12-1pm Register
Nov
12
Webinar: 2016 CA Life Sciences Report.  11am-12pm Register
Nov
12
ABC's of the FDA-How to…Set a Preclinical Roadmap:  JLABS South San Francisco, 11:30am-1pm Register
Nov
16
UC Center for Accelerated Innovation:
Writing SBIR/STTR Application: Integrating Research & Regulatory Plans. 10:30-11:30am, Watch Live.
 
Nov
17
The Reimbursement Decision: The Payer's Point of View. San Francisco 12-2:30pm Register
Jan
24-27
Personalized Medicine World Conference Silicon Valley Register

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