Newsletter
November 2023
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Diatiro Announces National Kidney Foundation Investment |
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Diatiro, founded by 2022 Catalyst Awardee Keith Hansen, MD, has secured an investment from the National Kidney Foundation’s (NFK) Innovation Fund. The strategic alliance with the NKF will propel development of Diatiro’s intraoperative organ preservation device for kidney transplants known as the kidney pod. Diatiro is currently raising a seed round to advance the device through FDA clearance.
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Applications for the iHackHealth Appathon Now Open |
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UC San Francisco (UCSF) and UC Berkeley (UCB) have teamed up again to create the third iHackHealth Appathon!
Have you ever had an idea for a mobile app that could improve your research, your clinical practice, your patient care, or simply make your life easier? If so, then we are looking for your proposals!
The Appathon will pair a select group of chosen app proposals with a small team of UC Berkeley engineering students to develop a prototype of the mobile app for iOS. In addition, UCSF and UCB are collaborating with Apple to utilize their open-source tool kits and to aid in the development process. The development phase will last for two weeks followed by a final event where judges from Apple, UCB, UCSF, and VCs will determine the winning project.
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Catalyst Awardees Present to Investors at "Born in California" |
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CaptureDx and SoundWell both presented at the 2023 "Born in California" Investor Demo Days this month. The event features the University of California’s best and most investment-worthy startups seeking Seed and Series A investors.
CaptureDx is focused on increasing equitable access to expert-level healthcare. They bring AI-assistance to point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) image capture, interpretation, and documentation to increase the use of diagnostic POCUS in the Emergency Department. Their app-based solution can be used right at the bedside with the patient and overcomes the POCUS confidence and workflow barriers all clinicians face.
Soundwell is a “speechopsy”, or speech biopsy, for early screening of health issues and leverages AI speech analysis to detect neurological, psychiatric, respiratory, cardiac, and many other health conditions. This early detection leads to prompt evaluation and treatment for improved cost savings and better outcomes. By integrating AI with the high volume/complexity of relevant clinical data from UCSF, SoundWell aims to create unmatched datasets and neural networks for accurate early disease screening and improved outcomes.
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Catalyst Awardee Navneet Matharu Wins $1 Million in Seed Funding
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Navneet Mattaru, both a Catalyst Awardee and former Catalyst intern, is one of two fellows in the inaugural cohort of the HS Chau Women in Enterprising Science Program at the Innovative Genomics Science Institute. She received an award of $1 million in non-dilutive seed funding to support her entrepreneurial pursuits. Navneet is co-founder and CSO of Regel Therapeutics, which was founded on the CRISPR activation strategy for haplo-insufficient diseases that also was the basis for her Catalyst award.
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Delegations from South Korea Visit the UCSF Catalyst and LaunchPad Programs
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This past month, two different delegations from South Korea visited UCSF to learn more about academic translational medicine and science, student and trainee innovation programming, and the entrepreneurial mindset. One delegation was comprised of innovative HealthTech startup leaders.
The other delegation was sponsored by the Korean Innovation Center and comprised of faculty and researchers from Korean Universities. This group attended the Bio I-Corps Program which features a curriculum and culture based on Lean Startup methodologies.
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Algorithmic Justice in Precision Medicine |
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The UCSF Bakar Computational Sciences Institute is hosting an inaugural "Toward Algorithmic Justice in Precision Medicine" workshop on November 7, 2023 - both in-person and virtual!
This workshop will convene community members along with health systems professionals, biomedical investigators, and artificial intelligence tool developers to consider systematic flaws in data collection, datasets, and AI tools that perpetuate or exacerbate structuralized inequities, and how resultant algorithmic injustices can be uncovered and addressed, enabling the equitable implementation of precision medicine.
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Applications for Rosenman's RISE Now Open |
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RISE identifies promising entrepreneurs from groups that are underrepresented in HealthTech - such as women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals - and connect them with any number of leaders from the UCSF network and beyond. These leaders, who are carefully assigned to program participants based on personal background and area of expertise, provide entrepreneurs with professional guidance and strategic support. Entrepreneurs also gain access to the ever-growing UCSF Rosenman network of innovators, investors, and industry leaders.
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CITRIS Foundry Opens Spring Applications |
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CITRIS Foundry, the University of California’s deep tech startup incubator, provides guidance and support to help entrepreneurs build startups that are ready to significantly impact the world in a wide variety of markets. Since its founding in 2013, it has supported over 130 founder teams, which have secured over $220M in total funding. Starting November 1, CITRIS Foundry is accepting applications for Spring 2024.
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AbbVie Completes Acquisition of UCSF Startup Mitokinin |
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AbbVie announced that it has exercised its exclusive right and completed the acquisition of Mitokinin, a biotech company focused on developing treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Mitokinin was co-founded by Catalyst Advisor and LaunchPad guest speaker Nicholas Hertz while a student at UCSF.
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The 2023-24 Rudd Family Foundation Big Ideas Contest cycle has launched, providing an opportunity for students to receive the support to develop and grow their social innovation ideas. This year's program features a new social impact track, additional funding opportunities, and an exciting lineup of upskilling workshops and networking events. Proposals are due by December 6 at 1 pm.
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Opportunity with VentureWell |
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VentureWell invites all faculty, staff, administrators, researchers, and leaders in the STEM fields to submit a proposal for OPEN 2024. VentureWell's OPEN offers the opportunity to share the latest trends in I&E research and best practices while leaving ample time for attendees to network with inclusive innovation and sustainability changemakers from across the nation.
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