Vascular endothelial cells line the inside of blood vessel walls throughout the circulatory system, forming an interface between flowing blood and the vessel wall. They are critical in processes such as inflammation, wound healing, new vessel formation, tumor metastases, and clotting. Despite their importance, however, research on endothelial cells has been limited due to difficulties in isolating and growing these cells, as well as to their limited life span. Dr. Thomas Lawley, a specialist in dermatology and dermatological immunity and former dean of Emory’s medical school, and his team, including members from Emory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have made such research considerably easier with the creation of the first immortalized human microvasculature endothelial cell line. These cells, known as Human Microvascular Endothelial Cell Line-1 (HMEC-1), are derived from human foreskin and have great potential for endothelial cell research and drug development. The cells are easier to grow, heartier, and longer lived by adding a viral gene (in this case, from simian virus 40). All of these characteristics make the line highly valuable to researchers by enabling researchers to run experiments with a greater number of trials and produce larger amounts of data. The research into
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September is OTT’s 2nd Annual Research Tools Month!
Each year hundreds of new innovations are disclosed by the faculty here at Emory. It is our role as the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) to manage these innovations, guiding them from the lab bench to the hands of a commercial partner. An often overlooked piece of the commercialization puzzle is the numerous research tools (cell lines, antibodies, plasmids, research software, etc.) that are also created and shared with many groups. These tools form the workhorses of bench research and are critical components in facilitating discovery. For the 2nd year in row, OTT is using September to promote our research tools program by highlighting these innovations here in this blog, on our website, and on social media (Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest). Stay tuned! If you are interested in learning more about what research tools are currently available to license, a listing can be found here.
Continue readingMixing Opportunities, Entrepreneurs, and Eggs
On May 21st, Emory OTT held the latest installment of our biannual Breakfast Club meeting. Started in 2010, the office hosts an invite-only event during which our licensing associates briefly pitch a new innovation with especially great potential. Each 10-minute pitch is focused less on the technical merits of the particular technology, and more on the commercial opportunity enabled by that innovation. Attendees include venture capitalists, service providers, and entrepreneurs from the greater Atlanta area. “We consider our Breakfast Club one of OTT’s signature and most successful programs” says Executive Director Todd Sherer. “It’s like a dating service for feature technologies. Our office is the one matchmaking Emory’s innovations with venture capitalists. Over the last three years, the feedback and connections made have been invaluable in advancing our technologies.” The event is a great time to learn about the new technologies coming from Emory research labs, network, catch-up with the local biotech community, and grab some breakfast. Yesterday, four members of our team presented four very different technologies – “Sugar Assassin” – An encapsulated dietary enzyme that reduces the dietary glucose absorbed by the GI tract during a meal. Ideal for weight loss. Click here for yesterday’s PowerPoint presentation and
Continue readingMay is Software Month!
In case you missed it over on Twitter and Facebook, we have been highlighting Emory software and the inventors behind these great technologies during the entire month of May. During this month, we will be posting about Emory startups, a variety of imaging software, the 2013 winner of Emory OTT’s Deal of the Year, a Web-Based Diagnostic for Alzheimer’s Disease, and a number of other software and apps coming out of Emory. “Emory may not be well known for its software technology, but it is actually quite an important and growing segment of our technology portfolio. Spreading the message that Emory is a great place to look for software and web technologies, particularly in the healthcare and medical spaces, is key to our growth and continued success” says Todd Sherer, OTT Executive Director. To learn more throughout the month of May, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook or visit our website to see all software and app technologies available for licensing.
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