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Lexington, Ky. (Dec. 13, 2022) — Three University of Kentucky researchers presented their work at BIO on the BAYOU, an educational bioscience showcase in New Orleans in November.
This year’s conference focused on presenting “Research the way you want” to potential collaborators, including investors and corporations. UK scientists also gave business pitches in 10-minute slots, with seven minutes for their presentations and three minutes for Q&A.
Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy and associate vice president for research, presented her work on antifungal agents.
“We’re really interested in trying to combat the problem of fungal resistance. Current antifungals have resistance and toxicity problems. We have found a new family of compounds with excellent properties, but we need to understand the mechanism of action to reduce the deadly fungal infection,” said Garneau-Sodikova.
Oleg Tsodikov, Ph.D., also a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, presented collaborative work on a potential new drug to fight Ewing sarcoma, a rare type of cancer found mostly in bones and soft tissues in children. Tsodikov is working on the project with Jürgen Rohr, Ph.D., vice chair and professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Marcos Legas, Ph.D., his former UK colleague and current faculty member at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“The drug is made up of molecules called mithramycin analogues. Mithramycin is a natural product that grows in bacteria and is then used to make this analog. It is synthetically modified and will bind to DNA. Our best analog is highly selective against Ewing sarcoma cells,” said Tsodikov.
Stephen Stem, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry in the College of Medicine, presents his therapy for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
“You and I have the same genes as mice, but you’re smarter. Your brain is more complex. The question is why,” Stam said. “The likely reason is that about 10% of your genome is made up of repetitive elements that primates — unique to monkeys and humans — can promote the formation of circular RNA.”
RNA mediates the translation of instructions contained in DNA into proteins in cells. Stem’s research looks at changes in circular RNA that he believes are the catalyst for the formation of tau tangles, which lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Stem’s company CirCure focuses on a treatment that will attack a specific connector in tau circular RNA to eliminate it.
The three UK researchers worked with experts from the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) to understand and personalize their technology transfer process. They went through a program called UKPitch to fine tune the presentations.
“You should have a 30-second pitch, a two-minute pitch and a 10-minute pitch ready,” Stam said. “I learned what not to do on the pitch, which was interesting. Don’t waste investors’ time. Explain your idea as you would explain it to a child. That’s something I learned at UAccel as well.
UK researchers were to focus on delivering product development and translation-driven pitches while publishing their science. They explained the next steps required in their project.
For Garneau-Sodikova, her studies on compounds that can attack deadly fungal infections targeting the brain, kidney, spleen or liver need to move forward in an animal model. He wants to know how they affect infection.
Mithramycin analogs are effective in fighting Ewing sarcoma in mouse models, Tsodikov says. The next step will be moving into human clinical trials.
“The amount of money needed to do that is orders of magnitude greater than what we can get through our regular grant applications from the federal government,” Tsodikov explained. “And for that purpose, to translate the drugs into clinical trials, we want to attract investors or pharmaceutical companies to help advance this discovery.”
Stem’s research also needs to show success in mouse models. His team will also develop a new mouse model with a mouse brain containing human nerve cells.
The conference provided UK researchers with important opportunities for feedback, networking and engagement with healthcare industry leaders.
“I hope that the companies we’ve talked to will either show interest in putting money behind our project or point out where else we need to go to establish the right connections,” Garnio-Sodikova said.
“Also, they can tell us that they are not ready to invest,” Tsodikov said. “They will probably tell us what other data we might need to collect to de-risk these projects for any major investment.”
“Even if you’re not planning on going to a conference right now, you should start connecting with OTC. Take advantage of their expertise. They are doing all they can to help all of us scholars grow as inventors. OTC helps us do things we could never do on our own. The business world is very different from academia, but they are there to demystify that for us,” said Garnio-Sodikova.
“It was a good experience. Our researchers did amazing. In fact, one of the organizers said, ‘Boy, those UK presentations were great pitches. They bided their time. They kept on schedule.’ They were great,” said Holly Clarke, senior merchandising manager at OTC. “We market our technology on the OTC. We market our innovations. But sometimes our best marketers are researchers themselves, getting the word out even more when they go to conferences, give talks at seminars, and have poster presentations or publications.”
About OTC
The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) mission is to advance innovations that make a difference. OTC supports the university’s strategic plan through a commitment to help build Kentucky’s innovation ecosystem and collaborate with industry partners around the world; Work collaboratively with researchers to strategically evaluate, protect and license early-stage technologies; and fostering entrepreneurship and co-creating new technology startups
About UKPitch
UKPitch is an OTC-sponsored commercialization support program for UK researchers who want to pitch their research, technology, intellectual property or startup company at a competition or conference demo day or similar event. The goal is to provide an opportunity to present an idea, technology or startup company in an environment that fosters commercialization or an entrepreneurial spirit.
About BIO on the BAYOU
BIO on the BAYOU is an academic bioscience showcase featuring researchers from across the Gulf South region, including Tulane University, LSU Health New Orleans, University of Mississippi, Xavier University of Louisiana, Jackson State University, LSU Health Shreveport, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville . , Mississippi State and the University of Southern Mississippi. It was held in New Orleans from November 2-3, 2022.
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