The prestigious grant will fund a multidisciplinary, collaborative partnership of scientists, educators and business leaders to stimulate economic development and build a robust infrastructure to develop innovative medical technology, as well as a diverse workforce.
The partnership includes the UC Davis Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology (CBST), as well as other departments, centers and programs at UC Davis; Fisk University; Sacramento State University; Los Rios Community College District; Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) and its MedStart Initiative; PRIDE Industries; T2 Venture Capital; Wavepoint Ventures; and the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento.
"UC Davis Health System has a long history of developing strong and productive partnerships to advance health," said Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor for human health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at UC Davis. "By harnessing expertise from within and beyond the health system, we are spurring innovation, encouraging economic development, building strong and healthy communities and contributing to training a diverse workforce."
Pomeroy is principal investigator of the NSF grant. Co-investigators include Dennis Matthews, CBST director; Arnold Burger, physics professor at Fisk University; and Warren Smith, electrical and electronic engineering professor at Sacramento State University.
The Medical Technology Commercialization Clinic will use live and virtual forums to give graduate and postdoctoral students in biomedical sciences, engineering and business hands-on training to convert high-impact research into new treatments and products. This model overcomes existing challenges to university technology transfer, which have focused on discovering new knowledge and therapeutic applications rather than business strategies.
An example of a project in development is a new endoscope that combines microscopic imaging and ultraviolet auto fluorescence for non-invasive, real-time detection of cells progressing toward cancer in the esophagus.
"The clinic is an excellent way for students and scientists to gain entrepreneurship training and develop strategies to commercialize research projects," said Gabriela Lee, CBST's director of partnerships and new program development and manager of the new Medical Technology Commercialization Clinic. "The unique learning environment places students as members of a multidisciplinary team, where they gain invaluable experience working alongside experienced entrepreneurs and under the mentorship of local venture capitalists and business executives."
The project partners share a history of strong research, education collaboration, as well as a commitment to providing science education and research opportunities to members of racial and ethnic minorities. UC Davis School of Medicine faculty specializes in translational research that includes collaborations within the UC Davis community and highly regarded institutions like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Investigators at CBST, housed on UC Davis' Sacramento campus, work with UC Davis physicians to develop new tools and technologies to diagnose and treat diseases.
Fisk University, located in Nashville, Tenn., collaborates with CBST faculty and staff to conduct leading-edge research and advance education. A predominantly African-American institution, Fisk has earned a strong reputation for successfully educating undergraduates from underrepresented groups who go on to pursue graduate degrees. Sacramento State University is a regional resource for medical technology entrepreneurs interested in researching, developing and testing new concepts and medical device prototypes. The university's researchers and students have partnered with CBST and UC Davis Health System on many projects.
UC Davis Health System is an academic health center that includes a top-ranked school of medicine, a 613-bed acute care hospital, the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, the unique MIND Institute for the study of neurodevelopmental disorders, a comprehensive children's hospital, a level 1 trauma center and outpatient clinics in communities throughout the Sacramento region. Consistently ranked among the nation's top medical schools and best hospitals, UC Davis has established itself as a national leader in telehealth, rural medicine, cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, vascular medicine, and trauma and emergency medicine. Other areas of research strength include clinical and translational science, regenerative medicine, infectious disease, neuroscience, functional genomics and mouse biology, comparative medicine and nutrition, among many others.