Science and Enterprise

Tag: university

  • Flu Vaccine Shown to Protect Against Avian Influenza

    18 February 2015. Researchers at University of Chicago and Mount Sinai medical centers found people who receive the seasonal flu vaccine also generate antibodies that in lab cultures and animals act against avian (H7N9) and other influenza strains. The team led by Chicago’s Patrick Wilson and Mount Sinai’s Florian Krammer published its findings yesterday in the Journal…

  • Redesigned Crutch Developer Gains $450K in Early Funds

    17 February 2015. A company developing a more comfortable alternative to standard underarm or forearm crutches, secured $450,000 in its first venture funding round. Financing for Better Walk Inc., a spin-off from Georgia Institute of Technology and based in Atlanta, is led by MB Venture Partners, a Memphis-based venture capital firm. A broken ankle playing basketball…

  • Devices Assembled to Record Doctor-Patient Interactions

    13 February 2015. Computer scientists at University of California in San Diego assembled a collection of audio and video devices into a portable package that records doctors’ consultations with patients when also using electronic health records. The team led by computer science researcher Nadir Weibel that includes members from San Diego university and veterans’ medical…

  • Handheld Probe Detects Cancer Cells in Brain

    12 February 2015. Medical and engineering researchers at McGill University and Polytechnique Montréal developed a technique using a handheld probe that enables surgeons to find elusive cancer cells in the brain. The team led by McGill’s Kevin Petrecca and Polytechnique Montréal’s Frederic Leblond reported their findings yesterday in the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription…

  • Foundation, Pfizer Collaborate on Alzheimer’s Targets

    11 February 2015.  Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation are joining forces to sponsor research to find new Alzheimer’s disease drug targets. Financial details of the collaboration were not revealed. The foundation and Pfizer plan to invest in project teams of Pfizer and academic scientists to translate academic research into candidates…

  • Genzyme Licensing Gene Therapies from Biotech Start-Up

    11 February 2015. Voyager Therapeutics, a designer of gene therapies for central nervous system diseases, is licensing some of its treatments now in development to Genzyme Corp., a biotechnology subsidiary of the drug maker Sanofi. The deal is expected to bring the one year-old spin-off from four university research labs as much as $845 million.…

  • Smartphones Studied to Upgrade Hearing Aids

    6 February 2015. Engineers at University of Texas in Dallas are studying the potential of smartphones to boost the ability of hearing aids to help people who are hard of hearing. Electrical engineering professor Issa Panahi is leading a team of engineers and audiologists in a two-year, $522,000 project funded by National Institute on Deafness…

  • Robotics Designed for Laundry and Other Uncertain Tasks

    6 February 2015. Computer scientists designed and tested decision-making models using artificial intelligence for robots to plan and perform unstructured and ill-defined tasks, from doing household laundry to conducting search-and-rescue operations. The team led by Siddharth Srivastava, now with United Technologies in Berkeley, California and Shlomo Zilberstein from University of Massachusetts in Amherst described their…

  • Report: U.S. Edge in Advanced Industries Slipping

    5 February 2015. A new report from Brookings Institution says the United States is losing ground to overseas competitors in critical advanced industries that hold the key to the country’s long-term economic future. The study by the Washington, D.C. think tank was discussed in a forum today with six CEOs of U.S. companies and the…

  • Biochemistry Spin-Off Formed, Gains $45M Funding

    4 February 2015. Revolution Medicines Inc., a spin-off enterprise based on research in protein chemistry at University of Illinois, is starting up with $45 million in first-round venture funds. The company is founded by Illinois biochemistry professor Martin Burke, and initially financed by Third Rock Ventures, a San Francisco venture capital firm. Burke’s lab in…