UC Davis Connects with Industry Leaders at World Agri-Tech Summit

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Helene Dillard, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Howard-Yana Shapiro, chief agricultural officer at Mars, Incorporated, kicked-off the Genomic and Translational Research Track with a discussion on how university-industry collaborations are accelerating innovation from pilot to full-scale commercial applications.

Helene Dillard, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Howard-Yana Shapiro, chief agricultural officer at Mars, Incorporated, kicked-off the Genomic and Translational Research Track with a discussion on how university-industry collaborations are accelerating innovation from pilot to full-scale commercial applications.

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/uc-davis-connects-with-industry-leaders-at-world-agri-tech-summit

UC Davis joined over 1,300 industry leaders at this year’s World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco with the goal of accelerating the advancement of agtech solutions to transform the food supply chain into a more sustainable, affordable and nutritious system for future generations.

The theme for this year’s event was “Turning Disruptive Technology into Business Strategy Though Partnership and Collaboration.” Attendees included business leaders, venture capitalists, technologists, startups and international organizations with a focus in the agtech arena.

As the summit’s official Research Partner, UC Davis showcased its unique capabilities and strengths to enhance existing relationships and forge new partnerships with some of the industry’s prominent leaders.

“The Agri-tech Summit has grown from a small gathering of agtech focused pioneers to one of the premier convening venues for ideas, technology development and innovation — bringing together a global mix of established players, innovation-driven startups, investors and technology developers in agtech,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor for research and executive director of Venture Catalyst at UC Davis. “Our strong presence at the summit was invaluable in providing visibility to the innovation being led by UC Davis and our research partners at other universities — laying the foundation for future product development by our industry colleagues.”

During the first day of the conference, UC Davis led the Genomics and Translational Research track with discussions that included a deep dive into the next generation of breeding technologies, how to accelerate the development of innovation from pilot to full-scale commercial applications, an overview of the Earth BioGenome Project and a panel discussion highlighting ways corporate partners can engage effectively with universities to drive their commercial pipelines.

On the day preceding the summit, attendees were invited to join a site tour of UC Davis with stops at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, campus livestock facilities showcasing novel approaches to reducing methane emissions in dairy cattle and the UC Davis-HM.CLAUSE Life Science Innovation Center (part of the Venture Catalyst startup incubator network). The site visit also included a panel discussion highlighting the regional agtech innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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Request For Proposals: STAIR™ Grant Funding to Support Translational Science and Innovative Research

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The UC Davis Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR) Grant Program, now in its second year (FY 2014-2015), is managed by the Venture Catalyst unit and funded by the Office of Research.

The objective of the program is to provide targeted funding to support translational science and innovative research performed by UC Davis researchers, with the intent of demonstrating early proof-of-concept and commercial potential and/or feasibility for technologies being developed at UC Davis for potential commercial translation. Examples of outcomes that might be realized from availability of such research results include: development of research or commercial prototypes; generation of translational data that would not have been funded by traditional research grants; patent claims enablement; and enablement of more competitive SBIR/STTR grant applications by a subsequent startup that benefits from license rights to the underlying technologies.

The program seeks to stimulate entrepreneurial engagement by university researchers with potential for local and
regional economic impact.

Download full program overview >

Explorer team selected by Physics World as one of the Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2018

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Original post: bme.ucdavis.edu/news/explorer-included-breakthrough-year-physics-world

Editor Tami Freeman of Physics World chose the EXPLORER total-body PET system as one of her top-five “Breakthroughs of the Year,” and the publication’s entire editorial team named EXPLORER among its top-10 2018 breakthroughs:

“The EXPLORER PET/CT scanner – the world’s first medical imaging system that can capture a 3D image of the entire human body simultaneously – has produced its first human images. Developed by UC Davis scientists and a multi-institutional consortium, EXPLORER can scan up to 40 times faster, or use up to 40 times less radiation dose, than current PET systems, making it possible to conduct repeated studies in an individual, or dramatically reduce dose in paediatric studies. The high-sensitivity scanner can also create movies that track radiolabelled drugs as they move around the body.”

Editors based their annual choices on three criteria:

  • Significant advance in knowledge or understanding
  • Importance of work for scientific progress and/or development of real-world applications
  • Of general interest to Physics World readers.

Read Freeman’s article and the top-10 article in their entireties.

UC Davis Selects Global Plant Genetics, Ltd. for Strawberry Licensing in Europe, Mediterranean and South America

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Strawberries in basket

A new University of California strawberry cultivar, UC9, is harvested in Prunevale, California. The goal of the breeding program is to develop new, commercially useful varieties of strawberry plants that have higher-quality berries, are less vulnerable to pests and diseases and can be grown more efficiently. (UC Davis)

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/uc-davis-selects-global-plant-genetics-ltd-for-strawberry-licensing-in-europe-mediterranean-and-south-america

The University of California has entered into a master agreement with Global Plant Genetics, Ltd., based in Norfolk, England, for the sublicensing of new strawberry varieties in selected countries within Europe, the Mediterranean and South America. The agreement governs the commercialization of new varieties from the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program located at the University of California, Davis.

GPG will work with UC Davis researchers, plant nurseries and fruit producers to test the commercial potential of new strawberry varieties in the specified territories. If the parties agree to move forward with commercialization of a variety in the covered territories, GPG will implement and manage the licensing of the varieties to growers for fruit production, distribution and eventual sale to consumers. This new arrangement will not impact the university’s current licensing program for the California strawberry industry.

“I greatly appreciate the effort everyone has put into creating this partnership. The dedicated and professional team at GPG will provide the university with a strong and well established business for delivering newly developed UC Davis cultivars to several important international markets,” said Professor Steve Knapp, director of the breeding program.

“We are truly excited to be representing the world’s number-one strawberry breeding program,” said Rupert Hargreaves, director of GPG. “The quality of plant breeding, access to modern science, huge gene pool and impressive team of people give us confidence that varieties from this program will be at the forefront of international strawberry production for many years to come.”

GPG was selected by UC Davis because of the company’s unique knowledge of the strawberry industry as well as its expertise in plant intellectual property (IP) management. The terms of any individual licenses undertaken under the agreement will be defined once the commercial potential of individual varieties has been determined. The term of the agreement is for ten years.

“The university has significantly enhanced the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program so as to enable development of the next generation of commercially successful strawberry varieties,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of Technology Management and Corporate Relations in the UC Davis Office of Research. “Tapping GPG’s network in the berry industry and its experience with licensing high-value plant varieties will help deliver our new varieties to nurseries and fruit producers in important growing regions around the world,” said Pathak.

About UC’s Public Strawberry Breeding Program

UC has been breeding strawberries since the 1930s, and the breeding program has been located at UC Davis since the early 1950s. The goal of the program is to develop new, commercially useful varieties of strawberry plants that have higher quality berries, are less vulnerable to pests and diseases and can be grown more efficiently. During the prior six decades, the program developed more than thirty patented varieties. Approximately one billion patented strawberry plants are planted worldwide each year. Strawberries are a top-earning invention for the university and in fiscal year 2018, UC collected over $7 million in gross licensing revenue. A portion of the revenues received by UC from licensing its strawberry varieties fund the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program to support the research and innovation on which the industry relies.

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Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiatives Enabled by AB 2664 Funding Show Impact

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Abhijit Chaudhari, an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Radiology, has received a DIAL grant to help commercialize a software plugin for medical imaging that can perform texture analysis and integrate seamlessly with OsiriX, one of the most widely-used medical image viewers in the world.

Abhijit Chaudhari, an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Radiology, has received a DIAL grant to help commercialize a software plugin for medical imaging that can perform texture analysis and integrate seamlessly with OsiriX, one of the most widely-used medical image viewers in the world

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/innovation-and-entrepreneurship-initiatives-enabled-by-ab-2664-funding-show-impact

A one-time $2.2 million investment from the State of California under Assembly Bill 2664 is propelling new and expanded innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives at the University of California, Davis, through enhancements to its related infrastructure, resources and business training programs.

The programs represent a coordinated and collaborative effort among several campus entities including the Office of Research, Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Student Startup Center, Biomedical Engineering, Office of the Provost, Office of Graduate Studies and Internship and Career Center.

Almost two years into the initiatives, new and expanded programs have directly enabled 19 startups, accelerated 47 companies, led to 37 products, delivered 1,900 hours of mentoring and trained over 950 aspiring entrepreneurs.

Notable new and expanded programs

Proof-of-concept grants developed and managed by Venture Catalyst in the Office of Research: Launched the second cycle of the both the Data, Informatics and Application Launch (DIAL™) Grants, which provide targeted funding for software and data informatics projects with commercial potential, and the STAIR-Plus™ Grant program that provides additional support to Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) Grant recipients who have successfully achieved project milestones and are poised for commercial impact pending specific additional targeted results. Since the launch of the DIAL and STAIR-Plus programs, 12 grants and a total of $218,586 have been awarded to campus innovators to advance their projects toward commercialization.

Distributed Research Incubation and Venture Engine (DRIVE™) Network: Expanded research and development capabilities for entrepreneurs and startups within the Venture Catalyst DRIVE Network of incubators and the campus Translating Engineering Advances to Medicine (TEAM) Lab prototyping facility, including the deployment of 39 pieces of equipment and instrumentation. The newly available equipment has helped to catalyze Inventopia’s move to a new facility last year, a new partnership with The Urban Hive, and an expanded partnership with HM.CLAUSE at the UC Davis-HM.CLAUSE Life Science Innovation Center.

Discounted Access to Research Translation Services (DARTS™) Program: Provided startups participating in Venture Catalyst’s Smart Toolkit for Accelerated Research Translation (START™) program access to state-of-the-art services and equipment at partner UC Davis core research facilities at competitive rates designed to address the capital constraints of startups. A complementary program was also launched for participants in the DRIVE network with access to credits to be used at DARTS core facilities.

Cross campus collaborative engagement

Venture Catalyst has been working in close collaboration with university partners in a wide range of coordinated efforts throughout campus. These activities include input on program design and candidate selection in the Advanced Student Career Enablement and Development (ADVANCE) business training and internship programs with implementations through the Leaders for the Future and the Entrepreneurship Quest: Undergraduate Internship Program (EQUIP) in collaboration with Graduate Studies, the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Internship and Career Center.

In addition, Venture Catalyst has engaged with judging of the Little Bang! poster competitions organized by the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, participated in the planning committee for the Aggie Innovation and Startup Symposium in a cross-campus collaboration led by the Office of the Provost, and supported the Creator Challenge Series and Prototyping Labs and Startup Mentorship Accelerator (PLASMA) program participants with early-stage startup resources to help form and grow successful companies and technologies.

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AJ Cheline, Office of Research, (530) 752-1101, [email protected]

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Commercialization of Innovative Treatments Aided by STAIR Plus Grants

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Johnathon Anderson, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Otolaryngology, has developed a novel drug candidate platform that offers the beneficial aspects of stem-cell therapeutics with fewer hurdles to clinical development.

Johnathon Anderson, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Otolaryngology, has developed a novel drug candidate platform that offers the beneficial aspects of stem-cell therapeutics with fewer hurdles to clinical development.

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/commercialization-of-innovative-treatments-aided-by-stair-plus-grants

Three research teams at University of California, Davis, have received STAIR-Plus™ Grants to help demonstrate proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility for their innovations. Now in its second year, the Venture Catalyst STAIR-Plus Grant program is intended to offer additional support to Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) Grant recipients who have successfully achieved their projected commercialization milestones and are poised for commercial impact pending the completion of specific targeted activities.

All three teams are working on commercializing novel compounds that address needs in human health, including a platform for therapeutics for inflammatory diseases, a drug candidate that increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for advanced bladder cancer and compounds that may be effective at treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The STAIR Grant program has been instrumental in supporting campus innovators by enabling proof-of-concept studies to advance their technologies toward commercialization,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of research and executive director of Venture Catalyst. “Through STAIR-Plus Grant awards, translational outcomes from successful STAIR-funded projects can be accelerated to reach advanced-stage commercialization milestones.”

Each recipient will receive up to $20,000 in funding over a one-year period. Funding for the STAIR-Plus program was made possible by the State of California’s Assembly Bill 2664.

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Record Number of UC Davis Startups for 2017–18

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ara Ann Niendam, an associate professor in residence and the executive director of the UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs, and Laura Tully, an assistant professor of psychiatry, are the co-founders of Safari Health, a digital health technology company focused on evidence-based care for young people experiencing serious mental illness.

Tara Ann Niendam, an associate professor in residence and the executive director of the UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs, and Laura Tully, an assistant professor of psychiatry, are the co-founders of Safari Health, a digital health technology company focused on evidence-based care for young people experiencing serious mental illness. (Lisa Howard/UC Davis)

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/record-number-of-uc-davis-startups-for-2017-18

The University of California, Davis, enabled the foundation of 16 commercial companies during the fiscal year ending June 30, an all-time high for the university. This brings the total number of startups made possible by UC Davis technologies during the past 10 years to 137.

“Our commitment to supporting innovative faculty, students and staff — with the coordinated suite of resources we offer through Venture Catalyst — is accelerating societal benefit and regional economic impact through a robust pipeline of university spinoffs,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of research and executive director of UC Davis Venture Catalyst.

“Not only are we seeing an uptick in the number of exciting new technology ventures from the university, but we are also seeing the achievement of significant commercialization milestones by prior years’ startups,” Pathak said.

Many of the startups are targeting unmet needs in human health, with new tests, technology platforms and therapeutics for diagnosing, monitoring and treating a wide variety of conditions and diseases.

Four of the new companies have innovations focused on cancer. Others are developing therapeutics aimed at treating obesity, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and optic neuropathy.

Safari Health, co-founded by Laura Tully, an assistant professor of psychiatry, and Tara Ann Niendam, an associate professor in residence and the executive director of the UC Davis Early Psychosis Programs, is a digital health technology company focused on evidence-based care for young people experiencing serious mental illness. The company’s first product, Mobi, is an app-based technology for psychosis clinics to monitor how patients are faring in between caregiver visits.

“In a traditional mental health treatment setting, patients can often go weeks in between seeing a therapist or doctor,” said Tully. “A lot can happen in that time. Mobi closes that loop and allows the provider to monitor how things are going. If there is something predictive of a bad outcome, the provider is notified and can make a care decision.”

“We are using technology to get data in order to improve care,” said Niendam. “With this platform we can connect people to appropriate care and also improve the care that’s provided.”

Petr Janata, a professor in the Department of Psychology and a faculty member in the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, is developing a different type of software platform — one that lets people preserve and share memories and stories associated with specific music.

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BASF and UC Davis collaborating to unlock new potential in human milk oligosaccharides

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ASF and UC Davis collaborating to unlock new potential in human milk oligosaccharides

Top left to right: Marianne Heer (BASF), Anita Oberbauer (UC Davis), David Mills (UC Davis), Yan Qin (BASF), Helen Raybould (UC Davis), Daniela Barile (UC Davis), Yoram Barak (BASF), Bruce German (UC Davis), Xi Chen (UC Davis)
Lower left to right: Prasant Mohapatra (UC Davis), Benjamin Knudsen (BASF), Ahmad Hakim-Elahi (UC Davis), Stefan Rüdenauer (BASF), Dushyant Pathak (UC Davis)

The University of California, Davis (UC Davis), and BASF announced a collaboration to unlock new benefits of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). The long-term objective of this strategic research partnership is to develop and validate second-generation HMO molecules as potent bioactive compounds that can influence the establishment and maintenance of the gut microbiome and provide benefits beyond the gastrointestinal tract, such as brain health, for infants, children and adults.

Human milk contains a multitude of HMOs, a class of indigestible carbohydrates that is gaining recognition for a variety of health-promoting activities. Substantial evidence demonstrates that the high diversity of structures and concentration of HMOs in human milk contribute to improved health outcomes associated with breastfeeding.

“This collaboration is an essential cornerstone of our strategic initiative to become a leading science-based player in the fields of HMO and microbiome,” said Stefan Rüdenauer, director of Development and Scientific Marketing Human Nutrition at BASF.

The two-year partnership with UC Davis’ research team is part of BASF’s California Research Alliance (CARA), which brings together experts from major universities on the West Coast to collaborate on new materials and their applications, biosciences and related technologies.

“We are pleased to see this expansion to our existing collaborative engagement with BASF via the CARA network,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor for Technology Management & Corporate Relations in the UC Davis Office of Research. “BASF’s commitment to supporting innovation at UC Davis is resulting in direct benefit to our faculty researchers, to the company, to the region and to society at large through helping us realize societal benefit from cutting-edge university research.”

Professors Daniela Barile, David Mills, Helen Raybould, Xi Chen, and Bruce German from the Foods for Health Institute at UC Davis will use their collective expertise to reveal new applications for HMOs. BASF’s contributions to the partnership include its proficiency in fermentation products and the development of human nutrition solutions, as well as project funding.

“We are excited to partner with BASF to unlock novel HMO functionalities,” said Professor Barile. “This project will employ a range of microbiological and physiological studies employing cutting-edge glycomics and metagenomics tools to explore how HMOs interact with the human host and the microbes within them.”

About BASF

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 18,200 employees in North America, and had sales of $17.9 billion in 2017. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.com.

About CARA

The California Research Alliance (CARA) is one of four BASF scientific excellence clusters that collaborate with research groups on a regional level, maintaining a network between BASF, the campuses of the University of California system, Stanford and Caltech. The researchers at CARA work in a variety of scientific disciplines including new materials, biosciences, formulations, and catalysis, as well as computational and engineering disciplines.

The CARA collaboration, started in 2014 with 10 postdoctoral positions, has been extended to approximately 50 postdoctoral positions today. CARA researchers have filed 10 patents, and have had more than 20 peer-reviewed papers accepted or published. In addition, the first research projects have already been transferred to BASF R&D for further development. Peidong Yang, CARA co-director and professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley, said, “With this newest collaboration, we now have multiple CARA research projects active between BASF, the UC campuses, Stanford, and Caltech. The broad research expertise represented by this vibrant West Coast scientific community will surely expedite the discovery process for many scientific and technological questions.”

UC Davis STAIR and DIAL Grant Recipients Developing Breakthrough Innovations

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Anne Britt, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Biology, is developing a novel method of rapid and efficient gene editing in tomato.

Anne Britt, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Biology, is developing a novel method of rapid and efficient gene editing in tomato. (José Luis Villegas/UC Davis photo)

Original post: research.ucdavis.edu/2018-stair-dial

DAVIS, Calif. — Innovators at the University of California, Davis, are receiving financial support to advance their research and technologies toward commercialization.

Managed by Venture Catalyst, the Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) and the Data, Informatics & Application Launch (DIAL™) grant programs are designed to provide funding to support translational science and innovative research performed by UC Davis researchers. The goal of the programs is to demonstrate early proof-of-concept and commercial potential or feasibility for technologies being developed with the intent of commercial translation.

Six of the eight total 2017–18 award recipients are advancing innovative projects in health that address unmet needs. The additional two grant recipients are developing innovations in agriculture and poultry safety.

“The STAIR Grant Program highlights the cross-disciplinary investigative strengths of UC Davis and how our innovative researchers are harnessing life science research and the convergence of health, agriculture and engineering technologies to make a translational impact in the areas of human health, nutrition and food safety,” said Dushyant Pathak, associate vice chancellor of research and executive director of Venture Catalyst at UC Davis.

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Bifidobacteria Supplement Colonizes Gut of Breastfed Infants

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Mother and infant

Original post: ucdavis.edu/news/bifidobacteria-supplement-colonizes-gut-breastfed-infants

Supplementing breastfed infants with activated Bifidobacterium infantis (B. infantis) bacteria had a positive impact on babies’ gut microbes for up to a year, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Evolve BioSystems Inc. The work will be presented June 9 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Boston by Bethany Henrick, director of immunology and diagnostics at Evolve BioSystems, on behalf of the study co-investigator, Jennifer Smilowitz, associate director of human studies research at UC Davis’ Foods for Health Institute.

The presence of B. infantis in the intestines of infants is associated with health benefits, and these bacteria are nourished by breast milk. However, these beneficial bacteria are present at significantly lower levels in breastfed infants in developed countries than in developing countries.

Mothers and infants in the study received either a B. infantis preparation and lactation support, or lactation support alone, from seven to 21 days after birth. The bacteria quickly established themselves in the babies, crowding out other gut bacteria that are associated with intestinal problems and immune-related diseases such as asthma, allergy and autoimmune disease. Furthermore, supplementation with B. infantis also changed the biochemical composition of infant feces. These beneficial changes lasted for up to a year in babies that were primarily breastfed.

These results suggest a possible method to improve gut microbiome health and prevent immune-related diseases in breastfed infants in developed countries.

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