Tag: UTSA

Vitanova Biomedical Develops Light-Activated Cancer Therapy Pioneered by UTSA Researcher
23Oct By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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Vitanova Biomedical Develops Light-Activated Cancer Therapy Pioneered by UTSA Researcher

The San Antonio-based biotech startup Vitanova Biomedical is developing a new way to treat cancer called photodynamic therapy that causes no side effects and can kill many types of cancers.The preclinical stage biotech company is commercializing a novel technique that uses a specific wavelength of light combined with a chemical. The new cancer treatment approach is based on research first done at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) by Matthew Gdovin when he was an associate professor in UTSA’s biology department.Gdovin pioneered using the photosensitizing agent o-nitrobenzaldehyde (o-NBA) in combination with a specific wavelength of light that activates the drug. This photodynamic therapy triggers the cancer cell to become too acidic and die, a process known as apoptosis....
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New Venture Mentoring Service Connects UTSA, UT Health SA Entrepreneurs to Commercialization Expertise
31Aug By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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New Venture Mentoring Service Connects UTSA, UT Health SA Entrepreneurs to Commercialization Expertise

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and UT Health San Antonio (UT Health SA) have joined forces to launch the Venture Mentoring Service San Antonio (VMS-SA), a program that matches experienced mentors with aspiring entrepreneurs. The San Antonio chapter of the Venture Mentoring Service is a sister program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Venture Mentoring Service (MITVMS), which launched in 2000.The VMS-SA network is available for startups spinning out from either UTSA or UT Health SA. UTSA's Office of Commercialization and Innovation and UT Health SA's Office of Technology Commercialization will manage the new joint program.VMS-SA is open to all disciplines, with a focus on the biosciences. While in its initial launch phase, the program will focus on compan...
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UTSA Opens Science and Engineering Building, Advanced Maker Space
17Aug By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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UTSA Opens Science and Engineering Building, Advanced Maker Space

San Antonio college students pursuing science and engineering have gained cutting-edge research laboratories and an advanced technology maker space at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). After three years of construction, the new Science and Engineering Building (SEB) will open August 22.The $95 million, 160,349 square-foot space will provide much-needed laboratories and classrooms, as well as an expansive collaboration space for UTSA students researching brain health, chemical engineering, computer and electrical engineering, biology, and chemistry, University officials stated.The new facility is a big part of UTSA's strategy to become a destination for research excellence."The SEB has been in the making for a long time—conversations for it were already happening wh...
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BioMed SA Recognizes Biomedical Engineer Rena Bizios for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience
7Aug By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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BioMed SA Recognizes Biomedical Engineer Rena Bizios for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience

Groundbreaking contributions on understanding how human cells interact with the materials in medical implants have helped advance the field of tissue engineering and tissue regeneration, thanks to a San Antonio-based biomedical engineering researcher.BioMed SA will recognize Dr. Rena Bizios for her innovative work with its 2020 Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience. BioMed SA, an advocacy organization promoting San Antonio's bioscience industry, recognizes innovators annually who have put novel ideas into action with transformational results.The researcher and professor serves as the Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) department of biomedical engineering. A chemical and biomedical engineer by training, Bizios joined the UTSA's f...
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UTSA-Led Collaborative Team Wins Grant to Develop a COVID-19 Vaccine
4May By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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UTSA-Led Collaborative Team Wins Grant to Develop a COVID-19 Vaccine

A consortium of scientists from San Antonio's four largest research institutions won a $200,000 grant to fund COVID-19 vaccine development. Dr. Karl Klose, director of the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and professor of microbiology at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), leads the team. The presidents of UTSA, UT Health San Antonio, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) formed a new nonprofit in October 2019 called the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics or SAPPT. The partnership funds researchers from the four institutions who work together on the interdisciplinary development of breakthrough therapies customized for patients. Soon after the City of San Antonio announced pandemic res...
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UTSA Innovation and Commercialization Help Researchers Get Ideas to Market In Challenging Times
23Apr By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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UTSA Innovation and Commercialization Help Researchers Get Ideas to Market In Challenging Times

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Office of Innovation and Commercialization (OCI) kept a tight schedule meeting with researchers interested in developing an idea for the market.OCI is busier than ever working virtually with UTSA faculty on technology transfers, commercialization, and connecting scientists to newly available federal funding resources.UTSA's program provides intellectual property management and licensing, proof-of-concept development, new venture incubation, and entrepreneurial training that can accelerate the transition of intellectual property from the university to industry, OCI director Christine Burke explained.Their work now includes a new focus—helping researchers launch a company in an economically fraught era ...
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UTSA Piloting Innovation from Startup Leaptran To Manage Campus Energy Usage
7Apr By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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UTSA Piloting Innovation from Startup Leaptran To Manage Campus Energy Usage

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is working with Leaptran, one of the startups from its commercialization and innovation program, to remotely manage the energy usage of selected campus buildings in a pilot program.Leaptran's innovative technology provides users the ability to remotely track and manage a building's energy use. UTSA is assessing its use of Leaptran's electrical metering package to collect, store, transfer, and access energy usage data remotely via meter hardware, a computation and communication device, and Leaptran's software.Leaptran has developed an integrated building energy management platform that combines a battery energy storage system, internet-of-things (IoT) platform, Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats, remotely accessible electricity sub-meters, and en...
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New Precision Therapeutics Partnership to Highlight San Antonio’s Unique Bioscience Capabilities
15Oct By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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New Precision Therapeutics Partnership to Highlight San Antonio’s Unique Bioscience Capabilities

Tuesday's announcement of a new major collaborative initiative focused on San Antonio's unique strengths in precision therapeutics will help boost the city's biomedical capability for innovation in healthcare. The presidents of San Antonio’s four largest research institutions announced Tuesday they are collectively funding the new nonprofit San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics or SAPPT with $800,000 from UT Health San Antonio, the Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed), The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). This groundbreaking initiative will fund researchers working collaboratively across the four institutions, serving as a model for interdisciplinary development of breakthrough therapies customized for each pa...
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Big Data Analytics Startup Quickpath Scaling as Machine Learning-Powered AI Demand Grows
21Aug By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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Big Data Analytics Startup Quickpath Scaling as Machine Learning-Powered AI Demand Grows

When you use Amazon Alexa, Siri, or Google, you can thank machine learning (ML) powering the artificial intelligence (AI) for the targeted ads, personalized content, song recommendations, and more that you get in personalized services. That exploding demand for big data-driven enterprise applications is what is fueling Quickpath's rapid growth. The San Antonio big data analytics software startup uses its cloud-based software application program interface, or API, to help businesses lacking the specialized AI expertise to connect the different datasets that fuel machine learning AI. The proprietary Quickpath platform debuted in late 2018 for midmarket and enterprise companies implementing ML hardware and software packages. "We wanted to make it 10 times easier for companies to acces...
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UTSA National Security Collaboration Center Director Guy Walsh Shares 100-Day Plan
13Aug By Iris GonzalezNo Comments
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UTSA National Security Collaboration Center Director Guy Walsh Shares 100-Day Plan

U.S. Air Force Brigadier General (Retired) Guy M. Walsh has been hearing from many stakeholders since The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) named him as the founding executive director of its National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC) July 10.Walsh is experienced in building strategic alliances between federal and state government, academia, and industry partners. He is one of the nation’s foremost leaders in national security. Walsh served as the strategic initiatives lead for U.S. Cyber Command, the Department of Defense’s newest Combatant Command, co-located with the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort George Meade, Md. His expertise includes cybersecurity operations, international affairs and partnerships, risk mitigation and crisis response, strategic planning and ex...
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