Combating COVID-19 as a Community

We continue to serve our community on campus and off, and support the Institute’s mission to catalyze innovation in biomanufacturing research, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. The current pandemic highlights the need to strengthen existing collaborations, build new relationships, and provide our students with the resources and training necessary to navigate a post-COVID world. The Institute has been working diligently to support COVID-19 response activities, identify technologies that could benefit ongoing efforts, and forge new collaborations between campus, industry, and the community to combat COVID-19. We continue to work with our Catapult Project teams, focusing on the strategic planning elements critically important to technology commercialization. For the Innovators in Training program, we have shifted our focus to curating on-line educational programming on topics ranging from identifying appropriate early career paths to a comprehensive introduction to patents, intellectual property, and copyright. We remain committed to building our Industry Consortium and supporting our members during this difficult period. Offerings such as Catapult project technology summaries and Faculty Roundtables will continue, with allowances for alternative delivery mechanisms.   Although remote working practices are in place, we are happy to hold conference calls or virtual meetings with our members, collaborators, and partners. As always, we are available by email to answer specific questions. We understand this time will be challenging for everyone personally, and for the biohealth industry as a whole, but we also know that the efforts of academic researchers and the work done by our industry colleagues will hasten the resolution of this crisis. "We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us." - William J. Brennan, Jr.

SHOWCASE Krutty Becomes the Forward BIO Institute’s First Innovation Associate

The Forward BIO Institute continues to grow, with the addition in early 2020 of John Krutty as our inaugural Innovation Associate. Krutty, who had previously been involved in the Institute’s Innovator in Training (IIT) program, recently received his doctorate in Biomedical Engineering here at UW-Madison, where his research focused on developing advanced biomaterials to reduce complexity, increase capacity, and streamline manufacturing of cells for therapeutic use. Wanting to learn more about private sector technology development and overall operational practices, John approached us shortly after the Institute’s launch in 2018 about participating in the our activities.

“ John’s contributions were integral to establishing the structure of the Institute’s Catapult program,” says Cathy Rasmussen, Assistant Director of the Forward BIO Institute, “ and it was his initiative that inspired us to develop the IIT program. We are thrilled that he is able to devote a portion of his postdoctoral training to continue working with us. ”  His experience volunteering with the Institute, and as an IIT trainee, provided him with a new perspective on his graduate work. John states, “ In addition to thinking about what was scientifically novel and important, I began to assess which aspects of my work had commercialization potential and assess what needed to be done to increase the likelihood of its adoption outside of our lab. ”  As an Innovation Associate, Krutty will serve as the point of contact for the Catapult program’s portfolio of biomanufacturing and biomaterials-based projects. He will also work to expand the IIT program, coordinating projects and a lecture series focused on preparing trainees for careers in industry and increasing interaction between trainees and the Institute’s industry partners.

BUILDING ROBUST BUSINESS CASES FOR UW-MADISON’S BIOMANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES The Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic at the UW-Madison Law School

In line with their mission to support nascent entrepreneurs and early stage companies in our community, the Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic (L&E Clinic) provides free legal services through the work of law students supervised by faculty and private sector attorneys. The L&E Clinic seeks to train law students in the practical aspects of transactional law while providing a challenging academic experience, provide high quality legal services to entrepreneurs and startup companies, and impact the economy by helping Wisconsin businesses launch and grow. Led by Anne Smith, the L&E Clinic is structured to run akin to a law firm with law students responsible for the majority of activities under the guidance of Supervising Attorneys. Students participating in the L&E Clinic are encouraged to share their knowledge and seek assistance within the Clinic, but also from an Advisory Committee of respected attorneys within the greater Wisconsin legal community.    “The L&E Clinic is a valued asset within Madison’s start-up community and provides excellent guidance to innovators on campus seeking to expand their understanding of the business and legal aspects of technology to commercialization. The Forward BIO Institute is proud to partner with the L&E Clinic, and have Anne Smith serve on the Forward BIO Institute’s Executive Committee.” - Cathy Rasmussen, Assistant Director Forward BIO Institute

The Forward BIO Institute and the L&E Clinic have partnered to provide innovators within the Institute’s Catapult Program access to resources and information needed to efficiently advance technology development beyond the lab, and introduce students engaged in our Innovators in Training program to another facet of commercialization activities. Similarly, by working together, we can provide L&E Clinic students insight into the nuances unique to the field of biomanufacturing. The L&E Clinic partnership with the Forward BIO Institute is a win-win for us. It provides an interesting and challenging learning experience for law students and allows us, in a small way, to contribute to the excellent work being done by the Institute to enable amazing biomanufacturing research to become commercial products that change the world. - Anne Smith, Director L&E Clinic  Cooperation between the Forward BIO Institute and the L&E Clinic exemplifies how interdisciplinary collaboration can advance entrepreneurship and innovation, and support the critically important biotechnology, biohealth, and biomanufacturing industries. Together we can provide unique opportunities in support of our respective technology development and educational programs.

LEARN MORE ABOUT UW-MADISON'S LAW & ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLINIC

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