February 2020
THE OCR REPORT
OCR's monthly newsletter.
A Message from Jon
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OCR team members were among 9,000+ attendees at last month’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference. Over the course of 4 days, the conference provided us opportunities to network with healthcare companies and investors, a great benefit to our office and the Yale innovator community. We are now under three months away from the 7th annual Yale Innovation Summit, so please remember to register now to secure your spot. Sure to be our biggest turnout to-date, we have already announced two Keynote speakers and the addition of a Career Expo to the event. We are only two months into 2020, and there is already so much news and activity flowing from OCR and our partners.
Jon Soderstrom
Managing Director
Yale Office of Cooperative Research
What's Coming Up
The Yale Innovation Summit is one of the largest and fastest growing venture events in New England. Now in its 7th year, the 2020 Summit is expected to bring together over 1,000 attendees for a full day of pitch presentations, panel disc ussions, top-tier keynote addresses, and high-quality networking opportunities. There will be over 100 companies presenting at stages from Seed to Series B and beyond. Last year, over 200 senior executives from large corporations, biotech companies, and other business partners were represented, as well as more than 100 venture investment firms, including 30 of the largest US venture groups.

This year’s Keynote speakers are  Susan Hockfield, Ph.D., President Emerita at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Katie Rae, CEO and Managing Partner of The Engine.

New at the Summit this year will be a Career Expo.  Hosted by  BioCT , the goal of the Expo is to connect Summit attendees with open positions in the industry.
Yale Startups in Formation
On March 12th from 5-8pm, please join Kenneth J. Olivier Jr., PhD, of Orange Grove Bio, Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, PhD Yale School of Medicine and Farren Isaacs, PhD for an educational mixer and meeting to serve Yale innovators and their co-founders.
Our
News
Beyond PROTACs and the proteasome: broadening the TAC toolbox
Yale Turns to CPA Firm for Innovative Business Guidance



Yale's OCR partners with accounting firm to aid fledgling firms
Yale Discount to Demy-Colton's BioFuture conference
Yale Company Discount : Yale companies will receive a $200 discount off the company presentation fee by mentioning OCR in the Comments field of the Request to Present form here .

Yale Attendee Discount : Yale attendees (non-presenting) using code 2020BFOCR999 receive a $200 discount off their registration by clicking here .
News We're Following
Kleo Pharmaceuticals Receives IND Authorization to Proceed from FDA for its Multiple Myeloma Therapeutic
New Haven’s Wellinks acquired by Fairfield medical device startup
Could cutting two proteins stop type 2 diabetes?
Announcing our $22M Series A: a step closer to eliminating every barrier to mental health
Entrepreneur watch: Iwasaki targets the lymphatic system to clear brain tumors
Exciting, state-wide industry news.
Faculty Spotlight
Barbara Ehrlich, Ph.D.

Professor of Pharmacology and of Cellular And Molecular Physiology
Overview of your current project
We have two on-going projects that focus on Neuronal Calcium Sensor 1 (NCS1) as the target. NCS1 is a multi-functional calcium-binding protein that interacts with many proteins and modulates cell signaling, motility, and survival. Cells with diminished NCS1 levels have decreased calcium signaling, motility and survival. Several diseases occur when NCS1 levels are out of balance. We have identified compounds that target NCS1 and ameliorate symptoms in those diseases.

In the first example, NCS1 is a novel receptor for paclitaxel, a chemotherapeutic drug. This interaction greatly amplifies signaling which initiates a cascade of protein degradation, subsequently leading to chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and cognitive impairment (chemobrain). We found a drug that will prevent these negative side effects of chemotherapy, without altering the efficacy of the cancer therapy. We formed Osmol Therapeutics and we are currently seeking funding for a clinical trial.

In the second example, we formed Center Pharm to focus on Wolfram Syndrome, a rare and deadly genetically defined neuroendocrine disorder. Currently no available disease-modifying therapies exist for Wolfram Syndrome patients. The standard-of-care is limited to palliative approaches to control the neuroendocrine symptoms. The syndrome is caused by loss-of-function mutations in Wolframin (encoded by WFS1) and is diagnosed in patients with childhood-onset diabetes mellitus , a gradual loss of vision caused by optic atrophy , and deafness . WFS1 and NCS1 are functionally intertwined and WFS1 inactivation leads to downregulation of NCS1 expression and function. We identified a new drug that rescues cell function in a cellular model of Wolfram Syndrome and we are currently seeking funding for testing this drug in mouse models of Wolfram Syndrome. Once validated we will begin a clinical trial in collaboration with Dr. Fumihiko Urano, a world-renowned expert in Wolfram Syndrome and the person who maintains the US Wolfram Syndrome patient registry.
 
Favorite off-time activity
Spending time in the gym, baking, knitting (see the mittens I made with my calcium design)
Best advice for young innovators
  1. When possible, implement the advice of investors.
  2. Persistence is critical.
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