Best wishes for good health and happiness in the coming year!

Dear Friends of the Forward BIO Institute,   2021 was truly an outstanding year! The Institute’s third year saw success in our core mission, educational programming expansion, Catapult project advancement, and cross-campus engagement on key initiatives. As 2021 draws to a close, our thoughts turn to those who have made this progress possible. Thank you for your continued support and partnership, and we look forward to working with you in the year to come!   Happy holidays to you and yours.   Bill Murphy Director, Forward BIO Institute

2021 ANNUAL MEMBER MEETING Held this September, the Forward BIO Institute's 2021 Annual Member Meeting emphasized the critical role collaborative efforts and public-private partnerships play in transforming high-potential technologies into high-impact healthcare solutions to tackle complex biomedical challenges such as COVID. The meeting showcased the Institute's programs supporting biomanufacturing innovation, entrepreneurship, and workforce development, featuring the numerous successful partnerships we have established on- and off-campus to advance our core mission. With distinguished speakers embodying the inherent diversity of the biomanufacturing industry, this year's panels reflected on the many challenges facing the field and recognized how biomanufacturing impacts our lives as a result of the ongoing pandemic.  All sessions (see agenda) are available on-demand for members and partners. Contact us to obtain access. Dr. Ron Poropatich, Director of the Center for Military Medicine Research and Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, provided the keynote address discussing biomedical research funding support from the Department of Defense.

2021 FORWARD BIO INSTITUTE SUCCESSES

Catapult Program 17 faculty innovators are engaged with 11 active pre-commercial biomanufacturing projects. 4 projects have been accepted, and funded, by the WARF Accelerator program. 8 comprehensive value propositions have been published. 3 active collaborations with the Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic support effective commercialization. 3 teams have participated in Discovery to Product’s customer discovery programs. 1 team has participated in the Center for Technology Commercialization's SBIR Ready program.

Workforce Development 13 Innovators in Training program trainees across 8 UW graduate programs are active in the 2021 cohort. 84% of these trainees are leading pre-commercialization efforts. 23% are serving as Technical Leads on Catapult projects. 100% of trainees who applied secured employment through the Institute's professional network. 5 new IIT education modules developed in 2021 (of over 25 distinct modules developed to date). 4 graduate programs formally incorporating Forward BIO Institute education modules for Spring 2022.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion 45 individuals (23 men, 22 women) have participated in Catapult pre-commercialization projects. >60% of active Catapult projects are led by women or individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, including 2 projects that have made commercial exits. ~50% of the IIT currently leading Catapult programs are women. ~50% of the IIT currently leading Catapult programs are individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. 71% of Institute trainees who secured industry employment in 2021 were women.

Program Support Awards $80,000 OVCRGE award was received to develop an undergraduate course based on the IIT program. $102,000 Promoting Industry Collaboration Initiative grant was received to support workforce programs. $60,000 was awarded from the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research’s Novel Methods Program (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences) to advance regulatory strategy approaches. 22 Industry partners are collaborating and participating in execution of all granted projects.

INNOVATORS IN TRAINING SPOTLIGHT

Hanna Martin, a DVM/PhD trainee, joined Dr. Bill Murphy's Bioinspired Materials laboratory to research biomaterials applications that benefit both human and animal health. Her work focuses on developing mineral-based biomaterials for drug delivery in cancer immunotherapies. Hannah intends to pursue clinical veterinary medicine upon graduation. With the Institute since 2019, Hannah has served as a technical team lead in developing her own research project and as a member of the Innovators in Training program, where she volunteers with a team developing synthetic vascular grafts. Hannah credits the IIT program for augmenting her PhD education with training on technology development and entrepreneurship.

Laura Muehlbauer is pursuing her PhD in Dr. Josh Coon's laboratory in the Department of Chemistry. Her graduate research focuses on using mass spectroscopy techniques to evaluate the human gut microbiome. She will be graduating in May 2022 and has already accepted a position at Eli Lilly. Laura joined the IIT program in 2021 for the opportunity to learn more about potential career path options and to gain experience in product development and commercialization. Laura has worked in a project management role on a cell-based immunotherapy project targeting sarcoma treatment. Her work has directly contributed to regulatory strategy and pitch deck development. Laura has welcomed the opportunity to built her skills surrounding biotechnology commercialization through IIT involvement.

Aaron Simmons is a 5th year graduate trainee in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. His research in the lab of Dr. Sean Palecek focuses on developing multi-omics techniques to study induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte maturation. He is particularly interested in advancing manufacturing at scale and clinical implementation of next generation cell-based therapies. Aaron joined IIT in 2019 and became the first trainee to volunteer with a Catapult project team, where he has helped to develop a regulatory strategy for a novel cell-based therapy. He feels his participation in IIT has given him a greater understanding of the regulatory and market-driven considerations that apply to his own research, which has enabled him to tailor his own work to improve the chance of successful translation and commercialization.

Visit our website to read more about the current cohort of trainees and click on any “Meet the Trainee” tab to hear them describe, in their own words, the value they have found in the program. Learn More about the Innovators in Training Program

~ About the IIT Program ~ The IIT program was established to expand on the participants’ graduate and post-graduate preparation, enabling their transition into the entrepreneurial and technology development workforce. Through targeted educational programming and direct engagement with in the Catapult innovation program, trainees are provided experiential-based training in skills necessary to successfully engage across the technology ecosystem spanning business, legal, regulatory, and scientific expertise.

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