Read the FFMI Newsletter online: View as Webpage
JANUARY 17, 2023
Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year! 2022 was a very productive year for Fast Forward Medical Innovation as we focused on strengthening our existing programs and offerings and creating new opportunities to meet the needs of U-M’s biomedical researchers. We invite you to browse our 2022 Annual Report.

The Commercialization Education program is going strong with more than 4,500 participants enrolled in commercialization education programs, to date. FFMI fastPACE saw some amazing new projects from teams across U-M and the state of Michigan. It was exciting to be able to offer a hybrid FFMI fastPACE finale and get the chance to have our first in-person option in over three years!

We are expanding our partnership with the Frankel Cardiovascular Center’s Innovation team with the launch of the Innovation Fellows Program, which gives Ph.D. candidates in the life sciences a unique opportunity for hands-on learning and mentorship.

The Business Development team played a key role in exciting projects across U-M. Their expertise in building industry relationships and guiding researchers step-by-step through the business process contributed directly to U-M’s impressive research success.

The Michigan Biomedical Venture Fund (MBVF), a collaborative effort between FFMI and the U-M College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship, continues to grow and build a successful portfolio, with 13 U-M portfolio startup companies with $30+ of follow-on funding raised for every $1 invested by MBVF.

We’re looking forward to an exciting 2023 with even more opportunities in biomedical innovation at the U-M Medical School. Our success would not be possible without the support and partnership of our colleagues, collaborators, external partners, and customers across the U-M campus, state, region, and nation. We sincerely thank all of you.

Best Regards,






Bradley J. Martin, Ph.D.
Director
Fast Forward Medical Innovation
Commercialization Education
Frankel Cardiovascular Center Innovation Program Pitch Event - Register Today!
The Frankel Cardiovascular Center (FCVC) Innovation Program Pitch event will provide a platform for innovators to structure a preliminary business pitch for their idea to secure additional funding, including funding through the FCVC Innovation Challenge and developmental partnerships with technical and business experts.

Thursday, February 2
6:00pm-8:00pm
Pretzel Bell
226 S. Main Street

The event is open to all innovators with cardiovascular innovations and aspiring entrepreneurs interested in the life sciences, including those from business, engineering, and other backgrounds. Please register by Friday, January 20. 
Biomedical Innovation 101 Series Begins January 18
Fast Forward Medical Innovation and the Department of Internal Medicine are hosting a webinar series to introduce the basic concepts of life science research commercialization and connect clinicians and research investigators with supportive resources.

The six-part webinar series will:
  • Describe the importance of commercializing research discoveries with the potential to impact human health
  • Outline and describe unique commercialization pathways based on product classification
  • Identify additional educational and product development resources.

The webinars will be held Wednesdays, beginning January 18, from 12:00pm-1:00pm.
New Global Health Commercialization Competition
FFMI is partnering with the Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) and the William Davidson Institute (WDI) to host the inaugural Global Health Commercialization Competition. The competition will create and support a community of faculty innovators from across the University of Michigan that are actively working on technical solutions to healthcare problems in emerging markets.

There will be two key components – a professional development course (kickoff session is Friday, January 27, from 12:00pm-3:00pm) and a pitch competition in May (proposals due Saturday, April 1).
2023 Frankel Cardiovascular Center Innovation Challenge Open for Submissions
The 2023 Frankel Cardiovascular Center (FCVC) Innovation Challenge will take place on Thursday, May 18, from 3:00pm-5:00pm.

Now in its seventh year, the FCVC Innovation Challenge is an annual pitch competition where teams can win funds for ideas impacting cardiovascular care. In addition, "Just Do It Awards" are selected for low-cost, low-complexity ideas. Ideas are welcome from anyone in the FCVC community: faculty, staff, trainees, patients, and family members.

Submissions will be accepted until Friday, February 10, through video or text format. See the 2023 Innovation Challenge page for additional details, and email FCVCInnovation@umich.edu with any questions.
Out & About with FFMI
Michigan Biomedical Venture Fund at JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
The Michigan Biomedical Venture Fund (MBVF) team visited San Francisco this week for the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. MBVF co-hosted an event with Innovation Partnerships to showcase U-M startups and gather investors.

During the week, the team broadened its network of investors and advisors who could potentially support U-M startups, and learned about the latest trends and forecasts in life science startup funding.
FFMI Follow-Up
EVOQ Therapeutics Announces Collaboration with Gilead to Advance Immunotherapies
MTRAC award winner and Michigan Biomedical Venture Fund Portfolio company, EVOQ Therapeutics, recently announced a collaboration and licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to advance EVOQ’s proprietary technology for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and lupus. EVOQ’s NanoDisc technology is designed to enable lymph-targeted delivery of disease-specific antigens and has the potential to change the paradigm for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
Arcascope Announces Partnership with Henry Ford Health
Michigan Biomedical Venture Fund portfolio company, Arcascope, announced a partnership with Henry Ford Health to implement the Shift App to help manage circadian disruption and associated burnout in shift workers, which is especially critical for nurses. The app makes personalized recommendations around behavior and alterations to the light environment to help the workers sleep longer, reduce their symptoms of insomnia, and be safer on the job.
Aikens Innovation Academy
Aikens Innovation Academy (AIA) graduate, Gardner Yost, M.D., M.S., was featured in a recent article highlighting the AIA.

The AIA, offered by Fast Forward Medical Innovation in partnership with the Frankel Cardiovascular Center, is designed to create, nurture and support a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship through education and mentorship. The focus of the academy is on teaching innovators like Gardner Yost, M.D., M.S., cardiothoracic surgery house officer IV and surgical innovation fellow, how to turn their ideas into marketable products and processes to help advance cardiovascular care.
Bulletin Board
HHMI Investigator Program Open for 2023 Applications
OVPR and Foundation Relations will host an information session for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator program, which is offered every three years and provides long-term funding to scientists who push the boundaries of fundamental science. The competition is open to researchers in basic and biomedical sciences, plant biology, evolutionary biology, biophysics, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, and computational biology.

Tuesday, January 17
3:00pm-4:30pm
University Hall
Ruthven Administration Building
How DataDirect is Helping Predict Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes – A Conversation with Salim Hayek, M.D.
Salim Hayek, M.D., is working at the intersection of cardiovascular disease, biomarkers, technology, and risk prediction. Join Data Office Director Erin Kaleba for a conversation with Dr. Hayek about how the patient data from DataDirect is playing a key role in his studies of risk prediction.

Wednesday, January 25
2:00pm-2:30pm
Summer Research Program Focused on Health Disparities, Clinical, and Translational Research
The Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) is accepting applications for its three-month Summer Research Program. Participating students will gain hands-on research experience in a wide range of topics in health disparities, clinical, or translational research, utilizing individualized and team-based learning experiences. The program is aimed at graduate-level students currently enrolled in any health-related professional degree program, including the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, College of Pharmacy, School of Nursing, School of Social Work, Program in Biomedical Engineering, School of Public Health, and School of Kinesiology. The program is designed to introduce students in health-related professional degree programs to research early in their course of study. The application deadline is Wednesday, February 1.
Improve Your Mentoring Skills at the 2023 MICHR Mentoring Academy
Do you want to develop and hone your mentoring skills? Do you have a mentor training requirement you need to fulfill? The 2023 MICHR Mentoring Academy curriculum is based on the widely used "Mentor Training for Clinical and Translational Researchers" from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) and satisfies the new NIGMS guidelines regarding the preparation of mentors involved in training grants.
Grant Resources & Strategic Partnerships Event
The Michigan Medicine Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations will host a virtual Foundation panel session featuring the Presidents of five of the most prestigious biomedical research funders in the nation. With introductions and a welcome from U-M’s VP for Research, Dr. Rebecca Cunningham, the panel session will provide faculty with an insight into each Foundation’s decision-making process, their advice on successfully securing non-profit research support, and trends they are anticipating in medical research funding in the coming months and years.

Tuesday, February 7
3:00pm-4:00pm
Software Thought-Leadership Series: FDA Regulation of Clinical Decision Support Software & AI/ML
U-M Innovation Partnerships is hosting a free webinar featuring Pamela Forrest and Christina Kuhn from Covington & Burling LLP, who will discuss when software, including clinical decision support software and artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), is regulated by FDA as a medical device, as well as the regulatory considerations that apply to product development for medical device software.

Tuesday, February 7
4:00pm-5:15pm
Zoom (registration is required)

Questions? Contact tsuntres@umich.edu.
Coulter Translational Research Partnership Program Call for Proposals
The Coulter Program collaboratively works with U-M faculty to develop medical device concepts invented at U-M and license the related IP rights to medical device companies that complete development and seek FDA approvals. The Coulter Program has two award programs – Enlighten and Evolve.

Deadline: Friday, February 10
Improve Your Career Development Grant Application at K Writing Workshop
Are you preparing a career development grant application (such as NIH K or VA CDA) for submission in June or October 2023? Join the K Writing Workshop program for valuable peer critiques and feedback from senior faculty who are experienced in NIH study section thinking. The workshop takes place on Tuesday, February 14, February 28, and March 14, 2023, from 5:30pm–8:00pm via Zoom. Registration is required, and there is a fee of $150 for U-M registrants and $195 for others. (MICHR will provide a full refund to U-M registrants who attend all three sessions and pay by shortcode.)
Asahi Kasei Pharma Call for Proposals
Asahi Kasei Pharma is calling for new proposals for its Open Innovation program to promote pharmaceutical R&D through enhanced cooperation with universities, research institutes, and enterprises around the world.

Proposals are solicited concerning new drug seeds (drug target and drug candidate) and technologies in the therapeutic fields of autoimmune disease, renal disease, neurodegenerative disease, bone disease, and drug discovery platform technology. Submissions will be assessed for their potential for collaborative research.

The application period begins at 5:00am GMT (12:00am EST) on Thursday, January 5, 2023, and ends at 8:00am GMT (3:00am EST) on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.

For more information, please contact Debra Grega, FFMI Business Development Director, or visit the Asahi Kasei website. If there is interest, Debra can arrange a discussion with Asahi Kasei.
2023 Massey TBI Grand Challenge
Do you have an idea that could help patients with traumatic brain injury? The 2023 Massey TBI Grand Challenge kicks off on Thursday, March 9! Up to $800,000 is available this year to support the development of diagnostic, device, therapeutic, and health IT solutions addressing the initial "golden hours" of care after severe TBI.

Join the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation on the morning of the 9th for an informative kickoff session. This is a great chance to learn more about the Grand Challenge process, network with fellow innovators, and see the support services we have available for participating teams.

Thursday, March 9, 2023
8:30am-1:00pm
NCRC Building 18 Dining Hall/Zoom
MNORC Pilot/Feasibility Grants Call for Proposals
The Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center Pilot /Feasibility Grant Program promotes research on the biological and behavioral determinants of obesity, and develops interventions to reduce obesity and its disease sequelae using basic, clinical, or population approaches. This specific P/F program’s aim is to enable Underrepresented Minority Backgrounds postdoctoral fellows and early-stage investigators to generate sufficient preliminary information for a successful application for major research funding from NIH or other national granting agencies.

Deadline: Friday, April 7
Our Collaborators
To better navigate the complexities of the U-M biomedical research enterprise, visit the Research Project Lifecycle. This interactive tool provides an overview of the resources available to you, not only within the Medical School Office of Research but also across the University of Michigan.
Fast Forward Medical Innovation is part of the Office of Research, where our mission is to foster an environment of innovation and efficiency that serves the U-M Medical School community and supports biomedical science from insight to impact.