Two interdisciplinary student teams from Illinois Institute of Technology have been accepted to compete in the NIH Neurostartup Challenge, a three-phase national business plan competition sponsored by National Institutes of Health (NIH) where teams are charged with developing a business plan for one of 16 NIH-patented technologies. The two IIT teams consist of graduate students from Armour College of Engineering, Stuart School of Business, and College of Science, with each team advised by a mentor, an entrepreneur, and additional expert advisors from industry, academia, and venture capital. Winning teams will have the opportunity to launch a startup with funding, and compete for cash prizes (up to $3,000.00).
One team will work on a neuroscience therapeutic platform technology designed to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers or Multiple Sclerosis. Team members include MBA students Sai Prashant Boy Reddy and Yeshwanth Kumar Lanka; Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. students Sam Bredeson, Emily Dosmar, Gayatri Kaskhedikar, Christian Oswald, Tiwalade Sobayo, and Jeffrey Stout; and Biology Ph.D. student Adriana Manas.
The other team will work on an oncology diagnostic/therapeutic technology for brain cancer. Team members include IIT Stuart School of Business students Miriam Gonzalez and Yupeng Du; Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. students Sam Bredeson, Emily Dosmar, Gayatri Kaskhedikar, Christian Oswald, Tiwalade Sobayo, and Jeffrey Stout; and Biology Ph.D. student Adriana Manas.
Both teams are advised by Thomas Mozer, IIT Stuart School of Business Adjunct Professor, and Raja Krishnan, Intellectual Property manager for the IIT Technology Commercialization Office. Expert advisors for the teams include: Amir Kalali, Senior Vice President Neuroscience, Quintiles; Mike Decker, Senior Director of Neuroscience, Abbvie; Pete Ansell, Senior Research Scientist Cancer Biomarkers, Abbvie; Jeff Paul, Senior Director of Clinical Pharmacology, Astellas Pharmaceuticals; Nils Olsson, Vice President CMC, Retrophin; Beth Stutzman, Associate Professor Neuroscience at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science; Leonore Witchey-Lakshmanan, Pharmaceutical CMC and IP Consultant; Mike Langley, Regulatory Consultant, Navigant; Ron Kirschner, Heartland Angels Investing; Jaoine Maiz, Analytics Valuation Associate, Life Sciences Specialist, Silicon Valley Bank; Mike Rea, CEO, IDEA Pharma; Richard Bucholz, Professor Neurosurgery, Saint Louis University; Brandon Clark, Senior Associate, Silicon Valley Bank; Dennis He, Manager, Silicon Valley Bank; and additional advisors from venture capital funds.
Phase one of the competition includes development of a business plan executive summary and video pitch, which the teams will submit in January 2015. A select number of teams from each invention will be picked to move forward into phase two, where they will develop a detailed business plan and sales pitch. Winning teams within each invention will be ready to potentially found a startup company with funding by phase three of the competition, next summer.