The Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship hosted its Celebration of Innovation on April 25, 2023, at the Petersen Events Center Campus View Club. The event recognizes the accomplishments of Pitt innovators and regional businesses assisted by the university's Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence who are making an impact through the commercial translation of their ideas and innovations. We will be featuring some of this year's special award winners over the next few weeks, beginning with the 2023 Emerging Innovator Award recipient, Leah Byrne. The Emerging Innovator Award is presented to an early-to-mid-career Pitt faculty who has demonstrated an extraordinary dedication to innovation commercialization. Dr. Byrne is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Brain aneurysms can appear without any prior symptoms. Diagnosis is invasive and expensive. Monitoring progression can be a guessing game. And if they rupture, which happens to about 30,000 people in the U.S. each year, there is only a 50/50 chance of making it to a hospital alive. Roughly a third of those who do make it to the hospital alive never leave, and those that do often face lifelong disabilities. A Pitt Department of Neurosurgery resident and a third-year School of Medicine student, want to bring a new blood test for brain aneurysms to market that can accurately and less invasively detect brain aneurysms and measure the risk of rupture, giving clinicians much more direction in determining when to provide treatment.
The Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship provides an array of services and resources for Pitt innovators curious about the innovation commercialization process From determining whether you have an invention that should be disclosed to the Innovation Institute, to intellectual property protection and through to licensing and startup creation, there are programs and resources to help you at every step in the journey.
One of the most important resources available to Pitt innovators through the Innovation Institute's Innovation Commercialization team are our Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs). They are experienced guides who can help point the way forward for faculty and students seeking to translate their ideas and innovations from the lab to the market.
Pitt innovators are ready to show off their ideas at the 3 Rivers Venture Fair. A university technology showcase will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, February 7th at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Pittsburgh.