Blake Dube's transformation from undergraduate engineering student into CEO of his own company, Aeronics, happened in a rapid-fire manner when he and fellow students Mark Spitz and Alec Kaija were encouraged by their professors to explore the commercial potential of their research. They took full advantage of the programs and resources available through the Innovation Institute and its Big Idea Center for student entrepreneurship. Aeronics won prizes in the Randall Family Big Idea Competition, the Michael G. Wells Healthcare competition, the Kuzneski Innovation Cup. They participated in the Blast Furnace accelerator and received guidance and support from several mentors and entrepreneurs in residence. They also received support from the greater Pitt innovation ecosystem, including winning a prize in the Pitt Innovation Challenge (PInCh).
Pitt smashed its record for startups in Fiscal 2018, which concludes today. (Final numbers for the year will be reported next month.) One of the driving factors for the increase in startup activity is an evolution in policy at the university making it possible for faculty to take positions within a startup. Today we catch up with Globin Solutions, a recent startup formed from research from the lab of Dr. Mark Gladwin, led by Jason Rose, an assistant professor, who is the new company's CEO.
At the recent annual BIO International Convention, more than 18,000 attendees converged on Boston to chart the biotech industry’s future and hold nearly 47,000 partnering meetings, a certified world record. The Innovation Institute was on hand to showcase its portfolio of life science discoveries available for licensing and to seek potential partnerships with industry, entrepreneurs and investors. Once again, the red hot field of cancer immunotherapy was front and center in a lot of the discussions. While in Boston, we took the opportunity to visit Pitt spinout, Oncorus, which is developing therapies in the emerging oncolytic virus domain of immunotherapy, to get an update on the company’s progress.