TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2018  |  IN THIS ISSUE
Para1UI sees federal funding increase in FY18, but overall total drops  
A chart showing the changes in total external funding at the UI between Fiscal Year 2017 and FY 18. CREDIT UI 

The University of Iowa this week reported increases in both federal research funding and the number of awarded proposals, grants and contracts in fiscal year 2018, although overall external funding fell slightly.
 
The biggest sources of federal funding research were the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health & Human Services, according to the university, with all federal sources accounting for $260.4 million in funding - up 6.5 percent from FY 17's mark of $224.4 million.
 
The NIH granted UI medical and health care researchers 29 percent, or $40 million, more in fiscal year 2018 than in FY 17. In fact, NIH support in FY 18 was the highest since 2012. Daniel Hyer, clinical associate professor of radiation oncology, was awarded $586,726 from NIH last year to develop a new device to reduce unwanted radiation and spare normal tissues in cancer patients undergoing proton therapy.
 
NASA was another funding standout in FY 18, with UI researchers in the Department of Physics and Astronomy securing $8.8 million in funding - up 40 percent, or $2.5 million, over FY 17. A team led by UI physicist Craig Kletzing won $1.25 million from the agency to conceptualize a potential mission to study the mysterious, powerful interactions between the magnetic fields of the sun and Earth.
 
Overall funding for research and other scholarly activities, which includes grants from businesses, state governments, foundations and other sources, declined 2 percent from FY 2017 to $434.5 million. Total external funding, which includes the research funding plus UI Foundation monies, was down 1 percent, or $3.7 million, for a total of $554 million.
 
"The numbers are pretty remarkable given all of the challenges and pressures facing researchers and scholars and the UI these past few years," said John Keller, the UI's interim vice president for research, in a statement. "It's a testament to the hard work of our faculty and staff, who are continuing to seek answers to the big questions across the disciplines, undaunted by our shifting fortunes and the trend of generational disinvestment in the state."
 
The number of proposals and grants and contracts awarded to UI researchers and scholars increased 6 percent in FY 18, reaching 3,944. Awards also increased by 1 percent, with 31 more than FY 17, for a total of 2,477.
SStartup Weekend returns to IC with momentum for next year 

Attendees of this year's Startup Weekend event in Iowa City pose for a photo. CREDIT MYRANDA HADLEY
Startup Weekend returned to downtown Iowa City on July 13-15 after a one-year hiatus, bringing together more than two dozen attendees from across the state to launch five new ideas before a Sunday night pitch competition.
 
"It seemed like a great event," co-organizer Jay Cooper said of the event, held at MERGE on the Pedestrian Mall. "We had about 25 people there for the weekend, and almost all of them were first-time Startup Weekend attendees. People wanted to see what it was all about and try it out."
 
Team BetterHireS, which included two high school students from Des Moines, won over judges and the crowd with its app-based concept that aims to connect high school students with opportunities for real-world business experience including internships and part-time jobs. The team announced plans to test its concept in Des Moines, and has already set a meeting with that city's Downtown Chamber of Commerce next month.
 
Second place went to Magic Compass, which offered an app-based way to arrange travel to new destinations. Featuring pre-packaged trip options with suggestions for different locations, users will be able to take off on spontaneous trips without all the planning. Third place was awarded to Hippocamp, which aims to provide children with dyspraxia, autism and other disorders with special skills training through virtual and augmented reality.
 
Other teams included Sandwich Hero, described as "Tinder for food," because of its ability to let users swipe through restaurant photos and menus and order directly from the app; and Practical Engineering, which aims to help streamline parts manufacturing and delivery.
 
The winning teams were able to choose from prize packs including shirts, legal services, mentoring, co-working space and more. Judges included Lee Ross, of the Fairfield CoLab, Andre Wright, of ICAD Group, and Robert Walker, with the UI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center.
 
Mr. Cooper, who brought back the event with the help of Corridor creatives Ian Castillo, Mark Hadley and David Miessler-Kubanek, told the CBJ that three of the teams expressed interest in continuing their work, beating the average of about 20 percent, according to national Startup Weekend organizers. He added that the group was encouraged by the passion of this year's participants, and are already working on plans for next summer's edition.
 
"It's not just people who have all of this experience in the corporate world - anyone can come up with an idea," Mr. Cooper said. "Anyone can win it, and anyone can get involved."
Para3ICorp seeking new president & CEO for pivot to biosciences
 
The Iowa Innovation Corporation has announced it is seeking a new CEO to lead the organization during its pivot to becoming the Iowa Bioscience Development Center (IBDC).
 
The corporation described the CEO role as key to "leading Iowa's effort to adopt a more aggressive, formalized approach to organizing for bioscience sector development and establish the IBDC, a public/private partnership, to serve as a catalyst for research, innovation, and commercialization of technologies and companies from the biobased chemicals, precision and digital agriculture, vaccines and immunotherapeutics and medical devices platforms."
 
The successful CEO will be expected to maintain working relationships with industry leaders, university leaders and researchers, government stakeholders, as well as the team, board and ecosystem partners.
 
The ideal candidate will also have a proven track record in leading and managing multiple projects in situations involving complex decision-making with a range of corporate, university and public stakeholders to achieve preferred results.
 
The full job positing is available here.
Para4KemPharm announces promising trial results for ADHD prodrug
           
Coralville-based KemPharm last week announced that its prodrug treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients between the ages of 6-12, called KP415, has met primary and secondary efficacy endpoints.

The specialty pharmaceutical company reported the results of a randomized, parallel, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 150 children with a diagnosis of ADHD to assess the efficacy and safety of KP415. Subjects who received KP415 met the trial's primary and secondary efficacy endpoint, showing statistically significant improvement on both the Swanson, Kotkin, Agler, M-Flynn, and Pelham (SKAMP) and the Permanent Product Measure of Performance (PERMP) scales.

"We are pleased with these top line results from our pivotal trial of KP415," said KemPharm President and CEO Travis Mickle in a release. "The trial met its pre-specified primary endpoint, which is the mean difference in the SKAMP-Combined score change from baseline across all post-dose time points."

Mr. Mickle added that trial participants given the treatment showed improvement over those given a placebo, with KP415 "generally well-tolerated with adverse events typical of stimulant therapy."

The company said it would continue to gather clinical data for KP415 through 2018, including the completion of ongoing oral and intranasal Human Abuse Potential studies, and that it will likely be ready to submit a New Drug Application for KP415 with the FDA in the first quarter of 2019

KemPharm was founded in 2006 by Mr. Mickle and Vice President, Operations and Product Development Christal Mickle, and went public in April 2015, offering 5.1 million shares of stock at $11 per share. Its focus has been development of improved prodrug versions of FDA-approved drugs for pain, ADHD and other central nervous system disorders.
 
Prodrugs are drugs that release their active ingredients in the consumer's intestines, giving them " an inherent abuse-deterrent quality," Daniel Cohen, KemPharm's executive vice president for government and public relations, told the CBJ in 2017. 
Para5Column: 'Sextortion' arrives as latest scam threat
Aaron Warner
By Aaron Warner, CEO, ProCircular

Whether or not they can actually see you, the threat hits home.

It's an indelicate subject, but scammers don't really pay much attention to polite social norms. Regardless the topic, if it's a real threat we'll try to protect our clients.

We're tracking a new version of an older email scam threatening to turn over videos and captures of webcams of users on porn sites. The text is available at the link, but they start by revealing a password that may well be yours, and then threatening to release a video of the user and the site they're viewing at the same time. Needless to say it's not meant to be flattering.

ProCircular has received calls, and there's a ton of chatter from other firms receiving the same thing. They're being sent by multiple groups for varying amounts - usually between $1,900 and $3,800. In more than one case they seem to be drawing the passwords from a DropBox breach from awhile back.

Our advice? Don't pay. It's highly unlikely that the claims are true, if for no other reason than the similarity between the emails from multiple sources.

Read the full column at ProCircular's blog.
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stockCorridor Stocks

NAME SYM PRICE CHG %CHG
AEGON AEG 6.12 0.00 0.00%
Alliant Energy LNT 42.88 0.10 0.23%
Deere & Company DE 138.00 1.73 1.27%
Dow Jones ^DJI 25,119.89 55.53 0.22%
General Mills GIS 44.22 0.26 0.59%
GoDaddy Inc. GDDY 78.19 1.03 1.33%
Great Western Bank GWB 40.99 -0.07 -0.17%
Heartland Express HTLD 18.30 0.31 1.72%
KemPharm KMPH 5.05 -0.10 -1.94%
Marsh & McLennan MMC 86.94 0.18 0.21%
MidWestOne MOFG 33.54 -0.18 -0.53%
Pearson PSO 11.98 0.02 0.21%
Pepsico PEP 114.88 1.92 1.70%
Principal Financial PFG 54.86 0.78 1.44%
QCR Holdings QCRH 48.30 -0.15 -0.31%
Rockwell Collins COL 137.32 -0.51 -0.37%
S&P 500 ^GSPC 2,809.55 11.12 0.40%
Tanger Factory SKT 23.33 0.07 0.32%
Procter & Gamble PG 80.05 0.52 0.65%
United Fire Group UFCS 56.33 -0.05 -0.09%
U.S. Bank USB 51.29 -0.01 -0.02%
Wells Fargo WFC 56.57 -0.42 -0.74%
West Bank WTBA 25.55 -0.15 -0.58%
Whirlpool WHR 150.75 -2.69 -1.75%
Short-Term Event Planner
       
July 18
1 Million Cups , by 1MC, 9-10 a.m., Geonetric, 415 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids and MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Join for community connectons, startup pitches and free coffee. Free. For more information, visit facebook.com/1MCICR.
 
North Liberty Roundtable, by Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, noon-1 p.m., Red's Alehouse, 405 N. Dubuque St., North Liberty. Roundtables are social lunches over the noon hour. All are invited to network and keep up-to-date with chamber and community events. Free for members. Call the chamber at (319) 337-9637 if interested and not a member.
 
How to Build a High-Performance Culture Webinar , by Holmes Murphy, 10-11 a.m, online. This two-part webinar series will walk through the foundational elements of building a high-performance team and the leadership principles necessary to drive culture, expectations, and behaviors that can help your company reach its top potential. Free. For more information and to register, visit bit.ly/2MFNaEQ.
 
July 19
Open Coffee, by Washington Chamber of Commerce, 8-9 a.m., Dodici's Shop, 120 S. Iowa Ave., Washington. Join an open discussion about fostering creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship in Washington. Free. For more information, visit chamber.washingtoniowa.org or call (319) 653-4712.
 
Why Mapping Organizational DNA is Vital to Small Businesses , by Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, 8-9:15 a.m., Economic Alliance, 501 First St. SE, Cedar Rapids.This interactive workshop, led by James Mayhew of Mayhew Coaching, is designed for businesses of 5-50 employees, and will put to rest myths like culture is something only larger companies need to worry about and small businesses don't have time to work on culture. Free. To register, visit bit.ly/2JUpNJV.
 
EPIC Summer Semi-Annual Bash , by Empowered Professionals of the Iowa City Area, 5-7 p.m., MidWestOne Bank, 500 S. Clinton St., Iowa City. Join EPIC on the rooftop of MidWestOne Bank for a summer social event with live music, drinks and networking. Free. For more information and to register, visit bit.ly/2lmLYti.
 
BizMix: Fiesta Block Party , by Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and Marion Chamber of Commerce, 5-7 p.m., 700 11th St., Marion. BizMix brings together area professionals for an evening of casual networking over complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cocktails and is hosted by a different member business each month. Free.
Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28 
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
The Cedar Rapids Community School District superintendent says he has recommended a teacher be fired for unprofessional conduct in the classroom, including an incident involving an African American baby doll. CRCSD Superintendent Brad Buck recommended the termination of Tammy Ryan immediately based on the following reasons: Inappropriate use of African-American baby doll in classroom, poor and ineffective role model, unprofessional conduct, and inappropriate instructional methods and techniques. Ms. Ryan has the opportunity to meet with the board of education. In a statement, CRCSD said, "The Cedar Rapids Community School District, at all times, seeks to foster a non-discriminatory environment consistent with board policy and state and federal law. One of the district's primary goals is to provide all learners with an academic environment in which they feel safe and valued." The district did not release any other information.

Local law enforcement officials are searching for an inmate who escaped from St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids on Monday. Inmate Jeffrey Allen Blozvich had been taken to the hospital for medical treatment on Thursday, July 12. The Linn County Sheriff's Office says he walked away from the building at 4:06 p.m. Mr. Blozvich is described as a white male, six feet tall, and weighing 175 pounds and was last seen wearing a red shirt and blue hospital pants. Authorities are now asking anyone with information on where he might be to contact the Linn County Sheriff's Office at (319) 398-3991 or the Cedar Rapids Police Department at (319) 286-5491.
  
T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' Weather First Forecast
 
Drier, less humid air has settled in and it will be comfortable over the next two days. It will be sunny and warm today and tomorrow with temperatures in low 80s. Humidity will remain low through Wednesday with high pressure in control. That high pressure system will move off to the east Wednesday night and warmer, more humid air will move in for the end of the week. It will be warm and muggy Thursday and Friday with temperatures near 80. With more moisture in place, the chance for rain will go up. A disturbance will move through the Upper Midwest and lead to showers and storms both days with the highest chances Thursday. Some storms could be strong.