Newsletter
Spring 2021


2021 Catalyst Awardees
Catalyst Awards are the centerpiece of the Catalyst Program. UCSF principal investigators with promising early-stage research projects designed for patient benefit and with commercial potential spanning therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, and biotools can apply. Awarded projects receive mentorship and advice from the Catalyst Advisor Network as well as seed funding. The most recent Catalyst Award cycle was very competitive with over 80 project applications and 27 finalists selected to present their projects to the Catalyst Industry Advisor Selection Committee that selected the following 13 projects as the 2021 Catalyst Awardees:

The 2021 Catalyst Awardees are currently receiving consultations from the Catalyst Advisors Network and will soon start developing their Target Product Profiles (“TPP”) with the assistance of Catalyst Interns to help advance the awarded projects along the translational pathway.


Apply to the Catalyst Summer Internship
Applications for the “Catalyst Awards Summer Internship” are now open! The internship provides an opportunity to be part of an innovative project team to learn about early translational research and the process of translating academic discoveries into products for patient benefit. The primary focus for Catalyst Summer Interns is to create Target Product Profiles (TPPs) with the 2021 Catalyst Awardees. Learn more and apply here!

The approximate commitment is roughly 30-40 total hours over Summer 2021 to allow for flexibility with respect to fitting in other activities and commitments (other internships, summer jobs, vacations, etc).

Application deadline: Friday, May 28, 2021

All interns and project teams will be invited to a workshop in June focused on the development of a TPP. The workshop topics will include the role of the TPP in translational studies, Project Management, Intellectual Property, as well as the importance of the TPP for product development and commercialization. Project Teams will present their TPP in Fall 2021 to the Catalyst Advisor Network for additional feedback.


Awardee Showcase Presentations
This past February, the 2019 Catalyst Awardees "showcased" the progression of their projects since they were funded 18 months ago to the Catalyst Advisor Network. The projects have made significant advancement and the Catalyst community is excited to see what lies ahead for them! See below for the complete list of 2019 Awardees:


Catalyst Program to InVent Fund Pipeline
In late 2019, UCSF Innovation Ventures launched the Innovation Ventures Philanthropy Fund or “InVent Fund”, a philanthropic fund to boost the University’s most promising healthcare discoveries through translational studies and closer to the marketplace.

As UCSF's translational accelerator, the Catalyst Program has successfully funneled 9 projects to the InVent Fund - accounting for more than half of the fund's portfolio. Please see below for the list of InVent Fund projects initially supported by the Catalyst Program and click here for the complete list of InVent Fund portfolio projects:

  • A novel compound inhibitor to treat fibrotic diseases and potentially cancer
  • Development of novel inhibitors against a validated cancer target
  • Small molecules for treating cytomegalovirus and HSV
  • In vivo proof of concept of Nurr1 agonists in Parkinson’s Disease
  • Inhibiting PCSK9 to treat atherosclerosis
  • Percutaneous arteriovenous fistula for hemodialysis access
  • Preclinical testing of an optimized antibody
  • Select Integrin inhibitor to mitigate exaggerated smooth muscle contraction in asthma
  • Small molecule inhibitors for treatment of hyperoxaluria and constipation

The Catalyst Program looks forward to helping advance more UCSF technologies towards clinical impact and commercial success!

Congratulations to Breathily!
Congratulations to 2021 Catalyst Awardees Xavier Orain, Franklin Heng, and Nirav Bhakta, MD, PhD on their second-place prize of $12,500 non-dilutive funding for their cutting-edge computer vision-based spirometry start-up Breathily at the UC Launch Demo Day! Watch their presentation and connect with Breathily on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Success Story
Congratulations to six-time Catalyst Awardee Shuvo Roy, PhD on securing $500,000 of follow-on funding from the NIH COVID-supplement grant to advance the development of an anticoagulation-free ECMO!

Sincere Thanks to All Our Advisors!
The Catalyst Program is extremely grateful to all of our advisors for their energies and dedication to the program. The past 12 months have been very busy with Finalist, TPP, and Showcase Presentations as well as project reviews and consultations - and we couldn't do it without the incredible advisor network! With sincere and deep appreciation for all of our long-term advisors, we'd like to welcome several advisors who have joined the network in the past year, including:


Global Entrepreneurship Online Class
Master Class Direct from Silicon Valley" to learn the secrets of successful life science and medical startups. This global online class will provide the information and resources to help participants explore life sciences/healthcare innovation from the world's most admired startup ecosystem – Silicon Valley. 

The course runs from March 31 to June 2 with 1.5-hour live and recorded 
weekly lectures plus additional interactive sessions.

Big Ideas Grand Prize Pitch Day & Awards Celebration
The Big Ideas community will gather for its annual Grand Prize Pitch & Awards Celebration to recognize the most outstanding innovations in the 2020-2021 contest (Tentative Date: May 5, 2021). A select group of finalist teams will be invited to participate in the Grand Prize Pitch event for the opportunity to win up to an additional $10,000 for their project. Following the pitches, there will be a poster and demo session featuring all of the projects and innovators from the 2020-2021 Big Ideas Contest. 

In case you missed it...

California LaunchPad Startup Weekend
The UCSF LaunchPad recently hosted the California LaunchPad Startup Weekend for students from all University of California campuses as well as the University of Southern California. Startup Weekends are designed for students early in their entrepreneurship and innovation journey without any prior training or existing venture experience. This year, the entire experience was facilitated in a virtual setting and was a major success!

Over the course of only 54 hours, the student participants experienced a very intensive and demanding entrepreneurial bootcamp, featuring: workshops, mentor feedback, networking, market research, and team collaboration that culminated in a pitch competition.

Students learned both the technical and inter-personal skills required to start a business and in doing so gained exposure to critical tools for success in their careers by being challenged to think creatively, communicate effectively, work in a team, and solve a self-identified problem.


Thank you to our sponsors – especially the Blackstone Charitable Foundation and Techstars – as well as our numerous coaches, mentors, workshop leads, and facilitators. And sincere kudos to all the student participants for developing their startups in such short time – you did a tremendous job! We are thrilled to see how your projects develop!

Stay tuned for a future Startup Weekend in 2021 focused on Biotech/Pharma, Digital Health, and Medical Device innovation and entrepreneurship!
The group photo - a classic Startup Weekend tradition - was a bit different this year!
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