Innovation is history making at VCU

December 2022 | Issue 6

As we close out 2022, we move forward with a new name that better reflects our expanded functions: Innovation Gateway, our name for more than 10 years, is now VCU TechTransfer and Ventures. It’s a direct statement that reinforces our mission of protecting and commercializing university IP and supporting our startup companies.

And on that note, 2022 was a big year for VCU innovation.

Today, we rank among the top five among our national peers in the number of new invention disclosures, as well as new patent applications and startups. We are the leading office in Virginia in some of these indicators, and this year we generated more than $3 million in licensing revenue. In fiscal year 2022, VCU will reach an institutional record, marking $405 million in sponsored research. It’s an almost 50% increase over the past five years and will translate into a growing IP pipeline that will feed our office for many years to come.

Since last year, we have also been responsible for supporting VCU faculty startup companies, and internally we have built a team of professionals dedicated solely to guiding researcher-entrepreneurs. As a result of our efforts, in 2022 we launched 10 startups (the national average for universities our size is four), and supported more than 30 entrepreneurial faculty. That will only grow in 2023.

Finally, this fall, VCU was recognized with a special innovation designation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) as one of 80 “Innovation & Economic Prosperity” universities. It’s the APLU’s recognition and understanding that VCU and institutions like ours play a central role in economic engagement, fostering talent, translating research and supporting entrepreneurship.

We’ll use this designation as we march forward to identify new areas of innovation and economic opportunity in central Virginia.

Enjoy a few stories from the year in VCU innovation. Happy Holidays!

Ivelina Metcheva, Ph.D., MBA

Assistant Vice President for Innovation

VCU TechTransfer and Ventures

Holding the APLU's Innovation & Economic Prosperity plaque: Michael Mancini, Ph.D., director of project outreach and professor of the practice at the VCU College of Engineering; Shari Garmise, Ph.D., executive director for collective urban and regional impact; VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D.; and Ivelina Metcheva, Ph.D., assistant vice president for innovation at VCU TechTransfer and Ventures.

APLU recognizes VCU for commitment to innovative economic growth

“From talent development to pathbreaking research to entrepreneurship and beyond, institutions have a central role to play in economic development. We’re pleased to recognize VCU for its commitment to engaging its community around these issues to advance regional economic development.”

- APLU President Mark Becker on the designation as an Innovation & Economic Prosperity University

VCU Innovates Reception 2022

In November, VCU TechTransfer and Ventures held the annual VCU Inventors celebration. More than 150 people gathered at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' Marble Hall to recognize the innovation successes of the last year.

Jonathan Isaacs, M.D., a VCU hand-and-nerve surgeon-scientist, was named the VCU Billy R. Martin Innovator of the Year. He is the creative force behind Nerve Tape, a tiny biologic wrap used to repair severed peripheral nerves. It received FDA clearance this year. Read the story in VCU News. Isaacs is pictured here with his research partner, senior orthopaedic research scientist Geetanjali Bendale, Ph.D. (Photo by Mark Gormus)

View Photos from the Event

ICYMI: This fall, VCU announced the highest sponsored funding figures in history, continuing its growing distinction as a top urban, public research university. The institutional record of $405 million for fiscal year 2022 is a more than 10% increase over last year. Here's more. In addition, VCU was ranked among the nation's Top 30 most innovative public universities.

With a bionic nose, COVID survivors may smell the roses again

IEEE Spectrum profiled VCU researchers Richard Costanzo and Daniel Coelho, who have developed a "neuroprosthetic" to detect odors and send signals to an implanted receiver that can stimulate the brain. Read more. (IEEE is a trusted voice for engineering, computing and tech information worldwide).

Virginia Museum of History & Culture acquires VCU researcher's trauma care collection

In June, Robert F. Diegelmann, Ph.D., a distinguished career and emeritus professor at the VCU School of Medicine, donated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture a collection of 16 items related to his research into hemostasis. His efforts ultimately led to the discovery of the blood-clotting properties of sodium bentonite, an absorbent clay often found in kitty litter, that today is the basis of a product called QuikClot.

The Richmond-based museum maintains a collection of more than 9 million items. Its most recent acquisition from VCU was in April 2021, when the museum picked up materials related to the initial administration of the COVID-19 vaccine in Virginia, including the first two Pfizer vaccine vials used by VCU Health. Read more.

Engineering, Medicine VR collaboration may improve ‘blind’ surgery to treat female urinary incontinence

Using a virtual-reality application developed at the VCU College of Engineering, an interdisciplinary collaboration looks to replace the expensive and time-intensive surgeon training process for a complex urogynecologic procedure to treat female urinary incontinence.

Read more about the project led by Lauren Siff, M.D. and Milos Manic, Ph.D.

To fight cancer recurrence, VCU experts go to source

For more than a decade, Dr. Umesh Desai has worked with VCU oncologist and researcher Dr. Bhaumik Patel on cancer stem cells that seed disease.

Their work shows promise for making chemotherapy and radiation more effective, and for targeting cancer recurrence.

Meet Dr. Desai.

Phantoms on the Brain to treat brain disorders

Dr. Ravi Hadimani and his researchers secured a patent for their anatomically accurate human “brain phantoms.”

The devices play a valuable role in gauging the effectiveness of magnetic and electric fields generated by the coils that is placed on the top of the head to treat many brain disorders.