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July Innovation
Mind Your Matter
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Celebrating the Retirement of
Gonzalo Barrera-Hernández
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After more than 25 years of distinguished service to the University of California, most recently as UCSF’s Director of Business Affairs and Strategic Partnerships, Gonzalo Barrera-Hernández has retired. Gonzalo led with integrity, humility, and steady purpose. His powerful leadership style fostered a culture of trust, growth, and collaboration. As organizational psychologist Adam Grant often notes, the most impactful leaders are those who create environments where people feel respected and empowered. Gonzalo did just that.
“I strongly believe that the foundation of true leadership is being honest, kind, respectful, and fair, and I will foster open communication and partnership among our team so that together we can achieve our goals.”
Gonzalo Barrera-Hernández
He was known for his thoughtfulness, his unwavering commitment to our PRIDE values, and his ability to inspire by example. His legacy of integrity, impact, and kindness will endure. Wishing him joyful adventures ahead.
Cálidos saludos, Gonzalo!!!!!
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Upcoming:
UCSF NSF I-Corps
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Apply now for the UCSF NSF I-Corps October Training Course!
The UCSF National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program will host its training course focused on healthcare products, including therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, and platform technologies on October 6, 9, and 20 from 5 pm to 8 pm via Zoom.
The course is an immersive two-week virtual customer discovery training. You'll learn how to conduct 20 customer interviews to identify your top customer segment and value propositions, validate your commercial market, and accelerate finding product market fit. The instructor will be Seo Yeon Yoon, Director of Life Science Angels and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Lecturer.
Teams that complete I-Corps are three times more likely to be awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant. Additionally, nearly 1,400 teams have launched startups which have cumulatively raised $3.2 billion in subsequent funding.
| | Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities | | |
Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Life Sciences Licensing:
Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
Innovation Ventures director of Business Development, Engagement and Opportunity Development, and Licensing, Todd Pazdera, PhD, joined the Licensing Executives Society-Silicon Valley Chapter's panel discussion, which brought together diverse experts to discuss the current state of life sciences licensing.
Moderated by Natalie Punnilathil from PICi, panelists included Cristina Ghenoiu, Partner at Mubadala Ventures; Timothy Herpin, fractional CBO to multiple biotech startups, and David Pirko, Partner, Technology Transactions, WSGR.
The panel explored the dominant trends in deal-making, from upfront payments and royalty structures to the most sought-after therapeutic areas and technologies. Panelists highlighted the critical challenges faced by both licensors and licensees, and explored key tendencies, deal dynamics, early-stage valuation challenges, and emerging opportunities, offering actionable advice for navigating this evolving field.
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A Decade of Impact:
Celebrating Atul Butte & BCHSI@10
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UCSF Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute (BCHSI) marks its 10th year
Come join us for a symposium celebrating 10 years of the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute and honoring the legacy of founding Director, Dr. Atul Butte
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Mission Bay Conference Center, Robertson Auditorium
1-4 pm symposium, 4-5 pm reception.
Open to All.
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UCSF completed an exclusive license agreement with Jacaranda Biosciences (JBI)
JBI is developing small molecules targeting the unfolded protein response to prevent hearing loss caused by chemotherapy or noise. To date, JBI has received three SBIR awards totaling over $3.5M, led by co-PI's Dr. Russell Dahl and Dr. Malek Chouchane. This novel treatment could save these patients from this life-altering side effect of their cancer treatment, which affects about half of these patients. These treatments can also help mitigate the risk of noise-induced hearing loss, a leading contributor to cognitive decline, experienced by law enforcement and military service members and millions of others working in noise-exposed environments.
The co-founders are Dr. Elliott Sherr and Dr. Dylan Chan. The project was partially funded and received industry advisor consultation from Innovation Ventures (IV). IV also partnered with JBI to provide input into their pitch and develop a win-win IP and licensing strategy.
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Sana Biotechnology announces positive six-month clinical results from type 1 diabetes study of islet cell transplantation without immunosuppression
Groundbreaking first-in-human study establishes potential to treat type 1 diabetes by transplanting insulin-secreting cells without immunosuppression. Six-month patient follow-up results demonstrate that Sana’s transplanted pancreatic islet cells modified with its hypoimmune (hip) technology are safe and well-tolerated, survive, evade detection by the immune system, and continue to produce insulin in the patient.
"These groundbreaking results build upon the extensive preclinical and translational studies of Dr. Sonja Schrepfer and the team at Sana and provide hope for a cure. We look forward to continued follow-up, with study results submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal,” said Per-Ola Carlsson, MD, Study Principal Investigator, Senior Physician and Professor at the Clinic for Endocrinology and Diabetology at Uppsala University Hospital.
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UCSF Innovation Ventures announces spinout KopraBio
UCSF Innovation Ventures is excited to announce the founding of KopraBio. Kopra is bringing a replicating retroviral therapy delivering an IL-15 superagonist (RLI-RRV) into the clinic to treat patients with glioblastoma (GBM) and other solid tumors. PIs Dr. Manish Aghi and Dr. Noriyuki Kasahara are co-founders, along with Dr. Alexander Haddad and Sara Collins. This project was partially funded and received industry advisor consultation from Innovation Ventures. The Innovation Ventures team also worked with the Kopra team to develop an IP strategy, build a pitch, and recruit CEO Andrew Bartynski, a successful serial entrepreneur and Y-combinator alum. Kopra is also part of Y Combinator.
UCSF and Kopra have entered into an exclusive license. GBM is an area of dire unmet need with an average survival of 15 months and a standard of care that has remained unchanged for 20 years. We are excited to watch Kopra through their journey of improving the lives of GBM and other cancer patients.
KopraBio is a 2-time Catalyst Award recipient.
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