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September Innovation
Mind Your Matter
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The Perfect Match:
Pairing Researchers with Entrepreneurs
How do you turn groundbreaking academic research into a viable startup? Our latest podcast episode of "And Yet It Moves" explores the answer with the team behind UCSF Innovation Ventures’ unique Executive in Residence (XIR) program.
Listen in as Darya "Dasha" Bubman and Todd Pazdera explain the "market first" approach, which actively builds companies from the ground up. We then dive into a fascinating case study with SEEN Therapeutics, a company born from the program. You'll hear directly from CEO Althea Stillman and scientific co-founder Arun Wita as they detail their journey of collaboration, the science behind their novel cancer immunotherapy, and the strategic transition from the program's supportive environment to launching a full-fledged company.
"To really understand how you work with the team, think of it as essentially dating, and you must work through different parts of that process and get to know each other really well before you're ready to make that full-time commitment."
- Althea Stillman
Don't miss this inside look at how UCSF is fueling the future of medicine.
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Our Faculty Flourishes
Innovation Ventures has re-established our connection with the UCSF Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs in time to represent UCSF Innovation Ventures at the Faculty Development Day. We met several new UCSF faculty and trainees, as well as some old friends from all UC campuses. We shared information about the innovation work we do, shared resources for launching newcos and licensing technology, and connected with those who expressed interest or just had a few questions.
This event offered the opportunity to meet and share information with our faculty on the topics of innovation, the disclosure process, market analysis, strategic partnering, and startup development.
A big thank you to Aleksandra “Aleks” Kijac for the planning, Monica Ravanello and Amy Gryshuk for helping represent at the event, Aenor Sawyer for her support, Inder Takhar, Nate Prorok, and Sean Karlin for help in getting swag ready for the event!
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Life Science Angels Pitch
UCSF Innovation Ventures and Life Science Angels (LSA) collaborated to host a pitch event on September 10th. UCSF investigators and entrepreneurs Aparna Lakkaraju, Miles Conrad, Murty Vyakarman, Rohit Jain, Matthew Leonard, and Neel Pasricha pitched their startup opportunities. Over 20 angel investors from LSA attended. This was a great opportunity for UCSF startups to network with potential investors.
We are grateful for LSA’s continued partnership and thank Seo Yeon Yoon and Alperen Ozlap for teaming up with us. We would also like to thank Kathy Wilson-Edell, Darya Bubman, and Todd Pazdera for organizing this event. And to Inder Takhar, Sean Karin, and other innovation team members, executives in residence, and interns, who also made the event a success.
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Full House at AI in Bio
The AI in Bio panel session drew a standing-room-only crowd as we heard from three leading investors and thought leaders in the space: Jeff Huber, MBA, Managing Director of Triatomic Capital; Vineeta Agarwala, MD PhD, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and Head of Bio+Health investing; and Ansuman Satpathy, MD PhD, Stanford faculty member and Venture Partner at Wing Venture Capital.
The discussion brought fresh perspectives on where the field is headed. The panelists emphasized that AI is not a bubble, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg, and it will permeate every aspect of the life sciences. But, they stressed, biology remains the central driver: AI is best understood as a facilitator rather than the focal point. Despite a seemingly crowded and competitive landscape, there is still a significant opportunity to build impactful companies.
We hope the conversation inspires our UCSF community to explore new ventures and innovations at the intersection of AI and biology.
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How to Protect Your Innovations
in the Age of AI
Researchers can use AI tools for brainstorming, but commercial chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity) risk exposing sensitive data. UCSF Versa offers a secure, private AI option to protect your research. Contact versa@ucsf.edu or tech transfer for guidance.
As researchers, you’re intentionally breaking new ground, and chatbot tools like ChatGPT can be invaluable for brainstorming, drafting, and analyzing. However, it’s important to understand that chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, or Perplexity are commercial, cloud-based products. Anything you input, whether it’s unpublished ideas, experimental data, or descriptions of your innovations, will likely be owned by the parent company and potentially included in its training data and become accessible to others in ways you didn’t intend. While this doesn’t mean avoiding AI tools altogether, it’s crucial to use them thoughtfully, especially when dealing with sensitive information like P3 or P4 data.
For UCSF investigators seeking a private and secure way to leverage AI, UCSF Versa is here to help. Built on UCSF’s secure Microsoft Azure infrastructure, Versa connects to private instances of Azure OpenAI and Anthropic Claude models (e.g., GPT-5), ensuring your data remains protected while you tap into AI’s potential.
AI tools can be transformative for your research. Just be mindful of how you use them. If you have questions, your UCSF Versa team and tech transfer team are always here to provide guidance.
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Applications for Catalyst Awards
Open Through September 29
Catalyst Awards are the centerpiece of the Catalyst Program that provide both seed funding and industry advisor mentorship to UCSF Principal Investigators (PIs) with promising projects that have the potential to advance along the translational path to commercialization and patient benefit.
Catalyst Awards are designed to support Translational Research with a clear path toward clinical implementation or commercialization. Catalyst Awards are focused on the advancement and validation of promising solutions, including:
- Therapeutics (e.g., lead optimization, preclinical efficacy and safety studies, IND-enabling work)
- Diagnostics (e.g., biomarker validation, regulatory readiness)
- Medical Devices (e.g., prototyping, bench and animal testing, usability, regulatory strategy)
- Digital & Computational Health Technologies (e.g., functional validation, integration into clinical workflows, usability testing) and Computational Health (i.e. AI, LLMs, ML, etc.)
For more information or to register
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UCSF Innovation Showcase @JPM 2026
January 13, 2026
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A New Cancer Treatment for Cats Could Help Humans
In a study published Thursday, scientists from UCSF, UC Davis, and the University of Pittsburgh describe a promising, first-of-its-kind treatment in pet cats with oral cancer. The authors say the approach could benefit people with head and neck tumors, too.
“There are common features of cancer in cats and cancer in humans,” said author Jennifer Grandis, a professor in UCSF’s Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. “We can learn from each other.”
STAT3, a startup based on Jennifer Grandis's 2017 Catalyst Project, is in the news for its novel cancer therapy
The new treatment targets the STAT3 transcription factor, a protein that binds to specific DNA sequences to affect gene expression
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