New Tech Transfer Hub to Drive Innovation Improving Health and Economy

LSU Health New Orleans will partner with 24 academic institutions in the southeastern US and business in a tech transfer accelerator hub that will improve the translation of basic science discoveries from academic research labs to products that advance patient care and improve health. The Southeast Xlerator Network, led by XLerateHealth, LLC, a healthcare accelerator headquartered in Louisville, in conjunction with the lead academic institution, University of Kentucky and the other partners, was competitively awarded $500,000 for the first year of a potential three-year $3.5 million grant by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

It is one of four regional hubs being created through the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program developed for states that have historically had low NIH funding and disproportionately few Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards. The SBIR and STTR programs fund research and development partnerships between small businesses and academic research institutions.

“LSU Health New Orleans' participation in the IDeA Hub grant will provide our faculty, staff, students, and affiliated startups with expanded access to biomedical innovation-related expertise and resources,” notes Patrick Reed, RTTP, Director of the Office of Technology Management, and the site lead at LSU Health New Orleans. “Our involvement, along with both Tulane and Southern universities, plugs Louisiana directly into this large regional network, helping further support life sciences research and commercialization in New Orleans and all around the state. Operating through our Office of Technology Management, the IDeA Hub is expected to significantly enhance our efforts to engage with entrepreneurs and businesses to commercialize inventions that grow the economy and benefit the public."

The tech transfer accelerator hubs will provide expertise to develop the needed infrastructure and promote an entrepreneurial culture throughout the IDeA region. They will partner with business to successfully compete for more SBIR and STTR grants to advance biosciences research discoveries leading to the creation of new startup companies.

“The vision is to leverage key personnel from participating institutions with a broad spectrum of scientific, commercialization and entrepreneurship experience, to create an online ‘virtual networked hub’ of shared best practices, education, services, facilities and other resources in support of biomedical technology development in the Southeast IDeA region,” notes Nicole Baute Honorée, RTTP, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Economic Development & Strategic Initiatives at LSU Health New Orleans.

“Partnering with our local and regional academic colleagues, as well as business and the NIH, allows us to leverage our resources to achieve much more much sooner,” says Larry Hollier, MD, Chancellor of LSU Health New Orleans. “The impact of innovative biosciences research is profound; it drives not only advances that solve health problems, but also economic prosperity by generating new direct and indirect jobs and effective new products.”

“Collaborations such as this overcome the barriers of translating promising early-stage technologies into commercial technologies, which benefit people everywhere,” adds Joseph Moerschbasecher, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at LSU Health New Orleans.