IU participates in dialogue around driving defense innovation in Indiana Uplands region

Driving a defense innovation ecosystem

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Last week, Indiana University economic development leaders participated in a defense industry roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Todd Young. The event was hosted by the Crane Regional Defense Group at WestGate@Crane Technology Park.

IU Vice President for University Relations Michael Huber and Joe Carley, IU director of economic development, were among 60 representatives from Indiana’s public and private sectors who convened to talk about the continued transformation of WestGate@Crane into a major hub of research innovation, entrepreneurship and educational programs in the 11-county Indiana Uplands region. The 750-acre park is located just outside the gates to Naval Support Activity Crane, which is located approximately 40 minutes southwest of IU’s Bloomington campus. NSA Crane, the third-largest naval installation in the world, is home to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, a research lab and leader within the Department of Defense in microelectronics, artificial intelligence, hypersonics and other emerging technologies.

Indiana University economic development leaders participated in a recent defense industry roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Todd Young. The event was hosted by the Crane Regional Defense Group at WestGate@Crane Technology Park, where IU has played a leading role in the strategic effort to create one of most important mixed-use research destinations for America’s robust defense industry.

As part of the discussion, Sen. Young described the potential major impact of the recently enacted CHIPS and Science Act, which will provide a historic investment to boost U.S. manufacturing of semiconductors, on the development of WestGate@Crane and the surrounding region. Young was the co-sponsor of the $280 billion bipartisan bill, which IU was one of the first universities to champion and support. He also outlined several of his top priorities related to investing in core research and emerging technologies and engaging the private sector to explore how to implement new prototypes.

Huber and Carley were among a select group of attendees invited to provide brief overviews of their organizations and how their current initiatives are contributing to the development of Crane and the Uplands region, where IU continues to be deeply and actively engaged in working with local, state and federal leaders in igniting a dynamic innovation ecosystem.

IU has played a leading role in the ambitious, large-scale vision to transform WestGate@Crane into one of most important mixed-use research destinations for America’s robust defense industry. Carley currently serves as interim CEO of the Uplands Science and Technology Foundation, a nonprofit research foundation, established in 2021, that is leading the park’s long-term strategy around cutting-edge technology development, talent, infrastructure and industry partnerships.

That strategy has helped fuel the creation of a new, $384 million microelectronics campus at WestGate@Crane. Last fall, Indiana Gov. Eric J. Holcomb and Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers joined local officials and business executives in breaking ground on a microelectronics packaging and testing facility, which has already secured four semiconductor companies that will anchor the development. Together, these companies plan to create up to 549 new jobs with an average salary of near $100,000 in the coming years.

IU also continues to contribute talent, expertise and other resources toward ensuring WestGate@Crane builds upon NSWC Crane’s increasing role as a national leader in its core focus areas of electronic warfare, expeditionary systems and strategic missions. IU and NSWC Crane recently extended a strategic partnership, initiated in 2012 and renewed in 2017, that will ensure a continuation of high-impact educational and research collaborations in, among other key areas, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, technology transfer, systems hardware, quantum computing and regional economic development.

The signing came a year after IU renewed a longstanding Educational Partnership Agreement with NSA Crane. Established in 2011, the multiyear agreement, signed by IU President Pamela Whitten during her inaugural visit to the naval installation, enables opportunities for IU students, faculty and staff to collaborate with Crane personnel on sustainability and conservation strategies, as well as on research projects in AI, machine learning and other areas in service to national defense.

IU School of Medicine researcher develops non-invasive tool to detect mutations that could potentially lead to breast cancer

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Bri Heron, technology marketing manager at Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, contributed the following story.

A non-invasive diagnostic test to detect mutations that could lead to early-stage breast cancer has been developed by Indiana University researcher Harikrishna Nakshatri, Marian J. Morrison Professor of Breast Cancer Research and professor of surgery, biochemistry and molecular biology at the IU School of Medicine.

Studies have shown early detection results in better survival and less treatment for breast cancer. But the most common method of early detection is screening mammography, and it is not perfect, especially for women with dense breasts. Additional imaging such as a screening ultrasound and breast MRI can identify cancers not seen on mammograms in some patients, but IU researchers are looking for non-invasive tests (assays) to detect cancer cells before women develop symptoms or if changes are identified on mammogram.

“Breast cancer originates from specific cells within the breast due to gene mutations. The number of mutations increases as the cancer progresses and metastasizes to other organs,” said Nakshatri. “To achieve maximum response to treatment, cancer needs to be detected early when the mutation burden is low. Assays that can identify cancer cells early in the disease can help achieve this goal.”

Nakshatri began working on the development after being approached by Kandice Ludwig, associate clinical professor of surgery at the IU School of Medicine and a breast surgeon at IU Health North Hospital, whose patient developed breast cancer in her right breast while breastfeeding. Nakshatri and his team were able to develop a new method of characterizing cells from the patient’s donated breast milk.

“There are numerous mutations that happen in our cells on a daily basis, and while not all of these mutations are cancerous, characterizing the cells from the breast milk helps determine what types of mutations can develop when women breastfeed,” Nakshatri said. “Furthermore, characterizing the cells helps differentiate which mutations could lead to breast cancer and which ones are benign.”

The tests were performed on donor milk from 10 other women with no history of breast cancer for comparison. Researchers were able to determine that two of the women’s breast milk contained cells that carried similar mutations associated with breast cancer.

“Breast cells grow quickly during breastfeeding, so by detecting those potentially defective cells early, we may be able to identify women at risk for cancer development and refer them for preventative measures.” Nakshatri said.

The team published a paper in 2020 in the American Association for Cancer Research journal that detailed the methods behind detecting and characterizing the breast milk-derived cells. Since then, Nakshatri and his team have had 100% success rate in growing the cells from the breast milk, and if cancer cells are identified in the breast, rapid characterization of the cells and sensitivity of cancer cells to FDA-approved drugs can be measured in as little as 15-20 days.

“While additional investigation is necessary to determine whether this method of characterization of cancer cells in breast milk can be used as a detection tool for women at increased risk of developing breast cancer, this is extremely promising work.” said Dr. Ludwig.

Nakshatri has patented this invention, along with several others, at IU’s Innovation and Commercialization Office to help further his research of breast cancer.

IU School of Medicine researchers find RAP minimizes nephrotoxicity and acute kidney injury

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Bri Heron, technology marketing manager at Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, contributed the following story.

Bruce Molitoris, MD, MS, a distinguished professor emeritus at the Indiana University School of Medicine and internationally acclaimed scientist, has determined that the Alpha-2-macroglubin Receptor Associated Protein, a naturally occurring protein inhibitor of kidney proximal tubule reabsorption, minimizes drug-induced kidney injury (nephrotoxicity), which is one of the main contributors behind acute kidney injury.

Bruce Molitoris stands in front of a computer screen that shows a multi-color image of kidney function. — Bruce A. Molitoris, distinguished professor of medicine, IU School of Medicine

Acute kidney injury occurs in an estimated one in five adults and one in three children hospitalized with acute illness, and the incidence is increasing. Acute kidney injury develops rapidly and results in the kidney’s inability to remove waste products from the blood. Drugs that can cause acute kidney injury are termed nephrotoxins, and they lead to 20 percent of hospitalized cases of acute kidney injury. Therapeutic agents such as antibiotics, radiocontrast and cancer drugs are nephrotoxic. They are filtered by the kidney and reabsorbed and concentrated within proximal tubule cells, thus leading to cellular injury and acute kidney injury. There is currently no FDA-approved drug therapy for the prevention of acute kidney injury.

Currently, there are no treatments to inhibit proximal tubule reabsorption of potential toxins to prevent kidney injury. Molitoris and his team discovered that administering the receptor associated protein turned off reabsorption of a toxic antibiotic and minimized acute kidney injury.

“Being able to turn off proximal tubule reabsorption rapidly and reversibly is a major step forward in potentially preventing nephrotoxicity from any filtered drug,” said Molitoris. “This would allow clinicians to provide patients at a high risk for acute kidney injury potential nephrotoxic therapies and also provide higher doses of nephrotoxic drugs to others to improve efficacy while minimizing the side effect of acute kidney injury.”

In the study, Molitoris and colleagues used rat models to understand the impact of the receptor associated protein on aminoglycoside-induced acute kidney injury. They determined the inhibitor caused minimal change in kidney function, while those with the placebo developed severe acute kidney injury.

Based on these findings, Molitoris and his team determined that the receptor associated protein has the potential to be used to prevent drug induced acute kidney injury in patients in care situations such as hospitals, ICUs or infusion centers if it is given before administering the nephrotoxic agent.

The Molitoris team has disclosed several intentions with IU’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, and recently filed a patent to protect this research.

One of only a few international leaders in nephrology whose research focuses on acute kidney injury, Molitoris established and developed the Indiana Center for Biological Microscopy. Established in 1996, the center is now a vital research core facility supporting biomedical research needs of more than 100 laboratories in Indiana.

He has published over 100 original research papers and has received over $25 million in funded research support from the National Institutes of Health, Veterans Administration, American Heart Association and Lilly Pharmaceuticals. He also holds six patents and is the founding member and manager of INphoton, LLC, and cofounder of Pharmacophotonics (now FAST BioMedical).

More about Molitoris and his past pioneering research is available on IU’s University Honors and Awards website.

‘Best in Tech’ award nominees reflect IU’s advancement of high-potential startups

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Earlier today, Indianapolis-based growth accelerator TechPoint unveiled the nominees for its 24^th annual Mira Awards, which honor the “Best in Tech” in Indiana. Continuing a recent trend, this year’s nominees reflect Indiana University’s successful efforts to advance high-potential startup companies with strong university affiliations, while also contributing to the expansion of Indiana’s technology ecosystem.

Among this year’s Mira Awards nominees are three young companies that are part of the growing investment portfolio of IU Ventures, IU’s early-stage venture and angel investment arm. Each of the companies, Adipo Therapeutics of Indianapolis, Fishers-based spokenote, and Civic Champs of Bloomington, will be featured in the “Product Innovation of the Year” category, which honors scientific achievements, tech R&D efforts and other trailblazing discoveries.

Additionally, Ravi Bhatt, co-founder and CEO of Bloomington-based Folia, another IU Ventures portfolio company, was nominated for the “Rising Entrepreneur Award.” This is the second consecutive year Bhatt will compete for the award, which recognizes Indiana’s most exceptional non-student startup founders or operators of any age and experience.

The Mira Awards are Indiana’s largest, best-known and most prestigious technology awards. Past award-winners and nominees alike have gone on to become the state’s greatest tech successes. In delivering its announcement, TechPoint praised the year’s class of nominees, which includes individuals, educators, community organizations, state agencies, investors, entrepreneurs and tech employers. Collectively, the 78 nominees employ more than 57,000 Hoosiers and represent more than $20 billion in annual revenue.

The awards will once again shine a spotlight on IU’s active engagement to build a pervasive culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across Indiana through its focus on assisting IU students, faculty, staff and alums with advancing high-potential new venture opportunities.

Two years ago, IU Ventures was named 2021 Investor of the Year for its efforts to invest in and support diverse Indiana startups. It was also recognized as “one of the most active funding sources in the state during the pandemic.”

Last spring, Indianapolis-based Encamp, an award-winning environmental compliance data management and reporting company, competed at the Mira Awards for “Tech Product of the Year.” IU Ventures was the first “institutional” investor in Encamp, and to date, it has invested more than $775,000 in the pioneering company, which was co-founded in 2017 by Luke Jacobs and Daniel Smedema, graduates of IU Bloomington’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The latest Mira Award nominees represent two of the more recent additions to the IU Ventures investment portfolio, Folia and Adipo Therapeutics.

Folia was founded by College of Arts and Sciences alumnus Ravi Bhatt, who recently relocated his fast-emerging business annotation startup from Chicago to Bloomington. As the company’s CEO, he plans to dramatically expand Folia’s workforce with the support of a milestone investment by two of IU Ventures’ major investment programs, the IU Angel Network and the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund. Together, the two programs contributed more than half of Folia’s recent $2 million seed funding round.

Earlier this year, IU Ventures invested $150,000 in Adipo Therapeautics, a pre-clinical stage company that has developed a breakthrough technology to treat metabolic diseases, including type two diabetes mellitus and obesity. Adipo is led by Karen Wurster, an IU Kelley School of Business alumna with over 25 years of experience in developing and commercializing billion-dollar diabetes products.

Bhatt and Wurster will join fellow award nominee Gene Wang, CEO and co-founder of volunteer and mentorship management platform Civic Champs, as featured speakers at the IU Founders & Funders Network Venture Summit, to be held May 18-19 at the IU Bloomington campus. The annual event brings together the best of IU’s startup community, providing its members with the opportunity to find industry experts, educational content, talent, investor partnerships, mentorship and other resources they need to advance their businesses.

By the time of the summit, they will know whether they need to add one more line to their list of accomplishments. Mira Award nominees will present their cases and be interviewed by judges in March. Award winners will be announced during an in-person gala at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Indianapolis on April 22.

IU researcher develops new therapy for treatment of ALS

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Bri Heron, technology marketing manager at Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, contributed the following story.

Indiana University researcher Chandler Walker, Ph.D., has developed a new stem cell-based secretome therapy that influences both the central and peripheral components of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis pathology. Secretome refers to the secretions of tissue or cells that can be harvested for therapeutic or other purposes.

One in 50,000 people has ALS, a rare neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement and causes the gradual degeneration and death of upper and lower motor neurons in the central nervous system. Death of motor neurons is a hallmark of ALS, but other cells in the brain and spinal cord, as well as peripheral myelinating cells and skeletal muscle, all play a role in disease progression.

Chandler Walker

The average survival time after diagnosis of ALS is three to five years, and there is currently no cure or treatment to stop or reverse disease progression. While a few FDA-approved drugs provide marginal therapeutic benefits for patients, they primarily only target the central nervous system while the peripheral nervous system continues to degenerate.

“Getting an effective therapy to people with ALS sooner than later is our top priority,” said Walker, an associate professor at the IU School of Dentistry and adjunct associate professor of anatomy, cell biology and physiology at the IU School of Medicine. Given the rapid progression of ALS, time is of utmost concern for afflicted individuals, their families and caretakers. With the limited efficacy of current approved treatments, having a new therapy that could slow disease progression and prolong life would positively affect thousands of individuals in the United States alone.

Walker’s research, published in Neural Regeneration Research, has shown therapeutic benefits at various stages of disease progression in an ALS mouse model. Administering the treatment delayed symptom progression, reduced neuromuscular degeneration and extended survival time. Daily systemic administration of the therapy allows for targeting of both central and peripheral characteristics of disease progression. This approach sheds light on the effects of the treatment on specific types of disease pathology as well as the long-term therapeutic benefits of adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) secretome therapy.

“For neural disorders and diseases like ALS, a multi-factorial approach to therapy is the most beneficial for patients,” Walker said. As ALS negatively affects neurons in the brain and spinal cord, as well as peripheral tissues such as skeletal muscle and immune cells, targeting just one organ or set of tissues is insufficient for meaningly impacting disease progression. Walker’s ASC secretome therapy contains hundreds of growth factors and other pro-regenerative and protective components that affect the wide range of areas of the body impacted by ALS. Furthermore, neurological conditions other than ALS also involve central and peripheral pathologies. “This secretome therapy could also have a therapeutic affect for other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s,” he said.

Chandler Walker working in his lab. — Given the limited efficacy of current approved treatments for ALS, Walker’s newly developed stem-cell-based therapy, which has shown therapeutic benefits at various stages of the disease’s progression, could positively affect thousands of individuals in the United States alone.

Walker and his team will continue their studies on the therapeutic composition of the secretome, hoping to eventually produce a clinic-ready therapy for ALS patients, thanks to $700,000 in funding from Neurodegenerative Disease Research, a nonprofit organization supporting researchers studying disease pathology and therapeutic development in ALS.

Walker has also partnered with IU School of Medicine’s Cell and Gene Therapy Manufacturing Center to optimize and produce ASC secretome for FDA approval and a Phase I clinical trial. He is optimistic that the team will have clinical-grade ASC secretome ready for clinical application in the next six to 12 months.

Walker has worked with the Innovation and Commercialization Office for a couple of other inventions, and he participated in ICO’s IU Idea to Startup Pitch Competition last October.

“I am thankful that I was able to participate in the pitch competition as it showed me a different way of presenting my ALS research,” Walker said. “I am able to apply what I learn from ICO along with the feedback from the competition to move our secretome therapy closer to the patients that need it.”

IU, NSWC Crane partner on research initiative to help secure Navy’s AI, machine learning systems

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

The following story was adapted from a news release recently published by Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. Images are courtesy of NSWC Crane.

Indiana University and Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, recently collaborated on research into innovative techniques designed to protect artificial intelligence and machine learning systems used by the U.S. Navy from adversarial threats.

More than 20 IU undergraduate and graduate students participated in the research partnership, which was established between IU and NSWC Crane in late 2019 and enabled through the Naval Engineering Education Consortium. The NEEC is a part of the Naval Sea Systems Command, which supports project-based collaborations with colleges and universities.

IU professor David Crandall talks to an IU student.

NSWC Crane supports electronic, engineering and ordnance needs of the U.S. Navy and other military customers. It is one of Indiana’s largest high-tech employers with over 3,800 employees, of which 2,500 are scientists, engineers and technicians. NSWC Crane is the principal tenant command at Naval Support Activity Crane, the third-largest naval installation in the world, which is located approximately 40 minutes southwest of IU’s Bloomington campus.

David Crandall, Luddy Professor of Computer Science and director of the Luddy Center for Artificial Intelligence at the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, said the project greatly benefited the participating IU students, who were able to test their knowledge and apply their research training in a rapidly growing field with major implications for national security.

“NEEC has been a wonderful opportunity for my students to both work on cutting-edge research, and to receive training that they wouldn’t normally get in the classroom,” said Crandall. “It was also an opportunity for us to push interdisciplinary boundaries between fields, because this was a collaboration between Professor Katy Borner’s expertise in visualization and my lab’s expertise in computer vision and machine learning. Together, our groups investigated new techniques for visualizing, debugging and improving the machine learning algorithms that are at the heart of modern artificial intelligence.”

Tyler Fitzsimmons, an engineer at NSWC Crane and technical point of contact for the NEEC project, said the three-year effort will help the U.S. Navy fleet better understand if an adversary is manipulating data and defend AI algorithms against malicious attempts.

“The students created a lot of great research and moved quickly; they came up with interesting and great solutions,” said Fitzsimmons, who earned a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2021 from IUPUI. “A lot has changed in the AI field in three years, and they documented these changes. Ultimately, we’ll be able to provide system users with actionable intelligence.”

“As AI/ML technology continues to be developed and deployed, we wanted to create some sort of visualization technique so that people at every level of [expertise] can find useful information and interact with AI systems,” he added. “If an adversary is trying to manipulate our systems, we wanted any user to be able to see that something was happening and know they can respond. A key output from IU built an open source graphical user interfaces for data visualizations so that users could better understand data distributions and potential anomalies.”

The partnership was also designed to introduce IU students to the wide variety of technical career paths available in the Navy.

Fiona Ryan, who graduated from IU Bloomington in 2020 with bachelor’s degrees in computer science and clarinet performance, was part of the NEEC project. Ryan, who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Georgia Tech and recently was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, said her NEEC experience motivated her to continue to expand her knowledge of computer vision, a field of AI that trains computers to capture and interpret information from digital images, videos and other visual inputs.

“Having the opportunity to do undergraduate research on computer vision helped me learn how to build deep learning models and explore what state of the art models can and cannot do on difficult tasks,” Ryan said. “My work at Indiana University inspired me to continue pursuing computer vision research, now as a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn important research skills and formulate my interests in computer vision as an undergraduate student.”

Fitzsimmons said some of the IU students interned at NSWC Crane after participating in the program.

“Throughout the program, IU was engaged on the research side, students got involved, and there were several publications on the topic—which can then be applied to different Navy efforts for image-based ML analysis,” Fitzsimmons said. “A matrix of numbers isn’t helpful to users—this visualization will show users if the system is operationally appropriately or if it’s being attacked so they know what actions they can take. AI and ML is a technology area Crane is highly interested in, and this project ties in nicely with other ongoing efforts such as the Trusted AI research and workforce development initiative.”

Alicia Scott, a former chief engineer at NSWC Crane, said the research impacts other AI initiatives at NSWC Crane, including the recently launched Trusted AI project. Through the initiative, NSWC Crane has teamed up with IU, the University of Notre Dame and Purdue University to develop trusted AI research and workforce development that meeds the needs of the Department of Defense and the defense industrial base.

“NSWC Crane’s continued partnership with local universities in the realm of AI will help us not only enhance our impact for our own projects, but also the community as we continue to develop new methodologies and cutting-edge advancements in the big problems of trust in AI,” Scott said.

More information on this effort is available on the NSWC Crane website.

About NSWC Crane:

NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in expeditionary warfare, strategic missions and electronic warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi- spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today’s warfighter.

IU’s, state’s participation in first-ever NBA games in India helps alumni investors score, spotlights potential economic benefits of engagement with country’s growing venture capital landscape

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Late in 2019, top officials from Indiana, including Gov. Eric Holcomb and leaders of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and Indiana University met up in Mumbai, India, to help celebrate the National Basketball Association’s first-ever game in the country. In addition to cheering on the home state Indiana Pacers to an overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings, the teams from IU and the state attended a networking event, hosted by the IU Alumni Association’s Mumbai Chapter and the IU Office of the Vice President for International Affairs, which included top business leaders from India as well as IU alumni and friends living and working throughout South Asia.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb at NBA India Games — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (center) joined state and Indiana University leaders in 2019 at the NBA’s first-ever game in India. During the trip, the governor joined India business leaders and IU alumni and friends living and working across South Asia for an IU-led business networking event.

The networking event was a slam dunk—both for the IU-affiliated entrepreneurs and innovators in attendance, as well as for the state and its flagship public university, which continue, in close collaboration, to strengthen business, cultural and educational partnerships across one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing economic regions of the world.

For longtime technology entrepreneur and IU Kelley School of Business alumnus Manish Jain, the connections he made at the event were a genuine game-changer, specifically a new friendship with fellow Kelley School graduate and financial advisor Jatin Karani. They recently enabled MProfit, a fintech startup he co-founded with 4 others, to complete its first-ever fundraising round, which included investments totaling approximately $2 million made by several of India’s leading financial tech funds. Headquartered in Mumbai, MProfit has developed a proprietary software as a service platform that allows investors, family offices and financial advisors to effectively track multi-asset investment portfolios in one place.

For the past 14 years, MProfit has been bootstrapped without any outside investment. Though non-traditional, several of India’s largest and most successful startups continue to be “bootstrapped” in this way. He and Karani, an active investor in early-stage technological innovations, met and bonded at the IU networking event and kept in touch—in part, over their mutual love of cars. The firm where Karani is a co-founder and a partner, Samarthya Investment Advisors, is one of the investors backing MProfit, which will look to expand its service beyond the 300 cities and 700 institutions it already supports.

Jain’s investment case reflects the growth of India’s venture capital landscape, which, according to an analysis last fall by GoingVC newsletter, is in the midst of a period of “explosive” growth. Venture capital investment in the country reached a decade high of $38.5 billion in 2021, and estimates indicate there is over $400 billion in valuation across more than 50,000 startups in India.

India’s arrival as a major player in the venture capital arena—and the country’s potential to benefit from investment in innovation and entrepreneurship—has added another layer to IU’s economic engagement strategy in service to strengthening Indiana’s economic vitality.

“Through increasing engagement with Indiana University’s many Indian alumni and partners, we have seen substantial numbers of company founders and funders all across the South Asian region and beyond who are extremely eager to expand their networks and access the kinds of resources, including talent, education, mentorship and investment sources, that can push forward their early-stage ventures,” says Tony Armstrong, president and CEO of IU Ventures, IU’s early-stage venture and angel investment arm. “Our graduates will be the leaders in the important industries of the future global economy, including AI, machine learning, clean energy and healthcare. Expanding IU’s and the state’s global entrepreneurial ecosystem—whose members are typically among our most loyal, generous and passionate alumni—has the potential to bring huge economic benefits back to Indiana.”

IU’s work to support and further ignite the innovations of its international alumni and deepen its foothold in India has occurred as Gov. Holcomb, the first Indiana governor to visit India, continues to prioritize growing Indiana’s partnerships in the country and pursuing additional Indian investment in the state. In the decade between 2006 and 2016, Hoosier exports to India increased 117 percent to nearly $276 million, and recent years have seen several major India-based corporations, including Infosys, Wipro and Axiscades, establish large headquarters in the state. In addition, numerous Indiana-based companies maintain global operations in India, including Eli Lilly, Genesys, Zimmer Biomet and Windstream Technologies.

The university’s efforts have also coincided with the U.S. Embassy in India advocating for Indian investment in the U.S. and strengthening its support of young Indian entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses through its Nexus innovation hub, which it launched in 2017 at the American Center in New Delhi.

All of these actions are indicative of the high-impact economic developments that IU leaders anticipated several years ago when the university inaugurated the IU India Gateway, the second of the university’s five global gateway offices around the world. Since opening in 2014 in central New Delhi, the India location has worked with IU’s campuses around the state to support faculty research and student-focused activities in India. These activities include those of the acclaimed Madhusudan and Kiran C. Dhar India Studies Program at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. The office also serves as a key resource for connecting with IU’s partner institutions and alumni in India.

In 2019, several months before IU and state leaders made the trip to India for the NBA festivities, IU further extended its international network in Asia with the opening of the university’s fifth global gateway office in Thailand. The IU ASEAN Gateway, located in central Bangkok, currently serves as a hub to support IU activities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region. Shortly after its formal opening, in fall 2020, the gateway office and IU Ventures hosted a virtual, startup pitch event for IU alumni based in Southeast Asia. The idea for the event, which also included alumni startups from India and China, came about when Peter Boonjarern, director of the IU ASEAN Gateway, learned about IU Ventures via social media during a meeting of the IU Board of Trustees. IU Ventures and IU’s Office of the Vice President for International Affairs are considering partnering on another pitch event in the future.

Since India gained its independence in 1947, IU has built one of the nation’s leading programs for the study of Indian culture, history and languages, while establishing longstanding and productive partnerships with several of India’s top teaching and research universities, including O.P. Jindal Global University and FLAME University. IU now also has more than 10,000 alumni affiliated with India, who represent IU’s ever-growing global community along with the hundreds of scholars, dignitaries and students who visit IU’s campuses in Indiana each year.

Interior of IU India Gateeway — The IU India Gateway office works with IU’s campuses around the state to support faculty research and student-focused activities in India.

The university’s strategic relationship with Thailand is equally deep, spanning more than seven decades of engagement and several of the university’s most productive educational and institution-building partnerships. IU now has more than 1,000 Thai alumni living and working around the world, many of whom have gone on to positions of great distinction in business, education, government, health care, higher education and other important fields.

“As we know from the activities of our entrepreneurial alumni, there are forward-thinkers, big ideas and promising innovations, many with strong IU connections, all across Asia,” Armstrong says. “Fortunately, IU, our state’s government and economic leaders, and our partners across the state have the vision, experience and connections to match and to further relationships that will elevate the global reputation of the Hoosier state as a destination for success.”

Watch a video of 2002 IU Kelley School graduate Gaurav Parikh, president of the IU Alumni Association’s Mumbai Chapter, talking at the NBA game in Mumbai about his love of IU. In 2021, Parikh, managing director of his family trading business Steam Flow, also wrote a letter to his younger self, describing his journey from India to Indiana and back.

IU researchers seek to commercialize AI tool to identify undiagnosed cases of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Bri Heron, technology marketing manager at Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, contributed the following story.

In the United States alone, Alzheimer’s disease currently affects 6.5 million people and over 11 million caregivers. National costs are projected to reach $1 trillion by 2050.

Current early detection approaches for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of cognitive diseases are not standardized or scalable for urban and rural communities. Data also suggest that nearly 50 percent of patients with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive diseases are undiagnosed. For those that are diagnosed, it can take up to five years of multiple medical visits.

Indiana University researchers Malaz Boustani, the Richard M. Fairbanks Professor of Aging Research at the IU School of Medicine, and Zina Ben Miled, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at IUPUI, are working together to tackle this issue by designing implementable, scalable and sustainable brain care solutions.

Together, Boustani and Ben Miled have developed and clinically validated an artificial intelligence tool for early identification of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This technology was recently licensed through IU’s Innovation and Commercialization Office to DigiCARE Realized, a new AI-technology company focused on modernizing care in complex brain diseases.

“Early detection for cognitive diseases offers the opportunity for more timely diagnoses which leads to proactive care,” said Boustani, who is the chief innovation and implementation officer at the IU Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science. “Given the recent FDA drug approval for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, early detection is even more essential.”

The DigiCARE Realized technology detects patients with undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia, such as Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia, with nearly 80 percent performance accuracy for ≤ 3-year prediction horizons.

When the DigiCARE Realized machine-learning technology is deployed in electronic medical records of a health system, it processes routinely collected structured and unstructured data. This technology has demonstrated the ability to review high volumes of patient health records in hours versus what would take clinicians days to review.

Boustani and Ben Miled have joined the founding team, which includes Brittany Cassin, CEO and co-founder of DigiCARE Realized.

“We believe that if you can measure it, you can manage it,” said Cassin. “For the first time, we can provide patient- and population-level data to a health system for better brain health insight. More importantly, we provide health systems the opportunity to deliver routine brain care for our growing, aging population that is feasible to implement across their network.”

Ben Miled emphasized that early detection is the first step to diagnosing in a timely manner.

“We trained our algorithm to rapidly comb through different types of data, including vast medical notes, found in electronic health records to recognize indicators and data patterns that can identify undiagnosed cases of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia,” Ben Miled said.

The algorithm was tested in different retrospective analysis with a NIH-sponsored prospective study underway. Peer-reviewed papers discussing the results have been published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

Boustani said the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office helped translate his ideas into reality.

“Translating innovation research to everyday use in clinical practice takes many different experts,” Boustani said. “The Innovation and Commercialization Office continues to be instrumental in collaborating with researchers and business partners to bring these innovative solutions to improve care for patients and their families.”

DigiCARE Realized is raising pre-seed funding to take its AI-enabled platform for early detection technology and care management through its first phase of commercialization. Learn more at digicarerealized.com.

IU researchers win Translational Research grant for plastic neutron shield material technology

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Bri Heron, technology marketing manager at Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, contributed the following story.

Mike Snow, a professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, and graduate student Jerald Balta were recently awarded a $34,939 Translational Research grant from IU for their flexible neutron shielding material technology.

Indiana University Professor Mike Snow — Mike Snow

Compared to current materials used for neutron shielding, the material being developed by Snow emits very low levels of secondary radiation, and it is flexible, which allows the material to be bent into desired shapes and cut without machinery. Therefore, this material has the potential to improve the performance of neutron detectors used in homeland security, cancer therapy and space exploration.

“This Translational Research grant will enable us to make the next key steps in our work to develop neutron shielding with low radiation backgrounds,” Snow said. “This material can have scientific and technological applications in neutron scattering for materials and for radiation shielding of electronics and other sensitive devices in space.”

Snow and Balta lead the nuclear measurement component of the project, and they are collaborating with Wichita State University and Phase III Physics, a company based in Los Angeles, to help bring the product to market.

This new funding will allow the researchers to quantify the advantages of their neutron shielding material. They also plan to apply for Phase 1 and 2 Department of Energy Small Business Technology Transfer grants to help with additional neutron measurements, polymer chemistry/materials development, and neutron shielding applications. In addition, Snow plans to submit a Phase 3 Department of Energy Small Business Technology Transfer grant to help fund the commercialization step for the invention.

IU’s Translational Research Grant program helps bridge the gap between research and product development by strengthening patent applications and enhancing the commercialization potential of the innovation.

IU-affiliated startup wins the Regional Pre-Seed Award from Elevate Nexus Southern Region Pitch Competition

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Ryan Piurek

Bri Heron, technology marketing manager at Indiana University’s Innovation and Commercialization Office, contributed the following story.

Indiana University’s Jamie Tagg is expanding work with his startup idea Celadore after being selected as a winner of a $20,000 Fall Regional Pre-Seed award at the 2022 Elevate Nexus Southern Region Pitch Competition.

Jamie Tagg

Celadore, an acoustically optimized cello podium, elevates the sound of a cello during soloist performances by giving the podium vertical elevation while harnessing the vibration of the instrument’s endpin.

“Celadore will amplify celloist’s performances in orchestras across the world, and this award ultimately brings Celadore one step closer to a finalized product and commercialization,” said Tagg, an associate professor of music at the IU Jacobs School of Music.

Tagg has worked closely with the IU Innovation and Commercialization Office in his journey from idea to startup.

“I couldn’t have done it without ICO,” Tagg said. “I’m so grateful for the supportive programs they provide and that I was able to take advantage of these resources. I am proud to now be a success story for the office.”

After filing patent protection with the help of ICO, Tagg participated in the inaugural IU Faculty Startup Accelerator Program in spring 2022 to develop his startup idea. The program was organized with the collaboration of ICO and The Mill to help faculty entrepreneurs define the problem they are solving and assess the market potential and business viability.

“As an academic and audio engineer, the world of entrepreneurship and business development was entirely different than what I am used to,” Tagg said. “The Accelerator Program was exactly what I needed for my startup. I was able to turn my startup idea into a business while learning how to effectively pitch to investors.”

Picture of Celadore, Celadore, an acoustically optimized cello podium, elevates the sound of a cello during soloist performances. — Celadore, an acoustically optimized cello podium, elevates the sound of a cello during soloist performances.

In addition, Tagg won the Crossroads Idea Competition, hosted by The Mill and the Flywheel Fund in December 2022, and he was also a finalist in the IU Idea to Startup Pitch Competition in October 2022.

“The pitch competition was an invaluable learning experience,” Tagg said. “The feedback I received from the panel of judges allowed me to refine my pitch and make improvements for my next competitions.”

His continuous learning and perseverance paid off at the Elevate Nexus Pitch Competition. He plans to use the $20,000 fund to create a translational design from the original podium prototype to an easier and scalable manufacturing product that will incorporate feedback from celloists who will have an opportunity to use the product prior to launch.

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