Duke Celebrates Innovation and Entrepreneurship at First Annual Invented at Duke Celebration

This story was originally published by the Duke Office of Licensing and Ventures 

A puncture-proof vascular graft, silicone microspheres, improved eye disease imaging, a pocket-sized colposcope, improved hernia solutions, a platform for predictive surgical complication risks, and an infant IV vest—Duke’s cutting-edge innovations were out in force at Monday’s Invented at Duke Celebration.

The event honored Duke faculty, staff, and students whose research has the potential to improve and save lives. Robin Rasor, the Executive Director of the Office of Licensing and Ventures (OLV), said, “The Invented at Duke celebration is an opportunity for us to showcase how the cycle of discovery to commercialization helps to translate technology into products and services that have a real impact on society.”

A focus for this first annual event was on the significant progress Duke is making to become a leader in transferring its knowledge and innovations to the worldwide community. With over 300 invention disclosures, 85 patents and 11 new startups for this past fiscal year, OLV understands that our faculty, staff and student inventors are a vital component to all areas of the innovation ecosystem.

“This is such an exciting time to be at Duke. From the interdisciplinary work of our Institutions to student collaborations and clinical research, we are thinking creatively about the world’s most intractable problems and actively finding solutions to solve them,” President Price said speaking in front of a crowd of over 300 alumni, faculty, staff, students, and members of the local community.

The event, held at the Washington Duke Inn, created an opportunity for researchers to present their innovations to members of the venture capital and business communities as well as to stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration.

OLV is making substantial progress in helping to facilitate and lead entrepreneurship and technology commercialization at Duke. Ms. Rasor said, “There is so much energy and excitement around Duke innovation right now. The success of last night’s event was evidence as to how much interest there is from our local community to engage with our researchers, increase their involvement, and develop partnerships that work for everyone.”

Check out the Featured Innovators from our event. Their innovations represent an inspiring reflection of the interdisciplinary community afforded to us here at Duke.

Featured Innovators from the Pratt School of Engineering:

POCkeT Colposcope is a highly portable, cervical cancer screening solution to be used at the community-level setting. The technology was developed by Dr. Nimmi Ramanujam and her team at Duke University’s Global Women’s Health Technologies Center and has been evaluated clinically in Tanzania, Peru, Kenya, Zambia, and the U.S. Cervical cancer affects the lives of 500,000 women worldwide each year and results in more than 270,000 deaths. The POCkeT Colposcope brings a small, easily cleaned, and highly usable device to many low to middle-income countries.

“Duke OLV has been an active and engaged partner in helping our team pursue commercialization pathways for the POCkeT Colposcope. Not only does this office provide services for technology transfer but also supports grant proposals and student activities to move this technology forward.” –Nimmi Ramanujam, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering. 

Encapsio was born out of a Duke lab by PhD Wyatt Shields. The company is developing a system of manufacturing premium silicone microspheres for the encapsulation, protection, and controlled delivery of active ingredients in product formulations. Fuqua MBA students Nick Kirby and Wes Day sought out Shields’ technology for a start-up idea when they saw the potential for a product that is cost effective, scalable, and easily brought to market. With the ability to encapsulate and deliver a variety of compounds, these spheres offer a broad range of applications—such as inks, paints, pesticides, drugs, etc. Currently, the focus is on topical applications for skin care starting with a retinol-encapsulated microsphere that will be supplied to cosmetic brands and cosmetic ingredient distributors.

“OLV has supported our startup from the very beginning. It was OLV’s Rob Hallford who initially connected Wes and me to Wyatt long before we became a company.  Also, OLV has assisted with writing grants, fundraising, IP strategy, and facilitating introductions to key contacts within their vast network.”–Nick Kirby, Encapsio CFO 

Lumedica was founded by an experienced team of engineers including Chief Scientist Dr. Adam Wax from the Pratt School of Engineering. Dr. Wax’s team has developed a new low-cost optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner that could dramatically extend the impact of the imaging technology for eye health by making eye imaging more affordable, accessible and easier to use. Affordable access would enable more health care providers to conduct OCT imaging, giving patients greater, earlier access to the one test that can save their vision and improve their quality of life.

 “I’ve worked with OLV on many technologies over the years.  They’ve helped me develop the patent protection we needed to get our companies off the ground.” – Adam Wax, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering.

Check out the Duke Office of Licensing and Ventures site to read the full story