Overheard: Houston experts discuss how to navigate tech transfer

eavesdropping in houston

Panelists from the University of Houston and Houston Methodist discussed tech transfer challenges and opportunities for academic innovators. Photo courtesy

Groundbreaking and disruptive innovations across industries are coming out of research institutions, and their commercialization process is very different from other startups.

An expert panel within Technology transfer discussed some of the unique obstacles innovators face as they go from academia into the market — like patenting, funding, the valley of death, and more.

Missed the conversation? Here are eight key moments from the panel that took place at the University of Houston's Technology Bridge on Wednesday, May 19.

This event was hosted by InnovationMap and University of Houston.

“If your technology can immediately impact some industry, I think you should license out your technology. But if you think that the reward is much higher and does not yet match something in the industry, you should go the high risk, high reward path of doing it yourself. That’s a much more challenging. It takes years of work.”

— Hadi Ghasemi, co-founder of Elemental Coatings and Cullen associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Houston, says on how tech transfer usually happens via those two pathways. Ghasemi explains that it also depends on the academic's passion for the product and interest in becoming an entrepreneur.

“There’s a mismatch in that you can have a really clinically impactful technology but still not have money to develop it into a product.” 

— Rashim Singh, co-founder of Sanarentero and a research assistant professor of pharmaceutics at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy, says on the different priorities from within academia and within the market.

“What I’ve seen is if you know you want to patent something, tell the right people early. Make sure you have the right players involved. Our tech office already has venture, Pharma, etc. partners that can help with the patent process.”

— Ginny Torno, administrative director of innovation and IT clinical systems at Houston Methodist

“You don’t need to be fully transparent about your technology. As a company, you need to have some secret sauce."

— Ghasemi says on the patent and paper publishing process. Academics are used to publishing their research, but when it comes to business, you need to hold some things close to the chest.

“One of the most important piece the UH Tech Bridge has provided is the wet lab space to develop these technologies a little further toward commercialization. … Wet lab is very precious space in Houston specifically because there isn’t much here.”

— Singh says on how important access to lab space is to the entrepreneur.

"“You’re starting to see more and more organizations that have innovation arms. ... There are a lot of focus on trying to make Houston another innovation hub, and I think there is more support now than even a few years ago.”

— Torno says on what's changed over the past few years, mentioning TMC3 and the Ion.

“Try to serve private capital as soon as possible. The grant money comes, and those are good and will help you prove out your technology. But once you have private money, it shows people care about your product.”

— Ghasemi says as a piece of advice for potential tech transfer entrepreneurs.

“The biggest gap is to arrange for funding — federal, private, etc. — to support during the valley of death.”

— Singh says on the struggle research-based startups, especially in drug discovery, faces as they fight to prove out their product and try to stay afloat financially.

This week's innovators to know roundup includes three experts within the tech transfer space in Houston. Photos courtesy

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: It's a very special edition of the Monday innovators to know series. On Wednesday, all three of today's innovators will join me and InnovationMap for a panel discussing technology transfer — the process in general, what resources are available within their institutions, IP and grant writing, and so much more. Read more about the panelists below and click here to register for the free event.

Ginny Torno, Administrative Director, Innovation and IT Clinical Systems at Houston Methodist

Image courtesy

Ginny Torno has a long career at Houston Methodist, including work within research. Now, she's leading innovation initiatives at the deployment level within the hospital's technology center. Torno can speak to both the research and the implementation done within innovation at Houston Methodist.

Hadi Ghasemi, co-founder of Elemental Coatings and Cullen associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Houston

Image courtesy

Hadi Ghasemi is Cullen associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at UH. His research interests are in nanotechnology, surface physics, and heat transfer.

In 2018, Ghasemi co-founded Elemental Coatings, formerly SurfEllent, an anti-icing and anti-scaling coatings that aims to make the many problems associated with ice and scale buildup a thing of the past.

Rashim Singh, co-founder of Sanarentero and a research assistant professor of pharmaceutics at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy

Image courtesy

Co-founder of Sanarentero, Rashim Singh is developing therapies for gut-related diseases and disorders. Focused on her company, Singh can speak to the drug discovery process, grant writing, and more within the pharmaceutical space.

From a new solar energy capturing and storing device to stem cell-based pacemakers, here are three game-changing technologies coming out of UH. Getty Images

3 innovative research projects coming out of the University of Houston

research roundup

Across the University of Houston campus, professors and researchers are creating solutions for various problems in several different industries.

From information technology benefiting police officers to stem cell-based pacemakers, here are three game-changing technologies coming out of UH.

A stem cell-based biological pacemaker

Photo via of UH.edu

A University of Houston associate professor of pharmacology is contributing to research that's taking stem cells found in fat and transforming them into heart cells to act as biologic pacemaker cells.

"We are reprogramming the cardiac progenitor cell and guiding it to become a conducting cell of the heart to conduct electrical current," says Bradley McConnell in a UH news release. McConnell's work can be found in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.

The treatment could replace the more than 600,000 electronic pacemakers implanted annually, These devices require regular doctors visits and aren't a permanent solution.

"Batteries will die. Just look at your smartphone," says McConnell. "This biologic pacemaker is better able to adapt to the body and would not have to be maintained by a physician. It is not a foreign object. It would be able to grow with the body and become much more responsive to what the body is doing."

Suchi Raghunathan, doctoral student in the UH Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy, is the paper's first author, and Robert J. Schwartz, Hugh Roy and Lillian Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of biology and biochemistry, is another one of McConnell's collaborator.

The use of information technology to protect law enforcement

Photo via of UH.edu

A tech-optimized police force is a safe police force, according to new UH research that shows that the use of information technology can cut down on the number of police officers killed or injured in the line of duty by as much as 50 percent.

"The use of IT by police increases the occupational safety of police officers in the field and reduces deaths and assaults against police officers," says C.T. Bauer College of Business Dean Paul A. Pavlou in a news release. Pavlou co-authored a paper on the research that was published in the journal Decision Support Systems.

Pavlou, along with his colleague, Min-Seok Pang of Temple University used FBI, the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, and U.S. Census data to build a dataset, which tracked IT use and violence against law enforcement from 4,325 U.S. police departments over a six-year period, according to the release.

The study focused on crime intelligence, prediction, and investigation. The potential for IT in the police force had yet to be realized because there hadn't been much research on the subject.

A new solar energy capture and storage technology

Image via of UH.edu

New research coming out of UH has created a new and more efficient way to capture and store solar energy. Rather than using panels that store solar energy through photovoltaic technology, the new method, which is a bit of a hybrid, captures heat from the sun and stores it as thermal energy

The research, which was described in a paper in Joule, reports "a harvesting efficiency of 73% at small-scale operation and as high as 90% at large-scale operation," according to a news release.

The author of the paper, Hadi Ghasemi, is a Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UH. He says the potential is greater due to the technology being able to harvest the full spectrum of sunlight. T. Randall Lee, Cullen Distinguished University Chair professor of chemistry, is also a corresponding author.

"During the day, the solar thermal energy can be harvested at temperatures as high as 120 degrees centigrade (about 248 Fahrenheit)," says Lee, who also is a principle investigator for the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH. "At night, when there is low or no solar irradiation, the stored energy is harvested by the molecular storage material, which can convert it from a lower energy molecule to a higher energy molecule."

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Rice biotech accelerator appoints 2 leading researchers to team

Launch Pad

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad, which is focused on expediting the translation of Rice University’s health and medical technology discoveries into cures, has named Amanda Nash and Kelsey L. Swingle to its leadership team.

Both are assistant professors in Rice’s Department of Bioengineering and will bring “valuable perspective” to the Houston-based accelerator, according to Rice. 

“Their deep understanding of both the scientific rigor required for successful innovation and the commercial strategies necessary to bring these technologies to market will be invaluable as we continue to build our portfolio of lifesaving medical technologies,” Omid Veiseh, faculty director of the Launch Pad, said in a news release.

Amanda Nash

Nash leads a research program focused on developing cell communication technologies to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases and aging. She previously trained as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co., where she specialized in business development, portfolio strategy and operational excellence for pharmaceutical and medtech companies. She earned her doctorate in bioengineering from Rice and helped develop implantable cytokine factories for the treatment of ovarian cancer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Houston.

“Returning to Rice represents a full-circle moment in my career, from conducting my doctoral research here to gaining strategic insights at McKinsey and now bringing that combined perspective back to advance Houston’s biotech ecosystem,” Nash said in the release. “The Launch Pad represents exactly the kind of translational bridge our industry needs. I look forward to helping researchers navigate the complex path from discovery to commercialization.”

Kelsey L. Swingle

Swingle’s research focuses on engineering lipid-based nanoparticle technologies for drug delivery to reproductive tissues, which includes the placenta. She completed her doctorate in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where she developed novel mRNA lipid nanoparticles for the treatment of preeclampsia. She received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University and is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.

“What draws me to the Rice Biotech Launch Pad is its commitment to addressing the most pressing unmet medical needs,” Swingle added in the release. “My research in women’s health has shown me how innovation at the intersection of biomaterials and medicine can tackle challenges that have been overlooked for far too long. I am thrilled to join a team that shares this vision of designing cutting-edge technologies to create meaningful impact for underserved patient populations.”

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad opened in 2023. It held the official launch and lab opening of RBL LLC, a biotech venture creation studio in May. Read more here.

University of Houston archaeologists make history with Mayan tomb discovery

History in the Making

Two University of Houston archaeologists have made scientific history with the discovery of a Mayan king's tomb in Belize.

The UH team led by husband and wife scientists Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase made the discovery at Caracol, the largest Mayan archeological site in Belize, which is situated about 25 miles south of Xunantunich and the town of San Ignacio. Together with Belize's Institute of Archeology, as well as support from the Geraldine and Emory Ford Foundation and the KHR Family Fund, they uncovered the tomb of Caracol's founder, King Te K’ab Chaak. Their work used airborne light detection and ranging technology to uncover previously hidden roadways and structures that have been reclaimed by the jungle.

The tomb was found at the base of a royal family shrine. The king, who ascended the throne in 331 AD, lived to an advanced enough age that he no longer had teeth. His tomb held a collection of 11 pottery vessels, carved bone tubes, jadeite jewelry, a mosaic jadeite mask, Pacific spondylus shells, and various other perishable items. Pottery vessels found in the chamber depict a Maya ruler wielding a spear as he receives offerings from supplicants represented as deities; the figure of Ek Chuah, the Maya god of traders, surrounded by offerings; and bound captives, a motif also seen in two related burials. Additionally, two vessels had lids adorned with modeled handles shaped like coatimundi (pisote) heads. The coatimundi, known as tz’uutz’ in Maya, was later adopted by subsequent rulers of Caracol as part of their names.

 Diane Chase archaeologist in Mayan tomb Diane Z. Chase in the Mayan tomb. Photo courtesy of University of Houston

During the Classical Period, Caracol was one of the main hubs of the Mayan Lowlands and covered an area bigger than that of present-day Belize City. Populations survived in the area for at least 1,000 years before the city was abandoned sometime around 900 AD. The royal dynasty established by Te K’ab Chaak continued at Caracol for over 460 years.

The find is also significant because this was roughly when the Mexican city of Teotihuacan made contact with Caracol, leading to a long relationship of trade and cultural exchange. Cremation sites found in Caracol contain items that would have come from Teotihuacan, showing the relationship between the two distant cities.

"Both central Mexico and the Maya area were clearly aware of each other’s ritual practices, as reflected in the Caracol cremation," said Arlen F. Chase, professor and chair of Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Houston.

“The connections between the two regions were undertaken by the highest levels of society, suggesting that initial kings at various Maya cities — such as Te K’ab Chaak at Caracol — were engaged in formal diplomatic relationships with Teotihuacan.”

The Chases will present their findings at a conference on Maya–Teotihuacan interaction hosted by the Maya Working Group at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico in August 2025.

 UH professors Chase make Mayan Discovery UH archaeologists Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase Photo courtesy of University of Houston

 

---

This story originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston palliative care company integrates with Epic platforms

epic scale

Patients and medical teams using MyChart and other Epic Systems' software will now be able to access Houston-based Koda Health's AI-enhanced end-of-life planning platform.

The Houston-based palliative care company, which was born out of the TMC's Biodesign Fellowship, has integrated its advance care planning platform with Epic, one of the most widely used electronic health record (EHR) systems in the U.S., according to a news release.

Epic estimates that more than 325 million patients have a current electronic record in its systems.

“This is a significant milestone for our mission to make advance care planning scalable, meaningful, and seamless,” Tatiana Fofanova, CEO and co-founder of Koda Health, said in the release. “By integrating into systems already used by care teams, we help eliminate friction and ensure that care delivery honors what patients truly want—especially during serious illness and at the end of life.”

The partnership will streamline processes for both patients and clinicians. Users will be able to drop advance care plans directly into the Epic charts, which will be accessible through MyChart for patients and proxies and through Epic Hyperspace/Hyperdrive for care teams. Doctors can also initiate and manage advance care plans through a simple Epic order for patients.

According to Koda Health, its platform saves an average of $10,000 to $15,000 per patient. Roughly 85 percent of users complete advance care plan documents when using the platform, which is four times the national average.

“We developed Koda to give providers the time, training, and tools to guide these critical conversations," Dr. Desh Mohan, co-founder and chief medical officer at Koda Health, added in the statement. "Our integration now makes it possible to operationalize ACP at scale—aligned with value-based care goals and clinical reality.”

The company announced a partnership with Dallas-based Guidehealth, which integrates into primary care workflows and allows providers to identify high-risk patients, coordinate care and reduce administrative burden. Guidehealth works with more than 500,000 patients

Koda Health was founded in 2020 and closed an oversubscribed seed round for an undisclosed amount last year, with investments from AARP, Memorial Hermann Health System and the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund. The company also added Kidney Action Planning to its suite of services in 2024.

View All Listings