Launch of New Challenge to Create Startups Around Promising Cancer-Related, Nanotechnology Inventions
Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) October 29, 2015 -- The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) announces the launch of the Nanotechnology Startup Challenge for Cancer (NSC2). This is the third in a series of startup challenges developed from the partnership between CAI and National Cancer Institute’s Technology Transfer Center following two award-winning competitions, the Breast Cancer Startup Challenge and the Neuro Startup Challenge. NSC2 is an open innovation competition designed to bring promising cancer nanotechnology inventions to market. These inventions have the potential to make a significant impact on the health of cancer patients and include therapeutics, diagnostics, prognostics and medical devices. Inventions in the challenge originate from the NIH intramural research program as well as the extramural research community. Participating challenge teams may either select from the NIH intramural inventions or bring in an external, commercially viable, cancer-related nanotechnology invention as the basis to compete in NSC2.
The challenge opened for teams to enter starting October 12, 2015. A requirement to enter is the formation of a multi-disciplinary team that includes individuals with medical/scientific, legal, and business expertise, and a serial entrepreneur. During the challenge, teams will be offered valuable tools for entrepreneurial learning in the ‘business of science’ through a six-month accelerator program as well as the opportunity to interact with world class mentors, advisors and judges.
“After two successful challenges, something that sets the NSC2 a part is the robust, accelerator training program that all winning teams will be able to leverage,” said Rosemarie Truman, Founder and CEO of CAI. “The type of prestigious accelerator model that we are putting into place for the NSC2 is tailored specifically for this challenge, and has been proven to produce “gazelle companies,” a term associated with high-growth, high-impact startups. The support and resources that will be available for the winning teams presents an incredible opportunity for those entering the competition.” Truman added, “In addition, the NSC2 challenge architecture further amplifies the contest paradigm to move an entire scientific field forward rapidly as we are seeking to advance both NIH intramural inventions as well as extramural inventions."
For more information on the challenge, please go to: http://www.NSCSquared.org/
ABOUT CAI:
The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) is a global public-private partnership non-profit focused on creating a virtuous circle of innovation and driving growth breakthroughs through novel, creative paradigms and models. CAI's mission is to accelerate and increase the volume of technology transfer, translational research, commercialization and entrepreneurship in various fields of research, including biomedical research, to make more research available to the world for educational and innovation purposes, improve the economy and positively impact world health. For more information about CAI, please visit http://www.thecenterforadvancinginnovation.org.
Rosemarie Truman, The Center for Advancing Innovation, http://www.thecenterforadvancinginnovation.org, +1 (202) 438-2208, [email protected]
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