http://www.mcgrawhill.com/prize/winners_renzulli.shtml

Renzulli Learning reported sales of more than $6 million in 2008. The company’s educational software has been used by more than 400,000 students across the United States.

“We are extremely pleased to have Elin on our board of directors,” said John L. McIntyre, Ph.D., president and CEO of Vestaron. “With her experience as both a government regulator and a corporate executive, Elin can provide valuable guidance as we continue our work to develop insecticides based on the peptides spiders use to kill insects.”

Miller has extensive corporate experience in the field of agricultural chemicals. She has held sales, marketing and senior management positions with Shell Chemical, Dow AgroSciences and Arysta LifeScience. She also has served in government positions with the California EPA, the California Department of Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  At EPA she was responsible for all aspects of enforcement and implementation of federal environmental law in Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. She also served as the executive director of the Western Agricultural Chemicals Association, incoming chairman of the National FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) and a member of the Sponsors Board and Chair of RISE (Responsibility for a Sound Environment).

Miller also has received numerous awards and honors, including the Lea Hitchner Award, the highest honor in the crop protection industry, the California Regulatory Excellence award and was named one of the 50 most powerful women in public relations by PR Week magazine. She is a graduate in Agronomy/Plant Protection from the University of Arizona, where she served as student body vice president and was awarded the Freeman Medal for outstanding woman graduate. She was also a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship. Miller and her husband Bill actively farm hazelnuts in Umpqua, Ore.

Vestaron is developing a new generation of insecticides using peptides from spiders. The company’s technology is based on ground-breaking research conducted at the University of Connecticut.  Over 50 unique, insecticidal spider peptides have been identified. This patented technology is exclusively licensed to Vestaron.  Products under development have a unique mode of action, are highly effective against insects and related pests and are harmless to non-target species, including humans. Target markets include agriculture, animal health and specialty non-crop uses such as household insects. Vestaron products will be ideally suited for the environmentally conscious twenty-first century.  www.Vestaron.com

CONTACT:  John L. McIntyre, Ph.D., Vestaron Corporation, 616-889-9611; Douglas R. Johnson, Ph.D., GreenTree Communications (for Vestaron), (207) 367-5902, djohnson@greentreecommunications.com

“Venomix spoke to our roots; Vestaron speaks to our future,” said company President and CEO John L. McIntyre, Ph.D. “Our goal is to be a leader in the drive to find new insecticides that are highly effective and environmentally benign. We believe Vestaron better communicates that message.”

Vestaron is developing a new generation of insecticides using peptides from spiders. The company’s technology is based on ground-breaking research conducted at the University of Connecticut. Over 50 unique, insecticidal spider peptides have been identified. This patented technology is exclusively licensed to Vestaron. Products under development have a unique mode of action, are highly effective against insects and related pests and are harmless to non-target species, including humans. Target markets include agriculture, animal health and specialty non-crop uses such as household insects. Vestaron products will be ideally suited for the environmentally conscious twenty-first century. www.vestaron.com

Now, after 20 years, Shapiro, a professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center, could be on the verge of a major breakthrough. And if her theories are correct, scientists could use what they know of CD13 to improve on the body’s own way of repairing itself after a heart attack, better guiding stem cells to the damaged heart — a process known as homing — and potentially improving a person’s chances for recovery.

“If we could home stem cells to the damaged tissue, this would be a huge area of therapy,” said Marc Lalande, director of UConn’s Stem Cell Institute.

Heart attacks were not an immediately obvious idea for CD13. Instead, Shapiro spent years learning about other functions of the molecule, exploring aspects such as what controls its expression and what role it plays when a cell’s fate is determined.

Then, nine years ago, she learned from another researcher that CD13 played an important role in getting drugs meant for tumors delivered to the proper place. CD13 showed up on the tumors in newly formed blood vessels, so Shapiro began exploring why.

A cardiologist she spoke with at a meeting offered a suggestion: After a heart attack, the body forms new blood vessels to get past the blockage. Why not look into whether CD13 shows up when that happens?

She did, and found that CD13 shows up in force on the new blood vessels that form. That may have something to do with what happens to the body after an injury. When a person is injured, the body sends cells to the site of the injury to protect it. In a heart attack, for example, the body sends stem cells to begin repairing the damaged tissue. If that process doesn’t work well enough, the person can develop heart failure.

But the repair cells need a way to know where to go, and Shapiro thinks that’s where CD13 comes in: It may serve as a sort of address for the body’s internal emergency responders to know where to go.

What happens without CD13? Shapiro and Dr. Bruce Liang, the chief of UConn’s cardiology division, are testing that question using mice who have been bred without CD13. In their lab, researchers induce heart attacks in those mice and mice that have CD13, then compare the results.

About 80 percent of the mice in both groups survive, but those without CD13 end up with markedly poorer heart function. “It just seems that without CD13, the function is impaired,” Shapiro said.

Stem cells, which the body sends to the heart to repair it, already have some CD13 on them. Shapiro thinks that adding more CD13 to stem cells could help make sure they get to the proper place. Earlier this year, she received a grant from the state — part of a 10-year, $100 million Connecticut program to fund stem cell research — to test that theory. She will treat stem cells with a material that will produce more CD13, then examine whether it makes them more likely to stick to a site of injury.

Ultimately, her work could lead to the development of a way to inject CD13-fortified stem cells into the arm of a person who had a heart attack, boosting the body’s natural response. It could potentially be applied to other types of disease or injuries.

Of course, like much of the work on stem cells, that may be years away, if it proves possible at all. But after two decades, Shapiro has hopes for what CD13 could accomplish.

The following is a link to a McGraw-Hill Education press release which announces the company’s partnership with Renzulli Learning, a UConn R&D company that develops educational software.

http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/releases/education/20090629.shtml

Renzulli Learning reported sales of more than $6 million in 2008. The company’s educational software has been used by more than 400,000 students across the United States.

The Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) board, based on a Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) recommendation, has completed a $1.8 million convertible Series B investment in Venomix, Inc., the company announced today. MSF, located in Lansing, Mich., is charged with promoting economic development in the state. Venomix, based in Kalamazoo, Mich., is developing a new generation of insecticides based on the peptides spiders use to kill insects.

“We are extremely pleased to have the support of the MEDC and the state of Michigan, and have the MSF as an investor in Venomix,” said John L. McIntyre, president and chief executive officer. “This investment recognizes the business- and job-creating potential of our insecticide technology.”

“Strong public-private partnerships are critical to helping high-tech companies commercialize their technology, gain market share and grow new jobs,” MEDC President and CEO Greg Main said. “Venomix is on the cutting edge and we are proud to partner with them to ensure their long-term growth and success in Michigan.”

Venomix is developing a new generation of insecticides using peptides from spiders. The company’s technology is based on ground-breaking research conducted at the University of Connecticut. Over 50 unique, insecticidal spider peptides have been identified. This patented technology is exclusively licensed to Venomix. Products under development have a unique mode of action, are highly effective against insects and related pests and are harmless to non-target species, including humans. Target markets include agriculture, animal health and specialty non-crop uses such as household insects. Venomix products will be ideally suited for the environmentally conscious twenty-first century. www.Venomix.net

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a partnership between the state and local communities, promotes smart economic growth by developing strategies and providing services to create and retain good jobs and a high quality of life. For more information on the MEDC’s initiatives and programs, visit the Web site at www.TheMEDC.org.

I’m delighted to be here today to speak about a subject that is much on everyone’s mind these days — the economy — and more specifically for those of us at UCONN, how can we contribute to its turnaround?

The University of Connecticut was proud to have been a founding partner of the Hartford Springfield Economic Partnership when it was formed in 2000. At the University we consider ourselves to be one of two key anchors for the Knowledge Corridor, the other being the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

We recognize that while the region has many high quality educational institutions, UCONN and UMASS are each Carnegie research 1 universities and therefore have a unique role to play in support of industry. And as land grant institutions, we are supposed to harness our resources for the benefit of the economy and right now the economy could use all the help it can get.

At UCONN we recently worked with a state economist to evaluate our current economic contribution to the state and found:
• Ongoing operations at UCONN, including the UCONN Health Center, adds $2.3 billion to Connecticut’s gross domestic product on average each year.
• More than 29,000 jobs are generated in the state by the University.
• In 2008, UCONN received nearly $200 million in sponsored research grants and awards, including more than $92 million in this region received for biomedical research at the UCONN Health Center.

We know UMASS can cite similarly impressive results. And while we at UCONN are interested in our current contribution, we continue to remind ourselves that our job is not done. We need to continue to build our undergraduate and graduate research programs so that we can deliver to the region and the state a workforce educated for the 21st century, and can provide technology and knowledge that is beneficial to the industries close to home that make up our economy and the people who live and work here.
• In 2008, UCONN had 31 new patents issued and 85 active licenses.
• At the School of Engineering, current and former faculty members have amassed more than 240 patents representing innovative tools and technologies that are changing the technological landscape.
• The UCONN Health Center provides area hospitals with medical interns and residents, saving these hospitals $85 million in medical care costs annually.

Yet as I said our job is not done. The recent survey conducted just a few months ago by the Hartford Springfield Partnership reminds us of this:
• 86 percent of respondents said that the presence of higher education in the region had a positive impact on the economy, but nearly half of the respondents also said that we need to revise our curricula to be better aligned with business, and that we should form collaborative relationships with industry.
• Additionally more companies added jobs requiring technical and advanced skills than eliminated them and the same holds true for those firms requiring professional skills.

What are we doing at UCONN to help provide the jobs that can survive the kind of economic downturn we face today? We are focusing on programs that support professional, technical and advanced skills. We have made tough choices to support activities that help build the industries and jobs that are important to our future. Among recent choices:
• We are linking performance to economic issues with a new academic plan that has goals and metrics aimed at supporting new industry collaboration and technology transfer, and we have a new provision put in place just this year to assure that patent activity is considered as part of the faculty promotion, tenure and reappointment process.
• We have committed $2 million annually to support eminent faculty conducting research in sustainable energy. Modeled after the best practice program operated by the Georgia Research Alliance, our Eminent Faculty Program allowed us to recruit scientists experienced at working with industry and with research interests that align with industry. In this case, we are working as partners with Northeast Utilities, Fuel Cell Energy and UTC Power who provide funding in addition to the state’s support. Together we are providing leading edge technology, a workforce with advanced skills and new early stage companies entering this emerging field.
• The University committed $2 million annually to the operation of our School of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Within that center we not only offer bachelors, masters and PhD programs that provide the talent and leadership necessary to move from an economy of corporate giants to one with vibrant entrepreneurial activity, but we also operate an Innovation Accelerator which provides in depth support to emerging companies, and a Law Clinic to address intellectual property needs for such firms.
• Our Technology Incubation Program, UCONN’s business incubator that is already operating on three campuses including the UCONN Health Center, will soon have a new state of the art facility there co-located with our Stem Cell Core Lab. This was a strategic move aimed at assuring that UCONN will deliver on the promise of the state’s more than $20 million investment in UCONN stem cell research by assuring we also have resources in place for our researchers and their industry partners to move discoveries from the lab to the marketplace.

Many of these initiatives, especially those involving stem cell research and sustainable energy, put us in a strong position to capitalize on the funds offered by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). I will say more about that later, but want to be sure to note that as we move ahead to seek funds under ARRA a key factor for success will be partnerships. Especially powerful will be those we forge with UMASS and other institutions in the region. UMASS and UCONN already have a great deal in common. We each have strong advanced materials programs, a focused effort in clean energy and agricultural schools that are leaders in food safety. There will be new opportunities to build on the nearly five million dollars in recent joint grants where our faculty are pursuing mutual interests in health and engineering related projects.

Our UCONN Tech-Knowledge Portal program brought together tech transfer officials at both institutions to talk about new partnership opportunities based on an NSF solicitation that occurred several months ago. We expect more opportunities like this in the future. The Tech-Knowledge Portal also works to bring industry needs to faculty and with a leading program at UMASS, which is also funded by EDA, to identify opportunities to work regionally.

But finally there may be one specific area that holds the greatest promise for the region. That is health care and biomedical research. A 2004 study funded by Northeast Utilities noted the potential for a vibrant regional medical device industry and we are hopeful that a new development at UCONN may support that end. That development is the proposed academic partnership of five area hospitals with the UCONN School of Medicine, known as the Collaborative, and the clinical Partnership between Hartford Health Care and the UCONN Health Center. A major element of the proposal of the Clinical Partnership is the establishment of a biomedical seed fund that will support the development of new businesses in the industry sector.

The proposal is based on the fact that to the extent that the Health Center prospers and succeeds so too will the University, the state and the region. As everyone knows, the Health Center has its challenges these days, with ripple effects that spread across the entire University. First, while our Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine are on the leading edge when it comes to their curricula and the success their students enjoy on the national boards, the current size and configuration of our Health Center limits the student enrollment and research capacity and therefore the potential to meet the state’s budgetary expectations. However, the proposal is not only aimed at improving financial performance. It is critically important to our enrollment and research, and it will enhance the quality and accessibility of healthcare and help grow the economy. We are confident that the current proposal being considered in Hartford will propel UCONN’s medical school to top tier status doubling our research expenditures and increasing our medical innovations thereby providing a feed stock for a regional he biomedical industry.

The Medical and Dental Schools at UCONN already are economic drivers. Annually, they generate between $90 and $100 million in research funding, and this means jobs for the region. Indeed, a recent study showed that every $1 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) generates approximately 18 jobs. In Connecticut and Massachusetts NIH funded research annually provides $332 million and $1.8 billion in wages respectively. There has been a great deal of focus on the historic practice of infusing the economy with construction spending yet research funding is also acting as an engine of growth.

To be in the Top 30 medical schools, up from our current 63rd place, will require UCONN to increase our research funding three fold, to nearly $300 million. Let’s go back to the statistics I used earlier. At $300 million and 18 jobs per million, that level of research activity will create over 3,500 additional jobs in our region. And that’s only the beginning. The Association of University Technology Managers uses a benchmark of one new discovery per two million dollars of research. Clearly not every discovery results in a commercial product, but many do; and if the Health Center could generate $300 million annually in grant revenue, the region could see 150 new biomedical discoveries each year to feed our fledgling biomedical industry. As our legacy industries, such as defense and finance, struggle to maintain their job base, we can be the source of the region’s next wave of economic growth and employment.

We are caught in something of an economic tsunami, to borrow a popular phrase. Our state’s traditional economic engines are not able to bring us out of this plunge; they have been in slow decline for decades. The defense industry is being re-shaped, and it’s no secret that the financial sector is undergoing a major restructuring. While important to our economy neither of these sectors offers great hope for the future. It will be some time before the financial services sector recovers, if it ever does; and defense spending is likely to level off or decline in the years ahead. If the current recession has taught us anything, it’s that we must diversify if we want to prosper over the long-term. We must identify new avenues of growth, including the health services sector, which, by the way, is the only sector of Connecticut’ s economy to experience job growth in the last year.

As I noted when talking about our incubator, state stem cell grants provide opportunity, Awarded through an intensive review process, UCONN researchers continue to win the majority of state funds distributed. What you may not know is that while UCONN received $5.4 million of the nearly $10 million distributed this year, our scientists in Storrs and Farmington actually submitted nearly $20 million in grant proposals. So there is a lot of good science still chasing appropriate funding. And with the lifting of restrictions on the use of federal funds for human embryonic stem cell research, we are in a good position to do much better than we could do with state funds alone. What’s more, there will be a lot of additional federal funding for scientific discovery beyond the field of stem cell research. The American Recovery& Reinvestment Act is already pumping billions into major federal granting agencies that are central to our research enterprise, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NIH, for example, is receiving over $10 billion to expand biomedical research broadly defined, and the NSF’s budget for FY09 is receiving a $3 billion supplement. This is in addition to expectations that the Obama administration will continue to increase funding for biomedical and basic science research.

The question today is not whether the national economy will recover; it’s whether the region is prepared to participate in that recovery along lines that will build a better future for our citizens. Battelle studies across the country demonstrate that top-flight health services, like top-flight universities, are not only an economic engine but are essential to attracting skilled professionals to any region.

My final goal today it to compliment the work of the Hartford Springfield Partnership, particularly Northeast Utilities, on its stalwart effort to impact the transportation systems along the corridor and ask that it take up an additional issue –knowledge jobs. Building a health and biomedical based industry in the region will assure the growth of knowledge jobs for the region’s future. These are the jobs that the recent HESP survey said can be sustained, and for which the 2004 Biomedical Device Study indicated the region’s strong potential. The Knowledge Corridor, appropriately named with two research institutions, more than five strong engineering schools or programs, and a variety of health and biomedical related degree programs, is uniquely suited to spearhead efforts to build this potential economic powerhouse.

Three University of Connecticut engineering students who last year didn’t know a thing about starting a business have formed a company based on technology they designed in a UConn classroom.
The students’ product is an all-terrain wheelchair, built conspicuously to look like your normal wheelchair. The secret is in its self-propelling handle bars, which give the rider the extra push needed to go over anything — grass, sand, gravel, ice. But instead of just fulfilling a class requirement, the students are now riding this wheelchair straight to venture capitalists.

Geoff Cullen, Carlton Forse and Ryan Gresh — founders of GoMotion Mobility Solutions LLC — give all the credit for starting up their company to the pioneering year of UConn School of Engineering’s entrepreneurship senior design program, which is forcing engineering students to face the business world head on. For engineers, the innovative spirit has always been there, but they have not always had the acumen to understand market demands. Now engineering students in the two-semester program, which started last fall, take Master of Business Administration-level classes.

“This program enabled us to view the world from an integrated frame of mind, one which focuses on identifying opportunities first and engineering new technology to fit market needs,” Gresh said
During the first semester of the program, engineering students take two MBA-level management classes that focus the students on generating the idea for an innovative product, determining the market demand and developing a business plan. The students collaborate with future MBAs, who also benefit from, a better understanding of the engineering process.

What had originally lured Forse to this program was a summer internship at Alstom Power, where he first saw the obvious crossover between engineering and business.

So far, the GoMotion trio was the only group in the entrepreneurship program to start their own company, but School of Engineering Dean Mun Young Choi said the program has begun to show promise after years of trying to find the right collaboration between the engineering and business schools. Some students even delayed graduation during the first year to participate, he added.

Matt Tarca, who graduated earlier this month, said he and his teammates are considering forming a company based on marine sensor technology that they developed in the program. Tarca said the experience was particularly invaluable in forcing the students to consider alternative applications for their technology.
“At first we had trouble figuring out what the market was when we were in the first stages in design,” Tarca said. “We spent time thinking what other ways we could start a company off a sensor system.”

For GoMotion, the timing of the recession has given the members the spark to pursue their start-up dreams. The company, which was awarded a $5,000 grant from the governor in a college business plan competition, is seeking additional startup funding, as well as space in UConn’s incubator program.

Rita Zangari, executive director of UConn’s Technology Business Incubation Program, said GoMotion’s utilization of the university’s business programs represents the ideal trajectory for start-up companies coming out of the school