Discover how ACTIVE helped Dexter Caffey’s Smart Eye Technology connect with healthcare leaders, breaking into competitive markets with innovative biometric security.
The Arkansas Collaborative for Technological and Innovative Venture Equality (ACTIVE) is hosting two online information session events. Interact live with leadership to learn more about ACTIVE and find out if you are a good candidate for the program.
Join us at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, for Health Sciences Entrepreneurship Grand Rounds, featuring Eric Peterson, Ph.D., BioVentures LLC interim president, at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Betsy Blass Conference Room, 10th Floor. In this session, “From Idea to Impact: How IP Powers Public Good,” Peterson will explore the pivotal role of intellectual property in driving public benefit.
BioVentures LLC will receive up to $2.4 million over the next four years to test prevention strategies for reducing high rates of maternal and infant deaths in the Arkansas Delta. The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will fund a combination of education, training, outreach and preventive health services focusing on Helena-West Helena, Lake Village and Pine Bluff. The initial $599,887 grant is for one year and must be renewed each year. The grant is a collaborative mission between BioVentures LLC, the Institute for Digital Health & Innovation (IDHI), and the Division for Academic Pathways and Workforce Partnerships (DAPWP) at UAMS. “This is a big team effort, and the HHS grant will help us address one of the most significant, preventable health issues in our state,” said Stefanie Kennon-McGill, Ph.D., the grant’s principal investigator and project director, as well as senior program manager for BioVentures, which is the project’s operations manager. Kennon-McGill noted that while BioVentures is better known to the UAMS campus for its mission to help UAMS researchers protect and transfer their discoveries to the public, its reach has expanded in recent years to find other innovative ways to improve the health of Arkansans. (The ACTIVE program is another key example). “The mission at BioVentures has always included a commitment to growing the Arkansas economy, especially in the field of healthcare and health technology,” said Eric Peterson, Ph.D., BioVentures interim president. “We are proud to contribute to the economic development of the state, as well as the advancement of health for all Arkansans, through these new programs that reach beyond the walls of UAMS and to impact individuals where they live in communities across the state.” As of March 2024, Arkansas had the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States, at 8.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to the national average of 5.4. Arkansas also has the third highest infant mortality rate in the United States, with 7.67 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, based on 2022 data. “Our goal with this grant is to test innovative, sustainable strategies to prevent maternal and infant deaths in the Delta region, where Black women are 1.8 times more likely to have pregnancy-related deaths than white, non-Hispanic women,” Kennon-McGill said. Called the Delta Maternal Outreach and Transformational Health Education Resource (Delta MOTHER) project, it will establish and track community-level health initiatives. The primary activities supported by the grant will include: The Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and its High-Risk Pregnancy Program will offer the Delta MOTHER project clinical expertise, partnership connectivity and fiscal management. Its contributions also include access to its three grant-funded satellite digital health resource centers at Lake Village, Helena-West Helena and Pine Bluff. The institute’s mission includes seeking to eliminate health care disparities in Arkansas and beyond through digital health and health care innovations. The Division for Academic Pathways and Workforce Partnerships will engage HBCU students through its Serving Underrepresented Populations through Engagement and Research (SUPER) Program. The SUPER Program provides opportunities for undergraduates to conduct community-based research, focusing on health disparities that affect medically underserved populations. It is a component of the HBCU Med Track Program. Other key partners on the grant are the Jefferson Regional Medical Center School of Nursing in Pine Bluff, the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership in Lake Village, and UAMS East Regional Campus in Helena-West Helena.
The deadline has been extended for UAMS employees to submit innovative therapeutic or drug discovery ideas to the AR Health Ventures Accelerator (ARHVA) for significant financial and administrative support toward commercialization. Selected projects receive financial grants of up to $50,000 project management, budget allocation and progress tracking. All UAMS employees are eligible to apply, including trainees and postdoctoral fellows. The full Request for Applications document outlining the application process is available on the BioVentures website, as is a detailed FAQ. Applications are due Oct. 31. For more information, contact BioVentures Senior Program Manager Stefanie Kennon-McGill, Ph.D., at skennonmcgill@uams.edu.
The Arkansas Collaborative for Technological and Innovative Venture Equality (ACTIVE) is accepting applications for its 2025 cohort. This unique initiative is aimed at Arkansans who have faced social and economic barriers to entrepreneurship, providing them with the tools, mentorship and resources needed to advance health care and health technology innovations. Applications are welcome from UAMS faculty, trainees, students and staff, as well as members of the public. The supports early-stage startups and individuals with innovative health-related ideas, including a 10-week training series, mentorship, individualized resources, and access to valuable consultations and networking events. Be part of a community of visionaries working to shape the future of health care in Arkansas. The deadline to apply is Friday, Nov. 22. The 2025 cohort will begin in January 2025. ACTIVE is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program and is administered by BioVentures LLC. To apply, complete the application form. For more information, visit the ACTIVE website or email ACTIVE@UAMS.edu.
Jamie Johnson wants to empower women by providing confidential, customized support during pregnancy, connecting them with the right resources when they need them the most. But first she realized she needed to empower herself to make her ideas a reality: by gaining entrepreneurial skills backed up by the confidence to forge ahead. Johnson is part of the Arkansas Collaborative for Technological and Innovative Venture Equality (ACTIVE), a supportive accelerator program for Arkansas entrepreneurs in healthcare or health tech who come from groups with historically limited access to business capital. ACTIVE is funded by the Capital Readiness Program from the Minority Business Development Agency. “Business ideas have crossed my mind, but I’ve always believed you have to come from a business background to do something like that,” Johnson said. “I know I want to make a difference in our state and the world someday, helping other women, and my eyes have been opened to new ways for me to do that.” empowerHERjourney: Providing women with anonymous, interactive resources Johnson is a licensed associate counselor with a Master of Science in marriage and family therapy. She has been a therapist since 2021 in a variety of settings and is transitioning to private practice to lean into her goal of working with the perinatal population. Her business venture, which she has named empowerHERjourney, is a web-based and mobile-friendly platform offering anonymous and interactive resources to equip women to make informed decisions about their pregnancy, healthcare, mental health and support networks. “I want women to have the resources they need at their fingertips for whatever issues or questions they have during pregnancy,” Johnson said. “And I want them to feel secure that the help they’re getting will be confidential and judgment-free.” ACTIVE: Supporting entrepreneurs with resources, networks and training Johnson is one of 25 members of the inaugural ACTIVE cohort. Since spring 2024, they have been learning business fundamentals through a bootcamp series hosted by ACTIVE partner, The Venture Center, while expanding their networks in the healthcare industry. Next, ACTIVE programming will shift to focus on one-on-one support through customized mentorship and services. Each participant will receive about $4,500 worth of individualized assistance, such as help with marketing, market research, technology, cybersecurity, accounting and more. The goal is for each cohort member to take their early-stage business to the next level, whether that’s just starting out, like Johnson, or ventures that are ready to raise funding and look for partners. For Johnson, her current focus is her brand story. Inspired by the bootcamp’s core curriculum, she is finetuning her pitch and messaging. The process has really made her think about just how much her personal story is the fuel behind her drive. Finding like-minded problem-solvers at the Maternal Health Hackathon Johnson found out about ACTIVE by participating in another BioVentures project, the Maternal Health Hackathon in April 2024. Once there, she found herself surrounded by passionate people like her from all types of backgrounds and expertise with interest in solving the tough issues confronting maternal health. (Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates and the third-highest infant mortality rate in the nation.) Although Johnson didn’t go to the event with a business idea in mind, when the round-robin brainstorming circle got to her, she spoke from the heart. She had faced her own challenges during the postpartum period and wants to make sure women facing any issue during pregnancy know where to turn. Taking empowerHERjourney to the next level The ideas flowed that night and continued to in the weeks that followed. Johnson decided to apply for ACTIVE, knowing she would need support to turn her idea into a business. “Honestly, one of the biggest benefits of the program has been the ongoing individual meetings with staff from ACTIVE or The Venture Center,” Johnson said about the program’s monthly individual mentoring check-ins. “For me, because I’m literally starting from scratch and because the business idea is so close to my heart, it’s so personal, I have had to learn not only the basic skills – how to market yourself, how to put your ideas out there on social media – but I’ve also had to learn that entrepreneurial mindset to put myself out there and not be afraid of rejection,” Johnson said. “That talking about your business and then receiving feedback, even if it’s critical – that’s actually a good thing.” Johnson will continue to work on her marketing in the months ahead, complimented by networking events and pitch-refining opportunities hosted by ACTIVE. Meanwhile, she is also looking for technical partners to help build the site and conducting research on the full scope of support she can provide. “I’m collecting data to find out more about where the need is. What are women wanting? What would be helpful? What do they wish they had more of?” Johnson said. “I can speak for myself, but everyone’s journey is different, and empowerHERjourney will be a resource for all women.”
Discover essential insights into the tech transfer process with the BioVentures Inventor’s Handbook. This resource provides UAMS researchers with valuable information on protecting intellectual property, navigating the patenting process, and understanding the benefits of commercialization. Whether you’re a new or experienced inventor, this handbook offers step-by-step guidance to help turn your innovations into impactful products and services.
Medicine is changing rapidly in the face of technology and innovation. Today’s medical students must not only keep up with these changes, they should be prepared to take a leading role. Here with a solution is the Medical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Honors Track (MIEHT), available to medical students in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. With progressively intensive training in innovation and entrepreneurship complementing their four years of medical school, these students will learn to approach the clinical environment as problem-solvers and change-makers. John Sherrill, Ph.D., MPH, senior licensing associate at BioVentures and track director for MIEHT, said to imagine the potential impact that entrepreneurially minded physicians could have if they were taught to view healthcare with an eye for innovation from the start. “We train medical students to do needs assessments of patients,” Sherrill said. “But we don’t teach them to do the same type of needs assessment for the larger practice of medicine. While, as a practicing physician, you will impact hundreds of lives, maybe thousands of lives, but if you can make a bigger impact through innovation and entrepreneurship, you have the potential to impact tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of lives.” MIEHT welcomed its first five students this year in the summer after their first year of medical. Through trainings, exercises and guest speakers, they learned basic entrepreneurial principles and began learning how to spot and evaluate problems – a skill that Sherrill hopes they will take with them wherever they go. They were also primed to consider financial benefits to the health system and how to present solutions to administrators. “They’re new to the practice of medicine, which is a great time to introduce these concepts,” Sherrill said. “They haven’t been around long enough to have the attitude, ‘That’s the way we’ve always done it.’ When they see a problem, they’re going to ask, ‘Why?’” By the third and fourth years of their medical training, they will be heading into clinical rotations. MIEHT will teach them to identify real-world problems and perform semi- quantitative analyses. A fourth-year elective rotation will give them the time and support to work on solutions. “It will be student driven,” Sherrill said, noting that the students have diverse interests in everything from device and software development to largescale public health issues. “They can apply the skills they learn in MIEHT to the specific areas they are passionate about.” However, as they put what they learn into practice, Sherrill will advise them to not get too focused on any single solution. Adaptability is a better skill. “It’s all about the problem,” Sherrill said. “I encourage students to fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Once innovators fully understand the problem, they iterate on potential solutions.” A Chancellor’s Circle Grant Award from UAMS provided $10,000 in initial support to launch the program in 2023, including funding for technology and a stipend for the students. Otherwise, the program is funded by in-kind support from BioVentures LLC., the tech transfer office for UAMS. Looking forward, Sherrill hopes to partner with other colleges across campus to offer versions of the program. “We’re educating some of the brightest minds in the state and country every year in our colleges,” Sherrill said. “Why would we not offer this extra skillset to them?” Students will continue to enter the program on a rolling basis. Recruiting for the program will occur around December each year. For more information, contact Sherrill at JSHERRILL@uams.edu.
The AR Health Ventures Accelerator (ARHVA) invites UAMS employees to submit innovative therapeutic or drug discovery ideas for significant financial and administrative support toward commercialization. Selected projects receive financial grants of up to $50,000, project management, budget allocation and progress tracking. This unique support framework allows researchers to focus on their innovations, while ARHVA ensures projects stay on track, increasing the commercial value and paving the way for successful licensing, partnerships or startups. All UAMS employees are eligible to apply, including trainees and postdoctoral fellows. The full Request for Applications document outlining the application process is available on the ARHVA website, as is a detailed FAQ. The application period begins August 26, 2024, and runs through September 30, 2024, at 5 PM. The funding decision announcement will be November 29, 2024. Read about inaugural ARHVA cohort, who are tackling biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus infections, radiation-responsive liposomes for cancer therapy, and a novel biomarker for liver injury detection. For more information, contact BioVentures Senior Program Manager Stefanie Kennon-McGill, Ph.D., at skennonmcgill@uams.edu.
