That work will be part of the 2022 , a free and open-to-the-public national celebration of arts, science and innovation across Atlantic Coast Conference universities and the Smithsonian Institution. The two exhibits from UofL are:

• , focusing on NASA-sponsored UofL research, dubbed the w“Aqueous Immersion Surgical Systemâ€� (AISS). This system provides wound containment for astronauts needing surgical treatment on extended space missions, and last year, was tested in weightlessness as a payload aboard a suborbital space flight by Virgin Galactic. The UofL research team includes professor George Pantalos (School of Medicine) and assistant professor Tommy Roussel (J.B. Speed School of Engineering), along with students Dalton Aubrey, Kessalyn Kelly and Sienna Shacklette.
• , an art and tech installation that engages with issues on
  

  

  
  drones, domestication and the non-human. The ‘Floating Room’ is composed of household products ‘floating’ because they are semi-autonomous drones. These floating objects maintain their conventional function while also aerodynamically traversing their airspace; for example, a lamp can both fly and emit light and a clock can both fly and tell time. The UofL team includes artist and assistant professor Samuel Swope (Hite Art Institute), along with students Mahika Gupta, Kelsey Shaw-Kaufman and Shachaf Polakow.

“There’s a lot happening at UofL with the potential for huge public impact across a range of disciplines, and this is a great opportunity to showcase that work,� said Paul DeMarco, interim director of UofL’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity in the Center for Engaged Learning, and a professor of psychological and brain sciences. DeMarco, who plans to attend, organized UofL’s involvement and oversaw the proposal process for the student-faculty teams involved.

Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president of research and innovation, said the UofL work being exhibited at this year’s ACCelerate Festival is proof-positive of the university’s commitment to exploration and shattering established paradigms.

“UofL faculty, staff and students are incredible engines of innovation and creativity,� he said. “These projects are great examples of that strength, and we’re excited to join our ACC colleagues and share that work with the world.�

It’s part of a new student-led UofL event called , that asks teams to create innovative solutions to health care problems and build startups around them in just 48 hours.

Judges selected three winning teams, each of which receive support to help them refine their ideas ahead of a finals competition in spring:Ìı

• MAC-BIO’s new cell-based therapy for the treatment of aggressive solid tumors. Team: Jordan Noe, MD/PhD student.
• Mean Business, with aÌıUofL research-born Ìıpatented through the UofL Commercialization EPI-Center. Team: Krishawna Dupin, Stephanie Frank, Michelle Anderson and Alex Godfrey, all Innovation MBA students.Ìı
• Mend Corp’s software that uses machine learning to optimize nurse workflow. Team: Noah Wilding, electrical engineering student, and Katya Kovatsenko and Shah Tarun, both bioengineering students.Ìı

Each winning team receivesÌımentorship and coaching, modest funding to develop their prototype and free registration (an $895+ value) for theÌı2021 spring cohort ofÌı, UofL’s 10-week entrepreneurial training boot camp. CardStart is backed by the ,Ìı and the .

“This event really helped us create a foundation of how a start-up company actually starts up,â€� said Tarun, of the Mend Corp team. “That weekend felt quite long and short at the same time, but the overall results really got us by surprise. Mend Corp’s next aim is to procure the solution that we had presented for CardStart for our enigma of a problem.â€�

Students worked on their ideas in between a jam-packed schedule of keynotes, coaching and workshopsÌıÌıand other experts, including Liberate Medical’s AngusÌıMcLachlan, UofL’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and CardStart’s faculty mentors, Mary Tapolsky, of business, and Tommy Roussel, of engineering.

Samantha Morrissey, a medical student and member of the CardStart student organizing committee, said the event is meant to encourage students to think outside the box and gain hands-on experience innovating.Ìı

“This is a great and unique event at UofL that affords students the opportunity and possible financial support to explore entrepreneurship,� she said. “We want students to get creative and transform their ideas into real world technologies that could ultimately be developed into their very own startup.�

The virtual event, called , kicks off on Oct. 23, with closing remarks and winners announced on Oct. 25. Winners of the student-led event, backed by the and , will receive mentorship, training and modest funding that can help bring their ideas to life, while preparing for the finals pitch competition in the spring.

“This is a great and unique event at UofL that affords students the opportunity and possible financial support to explore entrepreneurship,â€� said Samantha Morrissey, a medical student and member of the CardStart student organizing committee. “We want students to get creative and transform their ideas into real world technologies that could ultimately be developed into their very own startup.â€�

Participating student teams will have the weekend to tackle a health care industry problem. Tammy York Day,Ìıchief executive officer ofÌısponsor, theÌıÌısaid CardStart is an opportunity for students to get creative and gain experience working with the health care industry.

“The students at UofL are full of creativity, energy and drive,� she said. “They’re the next generation of our health care workforce — the innovators and doers. LHCC is proud to support CardStart and give those students an opportunity to tackle some real industry problems.�

The weekend also features a jam-packed schedule of keynotes, coaching and workshops and other experts, including Liberate Medical’s AngusÌıMcLachlan, Ph.D., Wicked Sheets’ Alli Truttmann, UofL’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and CardStart’s faculty mentors, Mary Tapolsky, of business, and Tommy Roussel, of engineering.

Students will get one-on-one advice, and learn about customer discovery, making a pitch and more.ÌıAt the end of the weekend, teams will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, who will select up to four winners.

Each winning team will receiveÌımentorship and coaching, modest funding to develop their prototype and free registration (an $895+ value) for theÌı2021 spring cohort of , UofL’s 10-week entrepreneurial training boot camp.Ìı

The four winning teams will pitch again inÌıspring 2021 to a panel of industry experts and health care leadersÌıfor a chance to win cash prizes.Ìı

Students can register with a team, or register individually and be placed with a team day-of. Teams should be multi-disciplinary, including members from a variety of majors. More information and registration is available on the website.

Seven projects were selected, two of which are from UofL:

• A novel immunotherapeutic compound for uveitis, an inflammatory disorder of the eye that ranks as the fifth most common cause of blindness. Development is led by Howard Donninger and Kavitha Yaddanapudi, both of medicine; and Hui Shao, of ophthalmology and visual sciences.
• A point-of-care acute clinical differential scanning calorimetryÌı(DSC) device for the real-time diagnosis and classification of heart attacks. Development is led by Tommy Roussel, of mechanical engineering; Nichola Garbett, of medicine; and Andrew DeFilippis.

KYNETIC is a statewide program supported by $6.6M in funding, including a $4MÌı Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) grant from the National Institutes of Health and matching funds. The goal is to advance the most promising biomedical research innovations — including pharmaceuticals, therapies and devices — from the state’s eight public universities and the Kentucky Community & Technical College System.

Applications require a two-page pre-proposal and are for the next cycle of KYNETIC funding. Funding cycles are offered twice a year and are open to faculty, staff, trainees and students.ÌıCompetitive renewal opportunities are available.Ìı

Launched in 2019, the KYNETIC program builds on UofL’s strong history of translational research support, which includes a previous NIH REACH program (“UofL-ExCITE�) and a prestigious suite of programs funded by the National Science Foundation and Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. Paula Bates, professor of medicine at UofL, who co-leads KYNETIC, said the idea is to spur innovation and economic development through shared knowledge and ideas.

“Innovation is, in many ways, about collaboration,� she said. “It’s probably not a coincidence that most of our successful projects involve multidisciplinary teams because that’s a great catalyst for innovation. And KYNETIC is all about working together … sharing what we’ve learned and learning from other people. It’s a really powerful way to reach everybody in Kentucky and use our collective expertise to help to turn great ideas from our state into products that improve people’s health and wellbeing.�

KYNETIC is led by UofL, the University of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, and works closely with Kentucky’s regional universities and colleges, as well as with Kentucky Commercialization Ventures.