Postdoctoral R&D Entrepreneurship Fellow with University of Memphis and Epicentre

Posted by Ashley Brady on Monday, October 5, 2020 in Job Opportunities .

A New Frontier For Entrepreneurship

The University of Memphis and Epicenter have partnered to create a new program designed to hire post-doc fellows to start businesses, utilizing patented intellectual property developed both in Memphis and across the United States, to turn great ideas into successful companies. The Patents2Products Post-Doc program creates a two-year funded position for research entrepreneurs and provides them with the necessary tools for a launching a successful startup.

Included in the Program

P2P Fellows will be hired in a university position with the UofM and provided with a salary and state benefits for two years, plus funds for initial startup costs, as well as licensing rights to intellectual property. Participants will have access to the researchers and labs where the University intellectual property was developed, and will be provided office space in either the University Research Park or campus facility, as requested. The fellow positions will be appointments to the FedEx Institute of Technology and will also work closely with Epicenter mentors and advisors as they develop their company and business plans. Through the partnership with Epicenter, the fellows will be made aware of channels for funding opportunities as appropriate for their industries of focus.

Entrepreneurship Curriculum Powered by Epicenter

The entrepreneurial curriculum will be custom-built around the post-doc’s experience and startup opportunity. It will comprise components from NSF’s I-Corps, Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac TechVenture, and other proven startup methods. In addition, we will provide mentors and coaches from across our extensive network of CEOs, investors, domain experts and executives.

How To Apply

The positions are open until filled. Interested candidates should complete the initial questionnaire and email postdoc@memphis.edu for further information. *Questionnaire not official application to program; applicants should submit the questionnaire in advance of completing the official application.

To complete official application, go to WORKforUM.
Create an account, click on Full-Time Faculty Positions, and complete application for Postdoctoral R&D Entrepreneurship Fellow.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Cover letter
• Reference list (3)
• Unofficial transcript
• Supplemental Questions – Required are indicated with an asterisk (*).

OPTIONAL DOCUMENTS

• 1-2 papers, reports, or the representative works
• Research proposal

Available Patents for Commercialization

Technology: Biomedical sensor technologies

• Summary: Three different biomedical sensor technologies: 1) Method is disclosed in which an analog sensor receives an electromagnetic (EM) wave from an interrogation device; 2) An electrode including a substrate and a plurality of carbon nanotube pillars disposed on the substrate, wherein at least two of the carbon nanotube pillars are disposed at a predetermined distance from each other; 3) A system including one or more electroencephalography (EEG) sensor nodes in a fully reconfigurable sensor network configured to detect electrical signals indicating activity of a brain of a subject.
• U.S. Patent Applications: Wireless analog passive sensors (20150289763); Patterned carbon nanotube electrode (20150367122); Fully reconfigurable modular body-worn sensors (20160128596)
• Inventor: Dr. Bashir Morshed. Primary inventor is still on campus and very active in the same areas. The three U.S. patent applications were filed in 2015. Potential application in various areas that utilize biomedical sensors

 Technology: Bone-regeneration guiding biomaterials

• Summary: This technology is about electrospun chitosan nanofibers reversibly acylated to enhance structural integrity and promote healing and the formation of tissues. The invention also includes compositions and methods for producing a modified chitosan material having anti-inflammatory and pro-healing characteristics and methods of using the modified chitosan materials in a film, a gel, a membrane, microfibers, nanofibers, nano- or micro-particles/spheres and/or sponges.
• U.S. Patent Applications: Chitosan nanofiber compositions, compositions comprising modified chitosan, and methods of use.
• Inventor: Dr. Joel Bumgardner: Primary inventor is still on campus and very active in the same areas with some animal data. U.S. & PCT Patent applications were filed in February 2015 (20160367722). Potential applications in hard and/or soft tissue regeneration.

 Technology: Directed cell growth using Aerogel materials

• Summary: This technology is about a cell growth apparatus, particularly neuronal printed circuit board apparatus comprising an aerogel base and a pre-printed cellular growth pattern. The cellular growth pattern is comprised of combinations of layers of cellular adhesion promoting materials, cellular adhesion inhibiting materials, and/or cellular signal promoting materials. This invention is useful for regeneration and precise guidance of cells, particularly nerve cells, when used as an implant.
• U.S. Patent 9,962,468: Cell growth apparatus and use of aerogels for directed cell growth
• Inventor: Dr. Sabri Firouzeh. Primary inventor is still on campus and active in the same areas. There is one issued patent on the technology with early research results. Potential applications in nerve tissue regeneration.

 Technology: Chitosan sponges for wound dressing

• Summary: The invention provides improved methods for generating biodegradable chitosan compositions in film or sponge form, and therapeutic methods of using such compositions to deliver therapeutic agents.
• U.S. Patent 9,662,400: Methods for producing a biodegradable chitosan composition and uses thereof
• Inventor: Dr. Jessica Amber Jennings. One of the inventors is still on campus and very active in the same areas. There is one issued patent on the technology with a fairly developed patented process. Potential applications in wound dressings and delivery of therapeutic agents.

Technology: Method for detection of circulating tumor cells

• Summary: A method for detecting a circulating tumor cell (CTC) in a sample, the method comprising: contacting the sample with a Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle conjugated to a specific binding pair capable of specifically binding with the CTC; and detecting the presence of the Raman reporter coated iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticle bound to the CTC by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, thereby detecting the CTC.
• U.S. Patent 9,952,209: Iron oxide-gold core-shell nanoparticles and uses thereof
• Inventor: Dr. Xiaohua Huang. Primary inventor is still on campus and active in the same areas. One issued patent on the technology with early laboratory data. Potential applications in cancer testing.

Technology: Method for detection and profiling of extracellular vesicles

• Summary: The present invention features compositions and methods related to the detection and profiling of extracellular vesicles using the Raman Extracellular Vesicle Assay. The method involves the use of highly sensitive and specific surface enhanced Raman scattering nanotags to detect and quantify surface proteins on membrane bound vesicles that are captured on a substrate. Assay methods can be developed for research tools or clinical testing using various biological samples.
• Patent Application: Compositions and methods for detection and molecular profiling of membrane bound vesicles
• Inventor: Dr. Xiaohua Huang. Primary inventor is still on campus and active in the same areas. PCT application was filed in December 2018 with early laboratory data. Potential applications in essay development for testing of biological samples of human or non-human mammal.

Technology: Biomaterials for anti-inflammatory wound healing

• Summary: The invention features compositions and methods for inhibiting inflammatory in connection with an acellular template such as an electrospun fiber mesh template. The template is impregnated with a bioactive agent such as PAD4.
• PCT and U.S. Patent applications: Compositions and methods for inhibiting inflammation
• Inventor: Dr. Gary Bowlin. Primary inventor is still on campus and very active in the same areas. PCT and U.S. patent applications filed in March 2019. Potential application in various areas of wound dressing.

Technology: Cybersecurity – Multifactor authentication

• Summary: A system and methodology for adaptive selection of multiple modalities for authentication in different operating environments, thereby making authentication strategy unpredictable so to significantly reduce the risk of exploitation by authentication-guessing attacks.
• U.S. Patent 9,912,657: Adaptive multi-factor authentication system
• Inventor: Dr. Dipankar Dasgupta. Primary inventor is still on campus, very active in the same areas, and well known for his expertise in this area. The patent issued with initial prototype developed by the inventor. There are various potential applications in a variety of areas including banking, healthcare, internet-of-things, government agencies, etc.

Technology: Wireless compact radar

• Summary: The technology is about a compact, wireless, low-cost radar and sensor mote system with a suite of integrated capabilities. Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) sensor nodes have been integrated with wireless technology, aiming at surveillance and tracking of moving targets. This work presents a distributed intelligent decision support system and demonstrates its effectiveness in identifying unique but similar events.
• U.S. Patents: 9,733,351 and 9,557,413
• Inventors: Dr. Robert Kozma and Dr. Lan Wang. Primary inventors are still on campus and/or actively involved with this technology.
• Potential applications include:
  • Surveillance and tracking of moving targets
  • Detection, ranging, and velocity estimation capabilities integrated with wireless nodes
  • Incorporates additional sensors for acoustic, vibration transducers, and infrared sensing
  • Long range passive infrared sensor that detects moving vehicles up to a 50 meter range
  • Detecting moving humans up to a 10 meter range
  • Effectively classify different types of objects and events

Technology: Compositions for controlling microbial biofilms

• Summary: Compositions for preventing or treating biofilm and/or to increase the efficacy of current antimicrobials.

Technology: CRISPR-based Synthetic Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs)

• Summary: Novel approaches with GRNs for applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Technology: Chitosan-based paste for anti-biofilm applications

• Summary: Compositions for injectable, biodegradable local drug delivery device with biofilm prevention and eradication advantages.

Technology: Light sheet structured illumination fluorescent microscopy

• Summary: Innovative design enabling illumination of any specimen in a commercial microscope in both reflection and transmission.

Technology: Ultrasonic dispersion of cohesive powders

• Summary: Device producing high and steady concentration of aerosol particles for aerosol based additive manufacturing, inhalation studies, etc.

Technology: Externally stimulated drug delivery particles

• Summary: Microbeads delivering therapeutic agents can be triggered non-invasively by repeated external magnetic or electric stimuli.

Supplemental Questions

Applicant Documents

Tags: Career Options: Entrepreneurship, Career Options: Technology Transfer, Job Posting: Postdoc, Unique Postdoc Opportunity