2024 Technology Showcase

Introduction

Presenter: Matthew McFarland, RPh, PhD

Matthew McFarland, RPh, PhD, is the Vice President of Commercialization and Industry Relations of the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He has a diverse background in drug discovery, business development, startup generation and funding, and strategic partnerships. During his tenure, the OTC has experienced an increase in annual deal flow by 900%. He has been key to the recruitment and establishment of industrial partners in Columbus and brokering strategic partnerships for Nationwide Children’s.

smallTalk for Babies: Neurodevelopment Through Language Exposure

Language Acquisition and brain development are uniquely intertwined during infancy - language learning at this stage actually shapes how the brain functions for a lifetime. CEO of smallTalk, Dean Koch, will discuss the foreign language introduction and its role in early development.

Presenter: Dean Koch, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, smallTalk

Dean Koch has been involved in the development and market introduction of novel medical diagnostics and devices for over 25 years. He was VP of Marketing at Adeza Biomedical, launching the first diagnostic test to aid in the assessment of preterm birth risk. As CEO of CerviLenz, he brought a low-cost medical device to market to identify pregnancies at high risk of preterm birth that may benefit from progesterone therapy. After several years in venture capital investing, he started smallTalk in 2019 to commercialize technology invented at Nationwide Children’s Hospital to improve speech, language and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants.

Nationwide Children's Hospital Center for Orthopedic Innovation: Leveraging Resources, Expertise, and Technology to Advance Orthopedic Care for Children

Allen Kadado, MD is leading an innovation team in Orthopedics leveraging both the clinical and research expertise in the department. His presentation will focus on the formation of the Center for Orthopedic Innovation and their early successes.

Presenter: Allen Kadado, MD

Dr. Kadado is a board certified pediatric orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Center for Orthopedic Innovation in the Department of Orthopedics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Kadado specializes primarily in conditions of the spine including scoliosis and spinal deformity, orthopedic trauma, clubfoot and general orthopedics.

Building Next Generation Gene Therapies for Muscle Diseases

Paul Martin, PhD, will discuss next-generation gene therapies to treat muscle diseases, including congenital and limb girdle forms of muscular dystrophy, as well as lysosomal storage disorders.

Presenter: Paul T. Martin, PhD

Dr. Martin is a principal investigator in the Center for Gene Therapy at The Abigail Wexner Research Institute. He is Associate Director of the NIH Center of Research Translation in Muscular Dystrophy therapeutic Development at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Martin’s NIH-funded research program focuses on defining functional roles for cell surface carbohydrates in neuromuscular development and disease. He is also a professor of pediatrics, physiology and cell biology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Harnessing Blood Flow Patterns: Unlocking Subtle Diagnostic/Prognostic Information using Machine Learning

Microvasculature may be an early indicator for a multitude of diseases. Aaron J. Trask, PhD, FAHA, FCVS, will present his work on capturing this valuable data for use in clinic and in research.

Presenter: Aaron J. Trask, PhD, FAHA, FCVS

Dr. Trask is a principal investigator in the Center for Cardiovascular Research at Nationwide Children’s and an associate professor with tenure in the department of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Trask’s research focuses on studying processes involved in microvascular disease, with a particular focus on coronary microvascular disease that occurs in early type 2 diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome.

Airway Tissue Engineering: Device Development and Opportunities for Commercialization

Tendy Chiang, MD has developed a novel bioreactor for use in airway tissue engineering.  Its modular design is adaptable to other tissue engineering applications.

Presenter: Tendy Chiang, MD

Dr. Chiang is a pediatric otolaryngologist and a principal investigator in the Center for Regenerative medicine at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His research program is devoted to defining the mechanisms of airway regeneration in tracheal basal cells through the development of tissue-engineered tracheal grafts for airway reconstruction. He has been NIH-funded since 2017.

REMEDY Corrects Heterozygous Mutations Easier Than Ever

Meisam Naeimi Kararoudi, DVM, PhD, is a leader in the delicate art of applying gene editing technologies. In his presentation he will discuss a novel mechanism for curing certain heterozygous genetic mutations.

Presenter: Meisam Naeimi Kararoudi, DVM, PhD

Dr. Naeimi Kararoudi is director of CRISPR/Gene editing Core and principal investigator in the Center for Childhood Cancer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Naeimi Kararoudi is developing novel gene edited immune cells such as NK cells and T-cells for cancer immunotherapy. As director of the CRISPR/Gene editing core he helps investigators with their CRISPR gene editing in a variety of cells and applications. He is also a research assistant professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

Panel of Experts

Tune in for a panel discussion with industry experts discussing emerging trends and opportunities in pediatric med device development.

• Cory N. Criss, MD, Co-Principal Investigator and COO of the Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium (MPDC) and Pediatric Surgeon at Nationwide Children’s.
• David M. Eckmann, MD, PhD, Founding Director of the Center for Medical and Engineering Innovation (CMEI) at the Ohio State University, Vice Chair for Academic Affairs and Professor of Anesthesiology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Ohio State University College of Engineering.
• Chester J. Koh, MD, MBA, FACS, FAAP, Professor of Urology, Pediatrics and OBGYN, Texas Children’s Hospital – Baylor College of Medicine, Executive Director, Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium (SWPDC).
• Balakrishna Haridas, PhD, FAIMBE, FNAI, Professor-of-Practice, Cain Faculty Fellow, Director of Translational & Industrial Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University, Deputy Executive Director, co-Founder and A&M Site Principal Investigator, FDA P50 Southwest National Pediatric Devices Consortium.
• Eddie Pauline, MBA, OhioCED, President and CEO, Ohio Life Sciences.

Moderator: Matthew McFarland, PhD, Vice President of Commercialization and Industry Relations, Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. 

There will be a networking reception from 4 to 5 p.m. Heavy hors d'oeuvres and libations included.

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