Past Events
Watch the recording of the event above, highlighting presentations about impactful Nationwide Children’s research and technologies, an update by our licensee Sarepta Therapeutics and a keynote presentation on the role of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in accelerating gene and cell therapy innovation.
Each year, our Technology Showcase event highlights the novel and innovative discoveries, technologies and startup companies developed through research at Nationwide Children's and improving pediatric health. Thank you to our presenters and those who attended.
View the 2022 event recording above. Stay tuned for information about future events.
Presentations
Thursday, March 3
| BabySure Lindsay Alfano will discuss democratizing access to early identification of infant movement disorders. Presenter: Lindsay N. Alfano, PT, DPT, PCS Principal Investigator, Center for Gene Therapy, Abigail Wexner Research Institute; Research Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University. |
| Pioglitazone for the Reduction of Proteinuria in Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome Michelle Higgin will discuss childhood nephrotic syndrome as a highly unmet rare disease treated for the last 60+ years by chronic steroid therapy. Now, Nephkey Therapeutics is repurposing an old metabolic drug that shows the same beneficial effects of steroid therapy without the associated immunosuppression and other toxicities. Presenter: Michelle Higgin, PhD, NephKey CEO, NephKey. |
| Targeting AAV Gene Therapy for White Matter Disorders Allison Bradbury will discuss the development of a targeted AAV-mediated gene therapy approach for Vanishing White Matter disease. Presenter: Allison Bradbury, MS, PhD Principal Investigator, Center for Gene Therapy, Abigail Wexner Research Institute; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University. |
| Gene Therapy for CMT1B Afrooz Rashnonejad will discuss the development of a new gene therapy approach to normalize MPZ protein levels in Schwann cells, which is expected to improve Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1B (CMT1B) symptoms. Presenter: Afrooz Rashnonejad, MSc, PhD Post Doctoral Scientist, Center for Gene Therapy, Abigail Wexner Research Institute. |
| Tumor Assisted Delivery of Therapeutic Payloads Kevin Cassady will discuss how our proposed tumor assisted delivery seeks to use naturally occurring extracellular vesicles (EVs) produced by tumors to selectively deliver therapeutics back to cancer cells. Presenter: Kevin A. Cassady, MD Physician, Division of Infectious Diseases, Nationwide Children’s Hospital; Principal Investigator, Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases, Abigail Wexner Research Institute; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine. |
Panel
Tune in for a panel discussion with gene therapy pioneers on insights gained, lessons learned and the region's growing gene therapy ecosystem.
Thank you to our presenters and all those who attended. This year's event recording is now available. Join us in learning about and celebrating the innovative discoveries and technologies improving pediatric health.
Learn about impactful therapeutic innovations as well as new pharmaceutical startup companies generated from Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Join us for six talks highlighting novel therapeutics interventions from Nationwide Children’s researchers.
Presentations:
Genetically Engineered NK Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy
A new approach to genetically modifying hard-to-engineer human Natural Killer cells improves their antitumor activity.
Presenter:
Meisam Naeimi Kararoudi, DVM, PhD Post-Doctoral Fellow, Cellular Therapy and Cancer Immunology Program, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Anti-LYST Therapy: A Novel Immunomodulator
LYST is a protein coded by the lysosomal trafficking regulator gene. Through a series of investigations, modulation of LYST has been shown to alter the immune response dramatically affecting a variety of biological processes including wound healing, scarring, fibrosis, recovery from ischemic injury, and tissue regeneration. In this presentation, the work developing an initial clinical target and an anti-LYST antibody decorated biodegradable barrier for preventing post-surgical adhesions will be showcased.
Presenter:
Christopher Breuer, MD Director, Center of Regenerative Medicine & Founder of Lyst Therapeutics, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Professor of Pediatric Surgery, The Ohio State University
AAV-Based Targeting of X-Inactivation as a Potential Therapeutic Strategy for X-Linked Loss of Function Disorders
A platform approach for AAV gene therapy targeting loss-of function mutations in X-linked genes will be presented.
Presenter:
Kathrin Meyer, PhD Principal Investigator, Center for Gene Therapy, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Associate Professor, The Ohio State University
Respiratory Viruses and Asthma
Respiratory viral infections are known to drive development of asthma and wheezing. The Grayson Lab has a tractable mouse model that tests potential therapeutics, including INV-102, to prevent the development of post-viral asthma/wheezing.
Presenter:
Mitchell Grayson, MD Chief, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Professor of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University
Robert Shalwitz, MD CEO, Invirsa
Viral Delivery of Exon Skipping Construct to Treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Viral delivery of exon skipping construct (AAV.U7) overcomes the limitations of antisense oligonucleotides that also mediate exon skipping, as AAV.U7 efficiently targets all muscles and has a long lasting effect.
Presenter:
Nicolas Wein, PhD Principal Investigator, Center for Gene Therapy, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University
Gene Therapies for GNE Myopathy
A new gene therapy technology has been designed not only to stop disease progression but to reverse disease for patients with GNE myopathy.
Presenter:
Paul T. Martin, PhD Principal Investigator, Center for Gene Therapy, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Professor of Physiology and Cell Biology, The Ohio State University
Panel Discussion:
"From Bench to Bedside to Business: Advancing Federally Funded Initiatives into the Marketplace"
- Timothy Cripe, MD, PhD, Division Chief, Hematology/Oncology/BMT, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University
- Dean Lee, MD, PhD, Director, Cellular Therapy and Cancer Immunology Program, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University
- Joseph Trebley, PhD, Founder and CEO, Scioto Biosciences, Inc.
- Moderator: John Barnard, MD, Chief of Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, President of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Learn about impactful medical devices, software applications and other health care technologies as well as new start-up companies generated from OhioHealth and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Opening Statement
Perspectives on early stage technology from Rev1 CEO Tom Walker
Presentations
“Motivational Medicine: Introducing MyoGloveTM - Delivering Innovative Pain Relief Products to Better Treat Patients Suffering from Acute And Chronic Pain”
The MyoGloveTM device allows health care professionals to maximize the effectiveness of treatments for their patients by providing more direct therapy and eliminating fatigue to better treat patients suffering from acute and chronic pain.
Presenter:
Benjamin Bring, DO, CAQSM
OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Family Medicine Residency, Osteopathic Track Program Director
CEO, Motivational Medicine LLC
“A New Surgical Lip Guard to Reduce Preventable Harm”
Surgeons at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have created a disposable device which protects patient lips against preventable burns and lacerations during oral surgeries.
Presenter:
Kris Jatana, MD, FAAP, FACS
Department of Otolaryngology, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
CEO, Zotarix LLC
“Search Clinical Notes Easier, Faster and Smarter?”
DeepSuggest is an interactive search engine for clinical notes that guides users to refine their query by suggesting spelling variations, acronyms and other semantically relevant words, all identified through an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven unsupervised shallow learning algorithm.
Presenter:
Soheil Moosavinasab, MS
Data Scientist, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
“Surgical Simulation Models”
A team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital has developed high-fidelity models for use in surgical simulation, which are modular and customizable for patient-specific training.
Presenter:
Karen Diefenbach, MD
Director, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
“Wearable, Intraoperative and Postoperative Sensors Providing Data over the Spine Continuum of Care for Surgeons and their Patients”
Intellirod and Dr. Karas are developing sensors to collect objective data to provide guidance to surgeons and patients leading to improved outcomes.Presenters:
Chris Karas, MD, ABNS, Neurosurgery, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center
Ric Navarro, MSME, MBA, CEO, Intellirod Spine, Inc.
“We’ve Got You Covered: A Unique Respiratory Integrity Device for Critical Care Environments”
A new product has been developed to address a gap in care by consistently maintaining the integrity of standard patient respiratory access ports during periods of temporary disconnect.Presenter:
Christina Hewitt, RN, BSN, CCRN
Post Anesthesia Care Unit, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center
Nationwide Children's Hospital hosted the Annual Health Sciences Technology Showcase on Wednesday, March 7, 2018, featuring inventors from our institution who will be presenting on solutions to leading issues within the healthcare industry. A reception and networking followed the presentations. Bioscience entrepreneurs and professionals gathered to learn about the latest technologies and startups for improving child health.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Brian Kaspar, PhD
"The Making of AveXis: Biotech Inventions, Clinical Trials and IPO; A Deep Dive with Scientific Founder and CSO, Brian Kaspar"
Dr. Kaspar is currently Scientific Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at AveXis, Inc., a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on the treatment of neurological diseases. He is a recent professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University and principal investigator at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His work on gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy was Science’s People’s Choice Award for 2017 Breakthrough of the Year. Dr. Kaspar was the recipient of Columbus Business First’s 2017 BizTech Award for Inventor of the Year. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) and is a co-founder of several biotech companies, including Milo Biotechnology and AveXis.
Schedule
- 1- 4 pm: Presentations
- 4 - 5 pm: Networking reception with food and beer/wine
Presentations
- “A Multi-Test, Painless Allergy Skin Testing Device ‘PS Rocker’” Amber Patterson, MD, ENT & Allergy Specialists of Northwest Ohio, and Meagan Shepherd, MD, Marshall University Department of Pediatrics
- “AAV-Mediated Exon Skipping as a Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy” Kevin Flanigan, MD, Director, Center for Gene Therapy, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
- “Monitoring Patient Safety on Inpatient Psychiatry Units” Rejeev Krishna, MD, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
- “Scioto Biosciences, Inc. – Developing a Novel Formulation Platform for Microbiome Therapy” Joe Trebley, PhD, Founder/CEO, and Jim Schulz, CPA, Founder/CFO, Scioto Biosciences, Inc.
- “Dino Egg: Improving Neurodevelopment in the Hospitalized Preterm Baby” Dean Koch, CEO, Thrive Neuromedical
- “LittleSeed and VoxelBay: Delivering Clinically-Driven, Evidence-Based Fun to Reduce Patient and Caregiver Anxiety, Limit Reliance on Sedation, and Improve Patient Outcomes” Jeff Penka, Founder/CEO, LittleSeed
The Second Annual Health Sciences Technology Showcase was held Thursday, September 10, 2015, at the Fawcett Center at The Ohio State University. The showcase was presented by Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University, featuring inventors from both institutions who will be presenting on solutions to leading issues within the healthcare industry. A reception and networking followed the presentations.
Keynote Speaker
- Carole Nuechterlein, Head of Roche Venture Fund
Featured Technologies
A Method to Detect Bovine Milk: Jesse Kwiek, PhD, The Ohio State University, and Sarah Keim, PhD, Nationwide Children's Hospital
With the demand for human breast milk on the rise, there exists a greater potential for contamination. A recent study found bovine contamination in over 10% of the breast milk samples tested. This technology detects bovine milk contamination in human breast milk.
Disposable Lip Guard for Oral Surgery: Kris Jatana, MD, and Charles Elmaraghy, MD, Nationwide Children's Hospital
A need exists for a device capable of preventing accidental injuries during oral surgery. This technology provides a disposable device designed to protect a patient’s lips from lacerations and burns.
The Ohio State and Nationwide Children's Hospital Vaccine Consortium: Mark Peeples, PhD, Nationwide Children's Hospital
The Ohio State and NCH Vaccine Consortium is an interconnected group of six expert virologists in human infection and immune response, genetic manipulation of viruses, and small animal vaccine testing. We have made major progress toward converting the current experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) live attenuated vaccine into a functional, economically viable vaccine candidate. We have also developed, and continue to develop vaccines to protect livestock from diseases that threaten their economic viability.
Ultra-Violet Disinfection Lighting: Siddharth Rajan, PhD, The Ohio State University
Current sanitation procedures for surgical tools, hospital beds and equipment, water and air filtration systems, and the like, are costly, inefficient, and not environmentally friendly. Ultra-Violet Sanitation lighting effectively breaks down bacteria, viruses, mold and more, however, the cost of UV Sanitation is not feasible for most companies. Instead of using mercury lamps, this technology uses quantum mechanical tunneling to increase efficiency while reducing the cost of UV lighting by 50 times the average price.
Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE): Arun Kolipaka, PhD, The Ohio State University
Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a new application of MRI technology that employs sound waves and gives the physician an estimate of the stiffness of body tissues via a visual map. MRE has found its first application in the diagnosis of liver disease. This invention offers the promise of extending MRE to other organs such as the heart, pancreas, prostate and spleen.
Novel Therapy for Scarring: David Brigstock, PhD, Nationwide Children's Hospital
There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for fibrosis, a pathological condition central to a variety of debilitating and potentially life-threatening disorders. This technology utilizes naturally-occurring cellular products called exosomes to reprogram fibrotic cells for treatment of liver fibrosis.
The 2014 Technology Showcase was held Thursday, March 20, 2014, at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. The showcase was sponsored by BioOhio and TechColumbus.
About the Showcase
The showcase featured a keynote speaker, six health science technology presentations followed by a networking and poster viewing session. The diverse portfolio of technologies featured represents many different areas of the health sciences industry—software, imaging, probiotics, and more.
Program
2:00 PM - Introduction & Welcome
2:10 PM - Technology Showcase
2:10 - 2:30 pm
Novel Probiotic Formulations
Steven Goodman, PhD - Nationwide Children’s Hospital
In various disease states, especially in the gut, lack of sufficient probiotic bacteria is problematic. Dr. Goodman describes a novel method and formulation to introduce probiotic strains of bacteria to a site with enhanced efficiency and durability.
2:30 - 2:50 pm
A.C.T.I.V.E.: Movement assessments across the lifespan using the Microsoft Kinect™
Linda Lowes, PhD - Nationwide Children’s Hospital
This technology represents a cost effective and powerful video-based assessment tool for movement in infants.
2:50 - 3:10 pm
MatchTx: A Treatment Match Platform for Personalized Cancer Therapy
James Chen, MD - The Ohio State University
Current treatment for cancer is often a case of trial-and-error, with physicians unable to predict a patient’s response to a particular therapy. MatchTx is a software platform that calculates the patient’s response to a given cancer treatment regimen. Using similarity-based prediction algorithms, MatchTx adapts treatment decisions based on previous patient outcomes. With MatchTx in a Bench-top prototype stage it was validated in prostate cancer and Liposarcoma.
3:10 PM - Break
3:30 PM - Technology Showcase
3:30 - 3:50 pm
Electromagnetic Detection and Localized Imaging of Cancer
Vishwanath Subramaniam, PhD - The Ohio State University
Dr. Subramaniam, in conjunction with faculty in the colleges of Engineering and Medicine, has developed a suite of Electromagnetic (EM) technologies that have the potential to positively impact significant health challenges in today’s world. These technologies have resulted in low cost devices that have shown efficacy in cancer imaging; metastasis of cells; wound healing; malaria detection.
3:50 - 4:10 pm
Developing Therapies for the Treatment of Rare & Orphan Diseases
Tim Miller, PhD, President & CEO, Abeona Therapeutics Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Based on technology developed at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Abeona Therapeutics is focused on developing a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder caused by the body’s inability to properly break down certain sugars.
4:10 - 4:30 pm
System for Site & Disease-Specific Remote Optimization of MRI Image Quality
Jinghua Wang, PhD & Zhong-Lin Lu, PhD - The Ohio State University
Doctors Wang and Lu present three low-cost, bundled techniques to maximize MRI image quality based on the current scanner environment. The optimizations are substantially automated, can be performed remotely from a central location, and are directed to each particular situation, addressing a site’s specific MRI hardware, a disease type and age group of interest, as well as individual patient images.
4:30 PM - Break
4:40 PM - Keynote Speaker: Joe Hernandez, MS, MBA, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Microlin Bio
5:10 PM - Reception & Networking
The 2013 Technology Showcase was held Thursday, March 14, 2013, at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. The showcase was sponsored by BioOhio and TechColumbus.
Program
1:00 - 1:30 PM: Networking Reception
1:30 - 3:30 PM: Technology Showcase
1:30 - 1:35 PM: Introduction
1:35 - 2:55 PM: Presentations
- Center for Gene Therapy at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's
- Novel Compositions and Methods for Removal of Biofilms
- Churchill: A Comprehensive Analysis Pipeline for Discovery of Human Genetic Variation
- Diagnostic Biomarkers for Diseases of the Urinary Tract
- Medical Device Innovations at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
2:55 - 3:00 PM: Break
3:00 - 3:30 PM: Keynote Speaker
About the Speaker
Dr. David Scholl served as President and CEO of Diagnostic Hybrids, Inc. (DHI) in Athens, Ohio from 1995 to 2009. One of DHI’s early technology founders, Dave joined the company as Director of Research in 1983. Under his leadership, DHI grew from a four-person startup to the Inc. 500 list, emerging as a world leader in cell- and MAb-based diagnostics. The company’s dynamic growth led to its sale in February 2010 to Quidel Corporation of San Diego, California. Dave then joined the Quidel executive team as a Senior Vice President, while remaining President of DHI until his retirement in October 2011. He is now a partner with Athenian Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that makes investments in private, high growth potential, technology based companies in the Information Technology and Biomedical Sciences sphere.
Dave currently serves on the boards of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, BioOhio, Ohio University’s Edison Biotechnology Institute and Manasseh Cutler Scholars Program, and served from 2006-2012 as president of the Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types (FIRST). He is also a trustee of Ohio University and the Ohio University Foundation.
Dave has nearly 30 years of life sciences experience in research and development, executive management and venture capital. In 2003, he was the recipient of the Central Ohio Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Life Sciences, in 2006 was awarded BioOhio's Bioscience Leadership Award, and in 2010, Dave was awarded The Phillips Medal of Public Service by the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, and in 2013 named an inaugural recipient of The Konneker Medal for Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Ohio University.