Skip to main content
UC San Diego Innovation Innovation
  1. HOME
  2. About OIC
  3. Programs
  4. Accelerating Innovations to Market (AIM)
  5. Pre-Company Opportunities

UC San Diego Pre-Company Opportunities

About the Ecosystem:

The UC San Deigo Startup Ecosystem is comprised of diverse perspectives, high caliber talent, and a community dedicated to the betterment of society. The needs of these pre-company teams and projects are as diverse as their developing products and services. While varied in these needs, they all value connections with industry support through funding that can aid their venture to market. This list is growing so please check back in the next few days as we migrate data - we've gone live on August 9th, 2019! If you don't find what you're looking for here, explore the available technologies for licensing from UC San Diego here: Available Technologies Database

Typically these groups have a deck or slides instead of a website. We encourage you to reach out to the Commercialization Managers who support these teams or you can to innovation@ucsd.edu. By working together, we can pool resources, funding, and our networks of partners and investors to assist more teams and start-up companies than ever before.

Therapeutics & Small Molecules

  • Bacteriophage therapy for alcoholic liver disease - Bernd Schnabl, UCSD Medicine/Gastroenterology
    • Alcoholic liver disease is a major medical burden in industrialized countries, and alcoholic hepatitis has a high mortality despite optimal medical management. Gut-derived bacteria are necessary for the progression of alcoholic hepatitis, but how changes in the intestinal microbiome contribute to alcoholic hepatitis are poorly understood. We will use a precision medicine approach targeting specific bacteria in the gut microbiota to improve disease in patients. Eventually, this approach will lead to new therapeutics for patients with alcoholic hepatitis. AIM Grant Recipient.
  • Immune modulatory peptides to stimulate regulatory T cells - Alessandra Franco, Pediatrics Department
    • Immune regulation rather than immune suppression: a novel concept based on the subcutaneous administration of short peptides capable to expand regulatory T cells. Our laboratory discovered an important specificity of regulatory T cells and a very potent method to expand them ex-vivo. Data in two disease models suggest that these T cells are not functional in sharp contrast with healthy donors. The technology that we are developing can restore this important aspect of the immune response.
  • Neural Regeneration - Dionicio Seigel, School of Pharmacy
    • In neurodegenerative diseases, the loss of neuronal cells is not reversible. The loss of the neurological function due to the lack of regenerative ability of neurons is at the basis of many untreatable neurodegenerative diseases.  We are developing a chemical-based strategy to activate neuronal regeneration from stem cells. The unique topology of our target coupled with an understanding of structure-activity-relationships, achieved through the syntheses of >160 analogs, provides an ideal platform for drug development.  This approach, regulating transcription, is orthogonal to other approaches that have been applied to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and provides a unique opportunity to quickly advance into preclinical compounds.
  • Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma - James McKerrow, School of Pharmacy
    • A novel approach to drug therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma: The short survival span of pancreatic adenocarcinoma is thought to arise in large part from the fact that the disease is already metastatic at the time of diagnosis. Therefore, traditional approaches to the discovery and development of oncology drug therapy, aimed at shrinking a primary tumor, has not had a significant impact on death from pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Rather than screening for cytotoxic drugs or drugs that might induce tumor apoptosis, we will search for small molecules that could drive the differentiation of pancreatic adenocarcinoma metastases into benign precursor acinar cells. While this is based on an “out of the box” hypothesis, it is a new approach to a disease that has not responded to more traditional oncology drug development.
  • Pharmacological manipulation of HEG1-KRIT1 protein complex modulates endothelial vasoprotective functions - Alexandre Gingras, School of Medicine
    • Endothelial cells (EC) line the entire circulatory system. EC dysfunction plays a central role in the development of vascular disease states such as atherosclerosis, which can lead to thrombosis and it’s pathological consequences, including heart attack or stroke. A key characteristic of atherosclerosis development is the gradual accumulation of plaque within the vessel wall. Plaque deposits often occur in regions with turbulent blood flow, leading to inflammation. We hypothesize that pharmacological inhibition of a protein complex using small molecules could elevate the expression of protective sheer stress genes, thereby mimicking laminar blood-flow and its anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic effects.
  • Polysubstance Biosensing for Improved Substance Use Assessment & Treatment - Kara Bagot, Department of Psychiatry
    • Approximately 1.3 million U.S. adolescents have a substance use disorder (SUD). Although polysubstance use is highest among youth, and concerning due to potential additive functional deficits, and deleterious mental and physical health and functional outcomes, few have access to treatment. Frequent, risk-responsive care is developmentally appropriate and may result in greater treatment effectiveness. This is especially true for youth who are digital natives and welcome technologic integration into SUD treatment. We propose the design of a mobile polysubstance biosensor that allows simultaneous, rapid, reliable and inexpensive field analysis of alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine, and opioids, facilitating decentralized monitoring during SUD treatment.
  • The Delivery of Peptide Mediated Modified Anti-Sense Oligonucleotides Across the Blood-Brain Barrier for Neurological Disorders - Brian Spencer, Neurosciences Department
    • Many diseases of the central nervous system arise from the accumulation of proteins such as a-synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease or Aß in Alzheimer’s disease. The ability to regulate the expression at the gene transcription level would be beneficial for reducing the accumulation of these proteins or regulating expression levels of other genes in the CNS; however, the delivery of oligonucleotides to regulate gene expression is only possibly by repeat intra-spinal injections. This proposal will develop a new method for delivering oligonucleotides to the brain after a simple intra-venous or intra-peritoneal injection reducing cost and pain.

Bio & Life Sciences Technologies

  • Next Generation Dual Targeted Protease Activatable Antibodies -  Michael Whitney, Department of Pharmacology
    • Many FDA approved biologic drugs including monoclonal antibodies for cancer and arthritis have off-target toxicity issues that can limit use. In this proposal, we aim to develop a methodology that mitigates off-target drug toxicity by specifically activating drugs at their intended site of action, thus keeping the potentially harmful active drug away from healthy normal tissue. Engineering this technology into approved drugs, as well as drug candidates that have off-target side effects could have huge patient benefits with regard to effective use and positive outcomes in battling cancers, arthritis or other diseases treated with protein therapeutics. AIM Grant Recipient.

Software & Engineering

  • Academic Curriculum Vitae builder online tool development - Jyoti Mayadev, Dept. of Radiation Medicine
    • This project develops an online tool and platform for efficiency in displaying and summarizing academic achievements, called "CV Builder". Faculty in academia are required to format their CV as part of the promotion and tenure process. The main components of an academic CV include research efforts, grants, manuscripts, lectures, book chapters, evaluations and mentees, and a teaching portfolio. This packet of information is often critical for professional and academic advancement. There is a need for efficiency in data entry, organization, and storage of a living document that can be readily updated and used for grant applications.
  • Clinical Decision Support System for Dialysis in Critically ill Patients - Ravindra Mehta, Dept. of Medicine
    • Dialysis is commonly used to manage patients in the ICU who experience an acute decline in kidney function termed acute kidney injury (AKI). Patients needing dialysis have mortality rates of > 50% and often develop chronic kidney failure. There is a pressing need to improve these outcomes. We have developed a unique tool to improve clinical care aggregating pertinent data elements into an actionable dynamic score to guide the initiation and stopping of therapy. This will enable physicians to individualize therapy based on the patients changing needs, standardize the approach to complex patients and reduce variation and improve care delivery.
  • Diagnosing and Understanding Stroke with Sensor-Based Assessments of Neurological Deficits - Vishwajith Ramesh, Dept. Bioengineering
    • The single therapy for stroke is utilized in less than 5% of cases because it has to be administered within 3 hours of the onset of symptoms. Accurately diagnosing a stroke right after its occurrence is tough as it requires a subjective evaluation by a stroke specialist in a hospital. Our work capitalizes on recent advances in ubiquitous technology to identify and assess stroke-related deficits such as facial droop, arm weakness, speech difficulties, and brain activity patterns in an accurate, time-sensitive way. The goal of our “UbiStroke” system is to enable more reliable administrations of the time-sensitive stroke medication.
  • MReady: A Mobile App for Patients and Physicians to Better Prepare for Clinical Encounters - Ming Tai-Seale, Family Medicine & Public Health
    • Patients’ priorities and wishes are often unknown to physicians. Research shows that physicians infrequently elicit patient agendas and when patients do try to disclose their priorities, they get interrupted after 8~23 seconds. Patients also rarely teach-back on salient parts of decisions made during their visits, leaving many unsure about what to do next. These challenges confront patients worldwide. Technology can facilitate transforming care from provider-centric to patient-centric. We will develop a proof-of-concept for a mobile app that can be integrated into online patient portals to empower patients and physicians to better prepare for their visits and what would follow afterward.
  • Multi-institutional UC deployment of deep learning for augmented diagnostic imaging - Albert Hsiao, Dept. of Radiology
    • Development of an AI system to assist in the interpretation of chest x-rays - - built at UC San Diego. This algorithm will assist the diagnosis of emergent findings such as pneumothorax, malpositioned tubes, and pneumonia by providing timely visual cues and alerts. Through inter-UC collaboration, we will be able to evaluate and improve AI algorithms to perform across a wide spectrum of patients seen at UC Health.
  • Personalized real-time stroke risk prediction in atrial fibrillation by GPU-accelerated CFD - Juan Carlos Del Alamo, Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
    • Stroke is a common co-morbidity of atrial fibrillation (AFib). During AFib, slow blood flow increases the likelihood of clots forming in the left atrium, and these clots can travel to the brain. Anticoagulation medications can reduce stroke risk, but due to the associated bleeding risk, they are not prescribed to all patients with AFib. Current methods to risk-stratify patients are not personalized and have been proven inaccurate. Our goal is to create an image processing algorithm for personalized prediction of stroke risk in AFib patients, that meets the standards of accuracy, easiness of use and run time required for clinical adoption.

Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence

  • Artificially Intelligent Roboticized Instruments for Handheld Flexible Endoscopy - Michael Yip, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    • This project involves prototyping and proving a handheld robotically enhanced instrumentation set for flexible endoscopy. A robotic sheath through which laser fibers, biopsy forceps, baskets, RF electrodes, etc. can be passed provides superhuman dexterity and a high level of smooth and consistent control far beyond manual instruments. By developing handheld robotic instruments rather than large complex robotic surgical systems, these instruments may be used wherever manual flexible endoscopy is used, which include spaces such as doctors offices and small to medium size clinics, which would drastically change how many patients are treated or triaged today. AIM Grant Applicant.
  • Early Prediction Risk Scores and Novel Classification of Clinical Shock using Machine Learning Algorithms - Venktesh Ramnath, Department of Medicine
    • Doctors and nurses need effective, user-friendly tools that identify high-risk patients to prevent death from critical illnesses like shock. Our technology uses various clinical data to generate risk scores that are tracked over time to allow doctors to tailor therapies, track responses, and improve outcomes. As we broaden the impact with “wearable” sensors, serum biomarkers and other data inputs, our tool not only will allow better execution of clinical protocols and workflows but also will provide generalizable benefits upon wide-scale adoption across hospitals and centers wherever care is delivered.
  • Veocor:
    • Veocor pioneers cloud-based AI technologies to reduce cost and improve quality of care by diagnosing patients at risk of stroke who benefit from anticoagulation. Contact: Dave Gibbons for more information. website: https://veocor.io/

Medical Device & Technologies

  • Leveraging Advanced Microfabrication and Packaging for the Next Leap in Cortical Mapping Implants - Shadi Dayeh, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    • The integrated Electronics and Biointerfaces Laboratory at the Jacobs School of Engineering demonstrated a clinic-compatible brain-mapping device that extends the recording capabilities from the human brain from tens to thousands of channels. The expected outcome is a greater resolution in delineating diseased and eloquent tissue during neurosurgical resection from the brain and spinal cord. This project supports the technology development and deployment at three hospitals including UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center for pre-clinical trials. AIM Grant Recipient.
  • Miniaturized and Integrated CMOS-Compatible Fourier Transform Spectrometer - Andrew Grieco, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    • Optical spectroscopy excels at chemical identification and is ubiquitous in science and medicine as a noninvasive probe of molecular structure. Moving into the future, the miniaturization of optical spectrometers is critical for the development of fully functional lab-on-a-chip and point-of-care medical devices. Tragically, the Fourier transform (FT) spectrometer (long recognized as the apex of spectrometer technology) has resisted miniaturization for decades. Fortunately, pioneering researchers at UCSD recently triumphed over this problem and demonstrated a fully miniaturized FT spectrometer. Remarkably, they discovered that the presence of waveguide dispersion in the miniaturized FT spectrometer actually increases the efficiency of the device! AIM Grant Recipient.
  • Platform of Rapid Cell Separation and Extraction from Microliter Blood using Novel Spiral Surface Acoustic Waves for Point-of-Care Diagnostics - Naiqing Zhang and James Friend, Mechanical Aerospace Engineering
    • Point-of-care diagnostics for human blood testing has recently aroused great interests to accelerate and simplify the patient's diagnosis process. But current centrifugation technique requires a long time and large blood sample size which would not be suitable for point-of-care portable medical devices. We perform centrifugation and fractionation of whole blood with sample sizes of 2 μL by using a carefully designed, sterilizable surface acoustic wave microfluidics handling device. We further enable a chain of fluid handling and sensing methods that will result in a broad ability to diagnose medical conditions in a handheld device. AIM Grant Recipient.
  • Thermographic endoscope for clinical ENT diagnostics - Andrew Vahabzadeh-Hagh, Department of Surgery - Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery
    • In ear, nose, throat (ENT) clinics, an endoscopic inspection of the larynx with endoscopes is routinely used to confirm laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), a common condition that causes hoarseness and difficulty swallowing. However, low visual contrast and the lack of distinct markers of reflux often make LPR diagnosis inaccurate. We are developing a thermographic camera system that can be attached to existing ENT endoscopes to identify abnormal heat signatures in the throat consistent with LPR. Otherwise invisible to the naked eye, heat patterns visualized by this thermographic endoscope can reveal areas of reflux irritation and improve the consistency of LPR diagnosis. AIM Grant Recipient.
  • Epidermal Adhesive Sensors to Enhance Glucose Monitoring in Patients with Diabetes: The EASE Study - Edward Chao, School of Medicine
    • Every 23 seconds, an American 20 years of age or older is diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes can double to quadruple the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Checking blood sugar can be a painful hassle. We would be the first to test whether a needle-free sensor that measures glucose from the fluid surrounding the cells and from sweat is accurate and easy to use in patients with diabetes. This sensor is wearable, lightweight, flexible, and sticks to the skin like a temporary tattoo. This device may assist patients in better engaging with their diabetes, and their quality of life.