Jason Scharf’s Post

🚀 Austin Next’s life science report continuing to wield influence, as it’s highlighted in the Austin Monitor’s article on the booming sector. At the same time, I am noticing a slightly troubling trend. There's a notable and welcome surge in attention towards the Bio + Health vertical from city authorities, nonprofits, and academic circles. This is fantastic – Full Stop. However, there's a critical element that seems to be missing in these discussions. At the numerous panels and events focused on Bio & Health, there's a conspicuous absence of the most crucial voices: the actual operators, founders, and funders in the space. The reasons for this aren't entirely clear, but the impact is undeniable. To build the right infrastructure and address workforce needs effectively, it's these very individuals who should be steering the conversation. How do we make sure that these key stakeholders are not just present, but communicating the various demand curves. What’s Next? #Austin #LifeSciences #Healthcare #Biotechnology #AustinNext

🧬 Austin Bio + Health Weekly Roundup: As our sector surges, are we navigating the right trajectory? Let’s unpack it. 🧬 🎯 Renewed Focus Opportunity Austin's new 5.0 strategy places a significant emphasis on the life sciences. I definitely resonate with their identified challenges, such as scarce lab space and a fragmented landscape. Yet, when they emphasize the downtown Innovation District as the game-changing move, that's where we part ways. Here's my take: Urban bio clusters aren’t commonplace and there is a reason for that. Lab setups aren't cheap and prime downtown locations exacerbate that cost. The talent demographics of bio enterprises tend not to sync as seamlessly with central business districts as their tech counterparts. Reasonable proximity to clinical facilities is impactful, but it's typically channeled via structured studies and trials. Expecting serendipitous creative collisions in such settings is overly optimistic; direct adjacencies to hospital settings do not typically drive this. I fervently believe in Austin's potential as Bio + Health/Life Science hub, which is what drives me to tell our story and help build the ecosystem. That means supporting the initiatives that I think enhance our prospects & voicing concern if I think we are off course. 🏗️ Infrastructure Growth The University of Texas at Austin is partnering with Karlin Real Estate to help solve the wet lab scarcity! The new UT Impact Labs run by Discovery to Impact will be 10K sq ft of wet lab space and located at the Parmer Austin campus. 💰 Funding Natera, a leader in cell-free DNA testing, announced a huge $250 Million follow-on offering. Tekton Research, focused on clinical trials for pharma and device companies, secured a majority investment from Havencrest Capital Management. 🤝 M&A and Partnerships First Dollar, which is building infrastructure for health spending benefits, has teamed up with Health-E Commerce to simplify shopping for FSA/HSA users. 🚀 Launches, Expansions, and Milestones Healthcare2U, a hybrid direct primary care org, launched DPCadvantage a $0 office visit, further increasing access for patients. 🔬 Research & Medical Advancements New research published in Nature Digital Medicine by UT Austin Professors Vagheesh Narasimhan and Prakash Jayakumar developed an AI model that accurately diagnoses knee arthritis based only on X-ray images. The study’s co-first authors were graduate students Brianna Flynn and Emily Javan. Austin's momentum in Bio + Health is undeniable. As we look ahead, the same question looms: What’s Next?

🧬 In this week's Austin Bio + Health Weekly Roundup, we have data showing our ascendance, narrative building, partnerships, & growth in the Triangle.  🧬 📊 Data The Austin metro is the 9th largest in the country for health funding in 2023, according to recent insights from Peter Walker at Carta (image below). Note that Carta captures only about half of funding, so the actual figure is likely 1.5X-2X higher. It's quite remarkable that we're already in the top 10, but we must continue to focus on expanding our infrastructure, scaling our talent pool, and telling our story. 💡 Insights from Local Builders and Innovators Tonight, on CBS Austin, Walt Maciborski features Emerald Cloud Lab on "Tech This Out." They'll discuss Emerald Cloud's innovative model, its support for bio and life science companies of all sizes, and their recent move to Austin. During the segment, I'll also be sharing my commentary on why this development is a significant milestone for our community. 🤝 Partnerships and M&A L7 Informatics was chosen by Cellipont Bioservices to help it optimize its cell therapy development manufacturing processes. 🏆 Recognition Autonomize AI was named a finalist in SXSW Pitch 2024 in the AI, robotics, and voice category. Congrats Ganesh Padmanabhan and good luck. 🚩Texas Bio Triangle Rice University has launched a synthetic biology institute, another key building block. Houston-based, Coya Therapeutics, Inc. announced a pipeline expansion of COYA-302, now including treatments for Frontotemporal Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease in addition to ALS. Plano-based, AnX Robotica Corp has received expanded FDA clearance for adults and children aged 2 years for their Navicam, a small bowel video capsule endoscopy. Our region’s presence continues to be felt both in the data and in the zeitgeist! What’s Next? #Austin #healthcare #lifesciences #biotechnology #AustinNext

🚀 Meaningful Collaborative Research Publication🤖 We're thrilled to announce a meaningful study published by the UBC IDEA Lab, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, and Tilburg University research team. This collaborative effort involved an incredible team of researchers, trainees, and patient partners focused on enhancing dementia care. 🔍 Our latest research, "Working with a Robot in Hospital and Long-Term Care Homes: Staff Experience," explores the innovative use of telepresence robots in dementia care settings. By integrating perspectives from frontline staff, this study identifies key facilitators and barriers to technology implementation in healthcare. This research is not just a study; it's a leap toward understanding and improving technology integration in caregiving, ensuring that our approaches are compassionate, informed, and effective. 📄 Read more about how we're pioneering changes in dementia care and the potential impacts of telepresence robots: https://lnkd.in/gxQqMa9h For more information, contact the research team: Lily Haopu Ren, Karen Lok Yi Wong (Gerontological Social Work), Joey Wong, and Prof. Lillian Hung. Thanks for the support of Dr. Jim Mann, LL.D., Lily Wong and all team members. #DementiaCare #TelepresenceRobots #HealthcareInnovation #UBC #UniversitätsmedizinGöttingen #TilburgUniversity #HealthTech #staffexperience

𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐛 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. The MedCity London Lab Showcase report outlines the development of high-quality lab spaces in the capital. Launched at the Royal College of Physicians and developed with Oxford Properties Group, British Land ARC | Advanced Research Clusters and Mitsui Fudosan UK this report presents case studies and key findings that position London ahead of European competitor cities and ready to compete with US hubs. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞? An undersupply of suitable lab spaces to support industry growth. 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞: Our iconic building on Bloomsbury Square, as highlighted in the report, showcases how Victoria House - powered by Pioneer Group’s ecosystem - will meet London’s demand for flexible lab spaces, catering to both traditional and non-traditional users: ◾ Incubator space for early-stage companies ◾ large office and lab spaces to accommodate scale-ups & blue-chips ◾ Bespoke fit-outs and flexible operations ◾ Access to accelerator programmes & venture-building expertise ◾ Access to an Expert Network of over 280 professionals and academics Discover how we're transforming London’s lab landscape 👇 https://loom.ly/G5ihQ7Y

The city, state and medical researchers are splitting the bill to create a $300 million facility to become the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York. With $10 million each from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams as well as $250 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative — founded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan — the organization will begin looking for a spot to open a New York facility, according to Hochul. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Empire State Development (ESD) will also be providing $10 million to the effort. The goal is to establish a hub that will conduct research on ovarian and pancreatic cancers as well as neurodegenerative diseases. “The grand scientific question that these scientists are going to go after is around cellular engineering — to engineer immune cells to detect specific diseases and then eventually encode their molecular makeup, so that scientists can use it as a diagnostic, and eventually they can engineer cells to go to a site of a disease and help treat it,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. “The ultimate goal is to not go after a specific disease. It’s to create a new tool or platform that all scientists can use to study and make more specific advances.” The research facility will be the fourth in the Chan Zuckerberg network in addition to hubs in San Francisco, Chicago and Redwood City, Calif. The New York hub will be led by experts from Columbia, The Rockefeller University and Yale, according to Hochul. The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network did not immediately respond to a request for comment on possible New York City locations for the proposed hub. - Commercial Observer | Mark Hallum URL: https://lnkd.in/e4Tfd8N9 #realestate #commercialrealestate #nyc

🤠 Boot, scoot, and bytes: #Texas isn't just oil fields and #NASA anymore. Here's how the lone star state is wrangling 21st century innovation: 🏇🏿 https://lnkd.in/gXrZn9y2 Top reasons to read: 🏥 #Houston Medical Marvels: Explore the "Innovation Corridor" and the world's largest medical complex, the Texas Medical Center, tackling #Cancer, #Genomics, #CardiovascularResearch, and more 🔬 #Dallas Biotech Breakthroughs: Discover how Pegasus Park is leading the charge in biomedical innovation, with Lyda Hill Philanthropies championing startups 🌐 Texas Triangle Magic: Learn how Dallas, #Austin, and Houston are rewriting the rules, attracting giants like Google, cultivating tech scenes, and driving global impact Tag or share with a global #innovator! #fortworth #ftworth #innovationinaction #texasinnovation #medtech #medtechjobs #texasstartups #houstonstartups #dallasstartups #fortworthstartups #austinstartups #austintech #austintexas Dan Trefethen Jon Nordby

“After I joined the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2018, I set out to identify how the initiative—with its audacious mission to cure, prevent or manage all disease by the end of the century; its capacities in grantmaking, science, and technology; and its commitment to community-driven solutions—could support and leverage the power of patients to accelerate biomedical research and innovation in rare diseases.” CZIer Tania Simoncelli worked in science policy for 20 years before joining CZI. Leveraging her past professional and personal experiences, Tania launched the #RareAsOne Project, which unites patient-led rare disease communities as they accelerate research to identify new treatments and cures for their diseases. “Over the past three and a half years of engaging with our Rare As One grantees, we’ve gotten glimpses of just how patient groups, given the opportunity to lead, can change the way medical knowledge is produced and applied. While we’re still in early days, it’s possible to imagine a future ecosystem built around patients and their experiences and directed in a more laser-like way toward treatments and cures.” Read more from Tania about why it’s time to fully acknowledge and embrace patients as central stakeholders in the research ecosystem: https://bit.ly/3DO4hjh #Science #technology #RareDisease #TeamCZI

Introducing the #S3EStart Research Projects 🌟 MIRALS 🦾 The solution: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, incurable neurodegenerative disorder characterised by a degeneration of motor neurons, with currently no viable treatment available. Using their very own patented inhibitor of miR-129 (an altered expression of microRNA-129 which plays a key role in neuronal processes), the MIRALS team aim to develop a novel therapeutic intervention that can improve the lives of more than 200,000 patients afflicted by ALS. 🧑🔬 The research team: Stefania Corti, Linda Ottoboni and Mafalda Rizzuti. TTOS: Margherita Chierici and Alessandro Cervi. 🔬 The institution involved: Ospedale Policlinico di Milano. MIRALS is one of the 14 projects selected to participate in the 2024 edition of S3E Start, the EU-funded program fostering deep tech research and entrepreneurship in Southern Europe. It's led by HiSeedTech, funded by European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) and officially recognised by EIT Deep Tech Talent. 🤝 This team is being supported by S3E Start mentor Luis Gomes. Join us on our upcoming #OpenDay! Sign up to access the livestream on 18 June and watch the teams present their science-based tech projects live from Lisbon 🚀 https://lnkd.in/ec5yyMzY #EUfunded #DeepTech #DeepTechInnovation #FromLabToMarket #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfHealthcare

'Huge Win for Massachusetts’: Cambridge to Serve as Site for National Hub for Life Science Research By Jack R. Trapanick, Crimson Staff Writer - The Harvard Crimsom The federal government has chosen Cambridge’s Kendall Square as the site of a new hub for investment in health care and biomedical research as part of a national program launched by President Joe Biden last year. The hub is one of three announced centers in the United States as part of the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. It aims to “catch” the region’s biomedical innovations and provide them with financial support and advisory, according to Cambridge Assistant City Manager for Community Development Iram Farooq. The Investor Catalyst Hub will help bring projects to the market, which requires business, regulation, and logistics-related expertise, according to a press release. Governor Maura T. Healey ’92 called the placement a “huge win for Massachusetts” in the press release. The ARPA-H initiative will support work that “traditional research or commercial activity” would not normally undertake, according to the National Institutes of Health website. Mark A. Marino, project director of the new hub and vice president of a local health nonprofit, said efforts by both the public and private sectors have grown the state’s life sciences industry. “This has been 10, 20, 50 years in the making,” Marino said, calling the Greater Boston area “the life science, biotech capital of the world.” “The equivalent of the Hollywood or the Silicon Valley, that type of aura around biotech has been by design — it’s not an accident,” he said. Since the 1970s, Kendall Square in Cambridge has become a home for biotechnology businesses from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to budding startups. Across the river, the Longwood Medical Area in Boston — home to Harvard Medical School, the School of Public Health, and the School of Dental Medicine — is itself a long-established center of hospitals and health care research. Advertisement Other parts of the Greater Boston area, including Allston, are emerging as newer centers of biotech — with mixed feelings from affected residents as the increasing presence of labs encroaches on long-cherished neighborhood institutions. In February, Allston’s Sound Museum closed after biotech real estate investor IQHQ purchased its building in 2021 for $50 million. Great Scott, a popular music club, closed in 2020 as more lab spaces opened in the neighborhood. Another factor that differentiated the Boston area from other states vying for the hub was the region’s companies pursuing partnerships with local organizations and residents.