Unmet need

Existing therapies that block the VEGF signaling pathway can be ineffective and risky in populations such as premature infants where blocking VEGF could have nonspecific systemic effects.

Innovation

This technology utilizes an ETS inhibitor that circumvents these problems by only regressing pathological neovessels while sparing healthy vessels.

Unmet need

Laser ablation of neovascular tufts is an invasive procedure that can lead to further retinal damage and loss of peripheral and night vision.

Innovation

Blocking pathological retinal capillary regression can prevent growth of neovascular tufts and preserve visual function.

Unmet need

For immunocompromised populations, including the elderly and the very young, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV13, PCV15, or PCV20) and the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) are ineffective.

Innovation

This method rapidly generates a large number of antibodies with wide epitope specificity and high affinity, rendering them optimal as diagnostic panels for rapid antigen screens. 

Unmet need

The current standard of care is dictated by the type and severity of the organ involvement. Improved understanding of SLE heterogeneity at the clinical and mechanistic level can significantly improve patient management.

Innovation

The methodology involves the collection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE patients, assessment of methylation status at specific CpG sites, applying a proprietary machine learning algorithm based on LASSO regression modeling, and stratifying patients into RESPONDERS and NON‑RESPONDERS to SLE treatment.

Unmet need

At present, the only way to conclusively diagnose the 30-40% of SjD cases who are seronegative for anti-Ro autoantibodies (Ro Neg SjD) is with an invasive biopsy of minor salivary glands from the inside of the lower lip.

Innovation

OMRF researchers have identified a panel of biomarkers that differentiate Ro Neg SjD from control, by screening human proteome arrays and using a machine learning analysis workflow. The panel of 24 biomarkers identified can aid in diagnosis of Ro Neg SjD patients without requiring a lip biopsy with high accuracy.

Unmet need

One of the largest obstacles encountered in OA clinical trial design is the unpredictable nature of disease progression and the lack of accurate biomarkers to predict knee OA progression is a key unmet need in OA clinical research.

Innovation

The model predicts OA radiographic progression with high specificity and sensitivity even when different cell types or radiographic measurements of patients are analyzed.

Unmet need

There is a requirement for a rapid, inexpensive, and widely available method and system to predict future incident OA from easily accessible biological samples. 

Innovation

The model developed by Dr. Jeffries can predict incident OA up to 96 months in advance, with an accuracy >70%, which can lead to early intervention. Currently, there are no tests on the market that can predict OA incidence.

Unmet need

There are four PFKFB isoforms that are often upregulated in various cancers. 

Innovation

PFKFB2 inhibitors can potentially treat cancers and other diseases with increased PFKFB2 activity.

Unmet need

 While endoplasmic reticulum dysfunction is common in genetic skeletal disorders, to date, there is no treatment targeting ER stress responses in these disorders.

Innovation

Treatment with the proposed therapeutics enhances collagen secretion from ER by reducing ER stress and can be used for treating subjects with mutations in S1P-encoding gene, MBTPS1

Unmet need

There is no “gold standard” biomarker test with sufficient sensitivity and specificity that can be used for the diagnosis or prognosis of sarcoidosis.

Innovation

A model utilizing measurement of circulating cytokine biomarkers can distinguish sarcoidosis patients from healthy controls with 77% sensitivity and 75% specificity.

Unmet need

Innovation

Dr. Yoon’s data provides compelling evidence that an allele-specific and template-free Cas9 editing strategy can lead to efficient gene correction of pathogenic variants.

Unmet need

Prox1^ΔVEC mice lack PROX1 in valvular endothelial cells (VECs) which results in thickened aortic and mitral valves, increased proteoglycan deposition in heart valves, disrupted elastin fibers and collagen in heart valves and aortic valve stenosis.

Innovation

Small molecule inhibitors of PDGF‑β signaling can be used as treatment for myxomatous valve disease.

Unmet need

Novel treatments for heart disease that focus on inhibiting the NAD+ consuming hydrolases, are yet to be developed.

Innovation

Results demonstrate that inhibition of SARM1 elevates NAD+ levels and can be used as a treatment for metabolic cardiomyopathy.

Unmet need

Altered intestinal O-glycan expression has been observed in patients with colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease and colitis.

Innovation

This mouse model can be used to study colorectal cancer and IBD as altered intestinal O-glycan expression is frequently observed in patients

Unmet need

Innovation

Anti-vimentin can potentially serve as a novel non‑invasive biomarker for evaluating the severity of salivary and lacrimal gland dysfunction in primary SjD.

Unmet need

Valve replacement is the only treatment for severe AS patients. Valve replacement surgery is invasive, risky, and not always curative, highlighting the crucial need for therapeutic drugs to treat AS.

Innovation

Since NAC is a safe FDA-approved drug that is well tolerated in humans, treating patients with NAC to slow down the progress of AS offers a non‑invasive treatment option.

Unmet need

 The current standard of care for GBM includes surgical resection followed by combination of radiation with temozolomide (TMZ)/bevacizumab (humanized VEGF mAb).

Innovation

Use of ELTD1 Ab for GBM therapy circumvents these side effects by suppressing several tumorigenesis pathways.