OUP Webinar: Founding a Startup as a Graduate Students | Two Startup CEOs Share Their Own Experience
Thursday, April 3, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:00pmAs a graduate student, many career options lie in front of you. One potential route is founding a startup based on the innovative research conducted in your lab. Beginning a startup company is complex and challenging. While there are now many programs to assist academics in their startup endeavors, some aspects you learn as you build the venture. Come hear from two successful startup CEOs who founded startups as graduate students. They will discuss their journeys:
- Making the switch from academia to a new venture
- Fundraising
- Building their teams
- Challenges both expected and unforeseen
- The ultimate exits made by their first startups
Dr. Shelley Force Aldred founded her first startup as a graduate student at Stanford University and now is on her third new venture. Dr. Laura Schewel founded her first startup, StreetLight Data, while a graduate student at Berkeley.
Learn more about both speakers and register here.
2025 Weill Cornell Medicine Biomedical Innovation Conference
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 - 11:30am to 7:30pmThe 2025 Weill Cornell Medicine Biomedical Innovation Conference brings together academic founders with investors, industry representatives, entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners with the expressed goal to connect and collaborate. The conference is a rare opportunity to meet a diverse group of life science inventors and spinout companies across therapeutics, device, digital health and diagnostic sectors. All Weill Cornell Medicine-affiliated inventors are encouraged to participate. In addition, select startup companies from the Upper East Side ecosystem, including Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and surrounding hospitals, as well as startups where faculty serve as CMOs and Scientific Advisors, are also in attendance.
Over the years, this event has been a proven catalyst for direct investment from early-stage investors, co-development relationships with industry, and introductions to experienced management teams. Please contact Loren Busby at lob4002@med.cornell.edu for more information.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Weill Cornell Medicine campus!
RSVP here.
Summer 2025 Prototyping Hardware Accelerator
Friday, March 28, 2025 - 9:00am to 5:00pmReady to bring your product idea to life? Apply to the Summer 2025 Prototyping Hardware Accelerator.
The final application deadline is March 28, 2025.
Over 10 weeks, Rev’s Prototyping Hardware Accelerator guides product teams to determine if their ideas are commercially desirable, technologically feasible, and economically viable. Upon completion of the program, participants are positioned to recruit team members, bring on partners, initiate work with contract manufacturers and pitch to investors. Teams will receive a stipend of up to $2,000 to advance their prototype.
- MedTech Track: Offered in partnership with Cornell Biomedical Engineering and Weill Cornell Medicine, the new MedTech track provides access to specialized prototyping equipment, regulatory resources, and research and medical professionals in the field.
The accelerator is held in person at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works in Ithaca, New York beginning in late May 2025. The program is free and open to the public.
Want to learn more? Register to attend an upcoming virtual information session:
Note: Digital platforms, applications, and other software programs are not eligible unless paired with a physical product that you intend to develop in our program.
Rev encourages you to share this information with interested hardware entrepreneurs and your extended networks. Questions about the program can be directed to rev@revithaca.com.
OUP Webinar: 2025 Startup Financing Trends
Thursday, March 27, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:00pmOsage University Partners (OUP) is pleased to invite you to its annual startup financing trends webinar.
Join Nabil Ullah and Justin Robeny of OUP’s investment team for a discussion on startup financing trends to review the state of the venture funding landscape.
The webinar will cover current market behaviors across the entire startup ecosystem with a specific emphasis on university spinouts. Justin Robeny will outline trends in the life sciences, including biopharma, research tools, diagnostics and medical devices while Nabil Ullah will review the tech and physical sciences, ranging from software to climate tech.
OUP leverages public sources and its own proprietary database of active university spinouts from its partner institutions to provide unique insights and perspectives for 2025 and beyond.
Register here.
Translating Your Discoveries into a Powerful Preclinical Data Package
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:30pmEnterprise Innovation will be hosting a virtual panel focused on the critical aspects of preclinical drug discovery. The panel will feature experienced biotech investors and industry scientists who will provide guidance on the key steps involved in de-risking a novel drug development idea. This program will be useful to Weill Cornell researchers interested in starting a drug discovery project or optimizing existing compounds for the purpose of attracting commercial partnership or investment interest.
What you’ll learn:
- Criteria for choosing therapeutic target, drug modality and clinical indication with significant unmet need
- Key stages of drug discovery, including high throughput screening, hit finding strategies and choosing a lead compound
- Understanding the differences between small molecule and biologics discovery campaigns
- Assessing the target product profile (TPP), including safety liabilities, efficacy benchmarks, dose finding, pharmacokinetics and appropriate “therapeutic benchmarks”
Register here.
*This panel is a kickoff event for the 2025 Biomedical Innovation Conference.
Boehringer-Ingelheim Drug Discovery Course: From Idea to Therapeutic
Thursday, March 20, 2025 - 2:00pmAre you interested in exploring a career in pharma R&D? This is a rare opportunity to see how your education can transfer to the day-to-day work of patient-centric drug development. Experience this unique opportunity to learn from our scientists and meet them in person.
This seminar runs from March to May 2025. It will be held virtually and in person May 2nd.
Scan the QR code on the flyer below or visit here to fill out the registration form.
For more information, please contact: Gaylene Anderson, U.S. Director, Strategic Research Relationships at gaylene.anderson@boehringer-ingelheim.com.
Prototyping Hardware Accelerator Information Session
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 - 6:00pm to 7:00pmApplications are open for the Summer 2025 Prototyping Hardware Accelerator at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works!
Over 10 weeks, Rev’s in-person Prototyping Hardware Accelerator guides product teams to determine if their ideas are commercially desirable, technologically feasible, and economically viable. Upon completion of the program, participants are positioned to recruit team members, bring on partners, initiate work with contract manufacturers, and pitch to investors. Teams will receive a stipend of up to $2,000 to advance their prototype.
Want to learn more? Register to attend an upcoming virtual information session. Questions? Contact rev@revithaca.com.
Conversation with Dr. Andres Jimenez, Author of "Empowering Physician Entrepreneurs"
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:00pmJoin our conversation with Andres Jimenez, M.D., eMBA/M.S., MPH, a successful physician, digital health entrepreneur and author.
Dr. Jimenez is a seasoned health-tech entrepreneur who developed software used in over 3,000 hospitals and clinics across the U.S., including some of the nation’s largest health systems. His first company, which focused on physician behavior change, operated for over 10 years and impacted more than one-third of U.S. physicians. He later co-founded a revenue cycle AI company, acquired by CorroHealth—a Carlyle-backed company with over 6,000 employees—where he served as chief medical information officer. He then joined another startup as a scientific advisor, eventually becoming chief medical information officer and founding physician, helping the company through product launch and IPO on the London Exchange.
Register here.
Funding Opportunities for Startups
Thursday, March 13, 2025 - 11:45am to 1:00pmRaising money for your startup? The Cornell community is invited to learn about funding opportunities, from grants to competitions to venture capital, in this free workshop.
Moderated by Olga Petrova, Director of Innovation Initiatives for the University at Buffalo, the panel discussion will feature:
- Smitha James, Associate Director, NYS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences
- Elena Garuc, Executive Director, FuzeHub
- Josh Nelson, Senior Director, Pre-Seed & Seed Fund, NY Ventures
- Anthony Santaro, Vice President, Armory Square Ventures
Register now. Questions? Contact crea@cornell.edu.
Lab to Impact Thought Leader Series: Unlocking the Future of Blockchain with Emin Gün Sirer!
Monday, March 10, 2025 - 6:15pm to 7:30pmJoin us for a dynamic in-person event at Cornell Tech as part of the Lab to Impact: Thought Leader Series – where visionaries share their insights into the future of innovation.
The Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell is thrilled to host Emin Gün Sirer, Founder and CEO of Ava Labs, for a fireside chat on the latest trends in blockchain technology and its transformative impact on the world. The conversation will be moderated by Martin Teschl, the Director of Business Development and Licensing for CTL.
The fireside chat will begin at 6:15 p.m. with a networking reception to follow at 7:30 p.m.
