Following his entrepreneurial visions, Dr. Felder has launched nine companies out of the University over the past two decades, including WellAWARE Systems, Global Cell Solutions and Medical Automation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing costs and improving efficiency in health care systems.

Felder was honored April 24 at U.Va. Innovation’s annual awards reception in the Rotunda.  See Dr. Felder’s speech.

ABOUT THE COMPANIES

WellAWARE a provider of technology-based solutions facilitating independent living for seniors, has systems installed in 2,200 residences from Virginia to South Dakota, reporting minute-to-minute data on the wellness of elderly occupants. WellAWARE raised $7.5 million in growth capital in 2009.

Global Cell Solutions is advancing regenerative medicine, drug discovery, cancer research and other efforts through the automation of 3-D cell culture. Using an automated bench-top system, Global Cell’s novel approach facilitates cell culture that mimics in vivo biology and physiology that could one day obviate the need for animal studies and provide high-quality replacement body cells, Felder said. The company has raised more than $1.5 million in local investments.

MORE ABOUT DR. FELDER

The author of more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, Felder has received more than $30 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, with additional funding from industry sources, venture capital and federal Small Business Technology Transfer awards. Dr. Felder has been named on 12 issued U.S. patents, with an additional seven U.S. and international patents pending.

In 2009, Dr, Felder received the prestigious Engelberger Award for Leadership in Robotics. In 2010, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry and the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry joined in honoring him with the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry, marking the first time the organizations have honored the same awardee.

Robert A. Felder names U.Va. Innovator of the Year (U.Va. Today. 04/04/2012)
U.Va. names its Innovator of the Year (The Daily Progress. 04/04/2012)
U.Va. names Robin Felder innovator of the Year (Workit, Cville. 04/04/2012)
Serial Entrepreneur’ Robin A. Felder Named U.Va. Innovator of the Year (UVA Innovation. 04/04/12)

Innovega's Contact Lens

Ben Franklin figured out the advantage of bifocals in 1784, but it has taken more than two centuries to see how this idea might create a wider field of view.  This piece describes lenses that use filters to split light between the pupil center and its rim for expanded perception.  Developed by Innovega, Inc. (Hansville, WA) primarily for military use, the application for civilians with low vision is promising. MORE WITH VIDEO

Image Credit: innovega-inc.

Rolling Strong, LLC (Las Vegas, NV) has announced its collaboration with Kroger Pharmacies to implement a health monitoring and wellness program for truckers.  Quoting their statement, “Personalized wellness programs include Rolling Strong driver health and wellness checks at client terminals, access to a national network of retail clinics for bio screening and discounted acute care, DOT compliance, driver fitness programs, wellness kits, access to Snap Fitness Rolling Strong gyms located at Pilot Flying J Travel Centers and telephonic health coaching.” MORE

Mini Sequencer

DNA sequencing is an idea that has launched many ships, and the latest technology in this field is the “MiniION,” from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Ltd. (Oxford, UK)—a $900 hand held device that can sequence long strands of DNA, looking for inverted or duplicated translocations.  This kind of advance toward “personalized medicine” accelerates the need to have skilled genomic interpreters and astute physicians who have the training and opportunity to apply this newer knowledge.  MORE

Image Credit:  Oxford Nanopore and Technology Review

Dr. Ing Takenga

Objectives: Involving information and communication technology in health solutions has shown to raise satisfaction for both health care providers and patients. This appears to be the suited solution for reaching an economically and socially viable solution to the increasing number of chronically ill patients which is currently stressing the healthcare systems. However, security and privacy issues have to be given more attention in most of the implementation environments. This poster introduces an innovative Telematics Platform suited for the implementation of mobile health solutions.

See Poster – Dr.  Takenga

Jello-Like Hydrogels

See the video in this piece; it describes how bioengineers at the University of California San Diego developed hydrogels with “dangling side chain” molecules, in a low pH environment (as in the human stomach), that bind to each other like Velcro. It doesn’t say how these hydrogel sutures can be attached to tissue so that, say, it could close a gastric ulcer, but it may be that the dangling side chains grip the tissue as well.  MORE

Image Credit: Joshua Knoff / UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Chemical engineers at MIT have developed a new means for delivering therapeutics to targeted cells, calling their creation “RNAi microsponges (the “i” meaning “interfering”).  The means of nanomanufacture is a polymerization process known as “rolling circle transcription.”  When the microsponge adheres to a cell and delivers its “ball” of RNA’s; enzymes clip the sponge into about a half million gene-silencing particles that aim to block, say, a cancer pathway.   MORE

Nike Elite 51 Uniform

Getting smacked down by a 300 lb linebacker isn’t quite like falling down the stairs, but a broken shoulder or hip can be the result of either.  Nike’s new NFL uniforms, designed for protection and flexibility, light weight and breathability are, at least, food for thought about designing clothing for elders who have an even greater risk for serious injury than a pro football player.  MORE

Image Credit:  Nike

As one of several projects in the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne’s “Guardian Angels” suite, researchers have developed an electrocardiogram platform that combines a highly sensitive body sensor, a Zigbee radio module and a computer chip that is optimized for processing biological data such as heartbeat.  The system, as shown in a video, takes its reading and forwards the results to a provider by way of a smart phone. MORE  WITH VIDEO

8 Cell Embryo

Using a soft polymer bowl that mimics the mammalian uterus and tissue culture, researchers at the UK’s University of Nottingham have created an artificial womb and used it to grow mouse embryos for up to eight days.  Conventional IVF methods have been able to support embryo growth for four days, but not longer, and between the fourth and eighth days, a blastocyst must attach in the womb and begin anatomical development.  Among other things these researchers hope to discover with this device is gene expression and regulation of mammalian morphogenesis.    MORE

Image Credit:  UK’s University of Nottingham