Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF)

Why should someone work with WARF? Jeanine Burmania says, "Our founders created WARF to help create that mechanism to support the development of university research and commercialization, and we've been doing that for almost a hundred years. So through all that history and experience, we've encountered many different ways of needing to partner with the university, partner with industry to find creative solutions to help support bringing technology off of this campus and having impact on the global scale." "So the reasons to work with WARF are that we've probably encountered a lot of different things that you never would've expected, and we have brought that back to our thinking and our culture about how we want to partner with industry to really support the technology transfer efforts that we have." #WARFFAQS To learn more about WARF, visit: https://warf.org

Excited to highlight an initiative from University of North Dakota alumni Howard Bailey, director of the UW Carbone Cancer Center, and WARF CEO Erik Iverson. Their innovation fund and venture philanthropy program is advancing cancer research by providing essential seed funding for research, faculty recruitment and product development. The unique program also offers donors the opportunity to co-invest in related biotech startups, aligning research and commercialization incentives within the University of Wisconsin-Madison ecosystem. As Erik puts it, “Few places in the country can actually build this as one cohesive unit. We have both big research and a captive venture fund spinning these companies out.” #WisconsinInnovates

We're counting down to the 2024 WARF Innovation Awards! Meet our fourth nominee, a team from the UW-Madison Department of Surgery in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health with a simplified cancer detection and screening method. Many of today’s most effective cancer detection and screening methods are costly and require that patients drive to a clinic for a blood draw – limiting factors for individuals in low-resourced and rural settings. Muhammed Murtaza, associate professor of surgery, and surgery researcher Michelle Stephens developed a diagnostic that allows at-home collection of blood samples, making the early screening and detection of cancer easier and more cost effective and improving health equity for millions of individuals. #WisconsinInnovates

Meet Jo?o Dórea, assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences at the UW–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, whose research involves using digital technology and predictive analytics to optimize farm management decisions. Dórea’s research group is interested in large-scale implementation of computer vision systems, wearable sensors, infrared spectroscopy and other sensors to monitor animals in livestock farms. "I was thrilled to see Prof. Dórea honored with UW’s 2024 Early Career Innovator Award. Since coming to UW, Jo?o has been on the forefront of applying data analytics and AI to challenges in the animal health and nutrition industry. His unique perspective has been shaped not only by his research, but also by his experience on his family’s farm and his time in industry at a major global animal health company. He develops practical, innovative solutions to address global needs," says Emily Bauer, director of licensing. #WisconsinInnovates

#WARFVentures invests in startups working with early-stage technologies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As our CEO Erik Iverson told attendees of the Wisconsin Technology Council's Early Stage Symposium last week, #WARFVentures has invested about $50 million in the last six years alone matched by another $800 million in outside investment. #WisconsinInnovates

What kinds of innovations should University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers submit to WARF? Stephanie Whitehorse says, "You can submit nearly any type of discovery to WARF. We file for patent protection on a variety of innovations. These range from novel devices, new systems, new processes or methods, compositions of matter. We also protect technologies in the software sector, as well as biological materials. And we will evaluate your technologies to see what's the right type of intellectual property that we can use to translate your technology through licensing." #WARFFAQS To learn more about WARF, visit: https://warf.org To disclose your invention, visit: https://warf.org/disclose

?? We're celebrating our 99th birthday today! ?? Learn about our beginnings and our founder, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Harry Steenbock. #WisconsinInnovates

We're counting down to the 2024 WARF Innovation Awards! Meet our third nominee, a team from the UW-Madison Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the UW-Madison College of Engineering with a separator membrane that improves the long-term performance of rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries have emerged as a highly promising option for large-scale energy storage, but challenges remain to their widespread adoption. An invention from Xudong Wang, professor of materials science and engineering, and recent Ph.D. graduate Yutao Dong addresses one major issue: anode dendrite formation, which limits battery performance. The researchers developed a separator membrane that slows the growth of developing dendrites, resulting in higher energy density and higher capacity zinc- and lithium-ion batteries. Another Ph.D. student in the Wang lab, Jiajie Sui, is currently working with NSF’s ICorps program to further develop the technology toward commercialization. #WisconsinInnovates

We're at the Wisconsin Technology Council's Early Stage Symposium, listening to Tom Still and Erik Iverson's keynote conversation on WARF's past and how we're looking to the future. #WARFat100

Meet David Gamm, director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, whose research focuses on degenerative eye diseases that culminate in the death of photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), including retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease, Choroideremia and Best disease. "David’s work involves utilizing human pluripotent cells to investigate retinal development and potential treatment for people with degenerative eye diseases. He is a recognized world leader and his innovations are finding their way into human clinical trials. We are grateful for Dr. Gamm’s partnership and excited to play a role in advancing his discoveries," says Andy DeTienne, WARF director of licensing. #WisconsinInnovates