Beyond Academics

Connecting university researchers with industry resources

The Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) is a pancampus organization whose objectives are: to be a catalyst and resource for “applied” and “translational” life science and technology R&D activities; to further industry engagement and collaborations; to contribute to workforce development; and to participate in growing an innovation and entrepreneurship culture on campus. To achieve this vision, deep and interdisciplinary expertise of more than 250 faculty-led research groups from seven colleges and 29 departments on the UMass Amherst campus is combined with the diverse capabilities of industry and government partners. IALS partnerships support academic innovation that focuses on delivering high unmet-need product candidates.

addresses real-world problems in the emerging field of digital health care, wearable sensor technologies, and personalized, precision health care delivery, interfacing closely with provider networks, hospitals, and industry across the commonwealth and the world.

The Center for Bioactive Delivery develops novel drug delivery platforms for next-generation nutraceuticals, small-molecule, and bio-molecule therapeutics to facilitate “the right drug to the right place.”

The Models to Medicine Center discovers novel disease-related cellular pathways, drug targets, and therapeutic candidates. These targets/candidates represent next-generation therapeutics in disease areas of high unmet need.

A significant resource facilitating the IALS objectives is a newly created set of more than 30 Core Facilities, which contain cutting-edge equipment to facilitate a wide range of applied projects—from device prototyping, 3D printing, precision manufacturing, and roll-to-roll fabrication to human motion and gait studies, EEG and sleep studies, human energy metabolism, and brain/muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All Core Facilities are available to academic researchers as well as industry partners. Near these Core Facilities are “Collaboratories”—lab space available to industry partners and UMass startup companies to allow them to work alongside UMass faculty and Core Facilities. An “Industry Sabbatical Program” allows industry researchers to spend time embedded in UMass research laboratories or in the IALS Core Facilities. IALS works with industry partners to combine the best in academic innovation with an industrylike focus on delivering commercially significant products, services, and technologies over a defined timeline. Resources and facilities are equally accessible to academic, government, and industry collaborators. By design, IALS is product-focused, interdisciplinary, collaborative, outward-looking, and entrepreneurial.

The IALS Venture Development team offers innovation services (programs and resources) to support campus researchers aiming to translate their discoveries and inventions into product concepts and startup ventures that address real-world problems to improve human health and well-being. Venture development resources include a cadre of Business Innovation Fellows as well as external mentors and experts, all of whom work directly with applied science and technology founders on commercialization planning. The group helps prestartups and startups from the idea stage through early implementation to secure funding through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants and/or Series A funding.

Support from the Venture Development team ranges from one-time meetings on a specific question to ongoing commercialization planning with a small team of Business Innovation Fellows. Mentors, experts, and other campus organizations are engaged as warranted. Drawing upon a broad tool kit, the entire Venture Development team tailors its efforts to the individual needs of each emerging venture with emphasis on identifying and meeting key business milestones that de-risk and add value to the project.

The Venture Development team encourages and facilitates participation in events and programs to accelerate progress and raise visibility. For example, founders from the IALS startup community have participated in the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s NexGen program, BIO 2018 Startup Stadium, MassBio’s MassConnect and MassConnect PI programs, the CleanTech Open Northeast Summer Accelerator, I-Corps @ UMass Amherst, the UMass Innovation Challenge, VentureWell E-Teams Stage 1 and Aspire programs, and various MassChallenge accelerators. Recently, IALS Venture Development collaborated with five startups from the campus to help them secure spots in the 2021 Massachusetts Life Science Innovation Day (MALSI+) poster showcase.

In addition to its work with founders of individual pre-startups and startups, IALS Venture Development works to strengthen the campus innovation ecosystem by creating resources to inspire and educate emerging innovators and through collaborations with other campus organizations— the Technology Transfer Office, the Manning/IALS Innovation Awards program, the Office of Research & Compliance, I-Corps @ UMass Amherst, the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Manning College of Computer & Information Sciences, the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, Maroon Venture Partners, and more. For example, in 2020–21, the Venture Development Team launched the Startup Navigator (umass.edu/ials/startupnavigator) to provide general information for students and faculty seeking more information regarding STEM entrepreneurship and innovation. The team also collaborated with the Technology Transfer Office on a series of “Startup Know-How” talks (umass.edu/ ials/innovation-services/startup-know-how-talks) and with the Manning/IALS Innovation Awards program which added “Create a Commercialization Plan in 90 Minutes” sessions, and are now available on the IALS website.

The Business Innovation Fellows program selects students from the Isenberg School of Management On-Campus MBA Program and other UMass colleges and schools to gain hands-on innovation and entrepreneurship experience as part of the IALS Venture Development team. In collaboration with startup founders and IALS Venture Development leadership, agile teams of fellows work to de-risk and add value to business concepts by assessing competitive landscapes, finding potential funding sources, analyzing key markets, and building financial projections to clarify commercialization opportunities and plans.

Since 2018, fellows have engaged with more than 30 applied research and technology startup teams and have helped to secure SBIR funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, as well as VentureWell and the UMass Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures.

The program was conceived in 2016 by Mark Fuller, then-dean of the Isenberg School, and IALS Founding Director Peter Reinhart as a vehicle to help technical founders while providing hands-on experience in research-based innovation and entrepreneurship for business students. Since its inception with fewer than 10 fellows, it has grown to involve more than 20 fellows each year. While fueling IALS Venture Development efforts to support startups and pre-startups, fellows work in an industry-like environment that complements their education, thus preparing them to lead in the innovation economy. Fellows have gone on to impactful positions in startups and key innovation organizations and have established technologydriven companies.

The UMass Amherst I-Corps Site—I-Corps @ UMass Amherst—was established in late 2018 with funding from the National Science Foundation and the campus, with the goals of increasing research commercialization and startups while enhancing the campus innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. A robust three-part program introduces STEM faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows to the lean startup approach, and provides training and experience in customer discovery interviewing. In addition, research and program materials have been developed to engage and support the participation of members of groups who are underrepresented in science, engineering, and technology entrepreneurship.

More than 200 STEM researchers have participated in the Innovators Warm-Up, a 90-minute workshop that includes a hands-on exercise to engage and inspire participants. It is offered several times a semester in open sessions and through classes or other groups. Ninety-three individuals on 36 teams have completed the Innovators Jump-Start, which provides substantial initial hands-on training (six to eight hours of workshops) in support of required customer discovery interviewing (10 interviews). It is offered once each semester to selected teams. The Innovators Jump-Start includes training in “Overcoming Blind Spots and Unconscious Bias” to help participants address diversity, equity, and inclusivity concerns related to customer discovery and commercialization planning.

The Innovators Rev-Up is a capstone experience for teams that have successfully completed the Innovators Jump-Start and want to conduct additional interviews. Upon successful completion of the Innovators Rev-Up, participants are deemed prepared for the National Science Foundation’s National I-Corps Teams program. The I-Corps @ UMass Amherst Innovators JumpStart and Rev-Up act as springboards to launch teams into successful participation in other programs on campus and beyond:

• 4 NSF National I-Corps Teams • 2 VentureWell E-Teams Stage 1 grants • 1 CleanTech Open Northeast Summer Accelerator team • 1 MALSI+ showcase participant • 2 Manning/IALS Innovation Awards recipients • 4 Innovation Challenge 2021 finalists

The I-Corps @ UMass Amherst teaching team includes instructors from the College of Natural Sciences, the Technology Transfer Office, the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, and IALS Venture Development.