'It’s (Probably) Not Rocket Science' podcast explores BioVenture 2024

The latest episode of It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science (IPNRS) explores how scientific wonders become products and medical treatments, giving people a healthy dose of groundbreaking discoveries and research from the comfort of home.

Titled "How Do Scientific Discoveries Make It Into The Community," this podcast episode brings IPNRS listeners on a field trip, much like the Magic School Bus, to learn about science.

The first stop is UNM's 'BioVenture', which is an annual event that connects researchers with anything they might need to take a discovery to the public, like patents or small business start-ups. BioVenture is hosted by the University of New Mexico Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC). Their goal is to improve the pathway from laboratory research to community clinical practice.

Dr. Eric Prossnitz, a Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine, and the BioVenture emcee, speaks about how challenging it is to take a discovery to the community because of financial burdens - often halting development. At BioVenture, researchers learned about the steps necessary to take a discovery from the lab to the public.

"If you don't protect your individual property then a company won't want to further develop your technology to make it commercializable and get it to the public," said Prossnitz. "If they spend hundreds of millions of dollars to get it to the public - or even billions in developing, for example a drug, there's no benefit for them…"

The episode also explored the event's pitch competition where researchers pitched inventions to a panel of angel investors and business experts.

These pitches were created by UNM faculty with an active or developing technology. They were selected through a competitive application process, and their ideas have major potential to impact society.

The first technology is about treating cancer patients with immunotherapy introduced by Dr. Eric Bartee, associate professor in the School of Medicine Department of internal Medicine, Division of Molecular Medicine.

Bartee developed a pitch that improves cancer care for patients, saying that with staggering numbers of cancer diagnoses and deaths rising in the U.S., his proposal would be to stray from traditionally harsh methods of treatment and instead use immunotherapy.

Bartee's lab has developed a variety of recombinant myxoma viruses that display improved therapeutic efficacy against tumors and are on the path to clinical testing. The novel cancer treatment has been used to treat tumors in mice.

The second technology was proposed by Dr. Kannan Ramaiyan who is a research professor in the School of Engineering Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Ramaiyan current research focuses on the electrochemical conversion of methane to ethylene using perovskite electrodes and developing electrochemical sensors for detecting methane. He pitched a novel device that monitors exposure to UV over time to let you know when to reapply sunscreen.

The last pitch came from Dr. Rita Serda, a research assistant professor in the School of Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center. She pitched a novel cancer treatment that uses ascites to treat advanced stage abdominal cancers, which would be less invasive than other methods.

Each of the discoveries could one day be seen by patients and consumers. Listen to It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science to learn more about these discoveries and which one took home first place. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Learn more about the show on podcast.unm.eduand follow on Instagramand ⁠ TikTok.

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