Media Advisory 17-008
Emerging biotech with potential to improve US health care on display at 2017 International BIO Convention
20 projects from NSF-supported small businesses feature novel biomedical products, processes and services
Twenty NSF-funded projects will showcase technology in the BIO Innovation Zone.
June 16, 2017
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
Small businesses and startups funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) will display emerging biotechnology at the 2017 BIO International Convention Innovation Zone June 19-22 in San Diego.
More than 20 NSF-funded projects will exhibit in a space dedicated to early stage companies with new biomedical technologies and products, including smart devices that track lung health, minimally invasive glucose monitors for newborns, 3-D models of human tissue for glaucoma drugs and more efficient manufacturing technology.
NSF awards nearly $190 million annually to startups and small businesses through its Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, with the aim of transforming scientific discoveries into products and services that produce commercial and societal impact. The BIO Innovation Zone gathers potential investors, industry partners, service providers and mentors to enable biotech-focused companies to make connections for commercialization.
NSF awarded each company at the exhibit an average of more than $1 million in R&D funding to create a prototype and move their discovery out of the lab and into the market.
Detailed information about each company and its technology is available on the convention website.
What: Twenty NSF-funded companies will demonstrate their biomedical technologies at the 2017 BIO International Convention Innovation Zone.
When: June 19-22, 2017
Where: San Diego Convention Center, San Diego
Media: Press interested in NSF-funded projects, please contact Sarah Bates at sabates@nsf.gov.
This is the fourth year that NSF and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have partnered with the BIO International Convention to participate in the Innovation Zone. The convention is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States.
"Breakthrough biomedical innovations often come from inventive small companies that develop disruptive new technologies to address unmet health care needs," said Jesus Soriano, a program director for NSF's SBIR/STTR program. "BIO offers these innovative American small businesses the opportunity to showcase their emerging technologies."
The exhibit area will also include 60 companies supported by the NIH SBIR/STTR program.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Sarah Bates, NSF, (703) 292-7738, email: sabates@nsf.gov
The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.
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