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Gresham Richter, M.D. (right), discusses his BioVentures-supported invention, the Smart Tracheal Collar, with Dan Voth, Ph.D. Image by Bryan Clifton

UAMS Showcase Celebrates BioVentures-Supported Research with Commercial Promise

Oct. 28, 2025 | The latest University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Showcase of Medical Discoveries celebrated innovation and entrepreneurship, featuring research supported by BioVentures LLC, UAMS’ technology transfer office and business incubator.

Held Oct. 22 at the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the event highlighted how UAMS investigators are moving their discoveries into technologies and startups that improve health and strengthen Arkansas’ biomedical economy.

“Commercialization is a pathway to getting biomedical inventions to the bedside,” said Eric C. Peterson, Ph.D., president of BioVentures. “It starts with that first brave step, and all of these inventors are taking it. From new ways to help T cells fight cancer to technologies that improve imaging analysis or help clinicians do their jobs more efficiently, they’re moving their discoveries toward better patient care.”

Daniel Voth, Ph.D., UAMS vice chancellor for Research & Innovation, said BioVentures is essential to UAMS’ mission.

“This is the way we ultimately get our discoveries out to the public,” he said. “BioVentures helps investigators license and patent their inventions, start companies and connect with funders. Without BioVentures, we’d have to do this off campus, and most of us as scientists wouldn’t know how to navigate that process on our own.”

Through BioVentures, UAMS researchers receive help with intellectual-property protection, licensing, and startup formation, as well as access to educational programs and incubator lab space. The office also connects inventors with industry partners and investors.

Among those at the Showcase who credited BioVentures with making their work possible was Gresham Richter, M.D., professor and vice chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology. His invention, the Smart Tracheal Collar, integrates sensors and micro-electronics into a soft, reusable silicone collar that holds a tracheostomy tube in place.

The collar continuously monitors heart rate, oxygen concentration, temperature and other vital signs via Bluetooth, sending data to a companion app for caregivers and clinicians.

“This happened because of BioVentures,” Richter said. “The partnerships that made this device possible started there. I was able to apply for a $25,000 grant through BioVentures that funded our first prototype, and they helped us secure a patent.”

The project began when Richter and his colleagues thought of a safer, simpler way for families to monitor children with tracheostomies at home. “The technology for trach collars hasn’t changed in 30 years,” he said. “We wanted something reusable, with embedded sensors, so parents could see their child’s vital signs on a phone instead of having multiple monitors attached.”

Working with Kevin Sexton, M.D., former BioVentures president, Richter’s team created both the hardware and the mobile app. They have since formed a startup, Safe Haven LLC, to manufacture and distribute the device. “Without BioVentures, I would not have been able to produce this device,” he said.

Also at the Showcase was a multidisciplinary team led by Mohamed Elasri, Ph.D., whose startup, VanGuard Biofilm LLC, is developing StaphGuard, a first-in-class small molecule that prevents and disrupts bacterial biofilms responsible for implant infections and chronic wounds.

“It has been a wonderful journey working with BioVentures as we developed our invention as a solution to infections in implants, which is a major problem,” said Elasri, UAMS associate vice chancellor for research. “BioVentures has been fantastic in guiding us through commercialization, linking us with potential partners and helping us form a company. We’re scientists, so this part is all new to us, and the BioVentures team has been patient and supportive every step of the way.”

The showcase featured a wide range of projects supported by BioVentures, from new cancer immunotherapies and diagnostic assays to machine-learning tools and drug-discovery platforms. Among the inventors and projects were:

• John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director, Division of Nephrology, College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine — through NephSmart LLC, creating a urine-based assay that can distinguish patients likely to develop severe acute kidney injury, improving early diagnosis and care.
• Marie Burdine, Ph.D., associate professor, College of Medicine Department of Surgery, and director, Division of Surgical Research — developing a novel therapy, small molecule DNA-PKcs inhibitor DA-143, to prevent delayed graft function after kidney transplant.
• Cesar Compadre, Ph.D., professor, College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences — advancing the development of the drug tocoflexol, a promising radiation mitigator.
• Robert Eoff, Ph.D., professor and vice chair, College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology — discovery of a molecule, UAMS-48, that could lead to new ways to make existing drugs more effective in treating deadly cancers such as glioblastoma.
• Daniel Fil, Ph.D., staff scientist, College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology — engineering CAR-T cells resistant to EZH2 inhibitors, creating more durable cancer immunotherapies that maintain their potency in difficult tumor environments.
• Donald J. Johann, Jr., M.D., professor, College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics, and director, UAMS Genomics Sequencing Facility — next-generation RNA/DNA diagnostic for breast-cancer subtyping in archival samples.
• Brian Koss, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology — developing strategies to enhance immune checkpoint response and engineer CAR-T cells with greater persistence.
• Mitch McGill, Ph.D., associate professor, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Department of Environmental Health Sciences — developing a new biomarker for drug-induced liver injury that is more specific than current tests, aiming to reduce false positives and help keep potentially safe drugs in development.
• Tudor Moldoveanu, Ph.D., associate professor, College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology — advancing the discovery platform for BCL-2 family inhibitors aimed at improving the effectiveness of existing cancer treatments.
• Mousumi Patra, Ph.D., research associate, College of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology — combining immunotherapy with enhanced DNA damage repair activity in T cells to improve immune responses and persistence in solid tumors.
• Rami Shahror, Ph.D., senior postdoctoral fellow, College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology — discovering how the protein CD5L can protect against retinal ischemic injury and developing it as a potential therapy for ischemic eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion.
• Sydnye Shuttleworth, M.D./Ph.D. graduate student, College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology — discovering how modulating the protein RNF166 can reduce T-cell exhaustion, potentially improving the long-term success of adoptive cell therapies like CAR-T.
• Zach Waldrip, Ph.D., instructor, College of Medicine Department of Surgery — developing genetically engineered probiotic yeast that can neutralize intestinal toxins, offering a low-cost, edible therapeutic approach for enteric diseases such as difficile infection and shigellosis.
• Christopher Wardell, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics — developer of Skellytour, a high-accuracy, open-source machine-learning model that maps bones and implants on CT scans to improve medical imaging analysis and research applications.