2nd Annual Invented at Duke Celebration

Duke OLV and Duke I&E’s #InventedatDuke Celebration is an opportunity to meet with University researchers commercializing technologies generated by the more than $1 billion in research conducted annually at Duke. Discover how Duke has been innovating this year at this 2nd annual event. Connect with alumni, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and investors while exploring our featured innovators as they show off their inventions and novel ideas.

This event will honor this past year's Duke faculty, staff, and student innovators whose research and ideas have the potential to improve and save lives.

Featured Innovators:

Cereius aims to improve the lives and survival of patients facing solid tumor brain metastasis through the use of personalized and highly targeted radiotherapy.

Inventors: Mike Zalutsky (Radiology) and Kim Blackwell (Medicine)
CEO: Ed Field (Duke Alumni and President of BioLabs, North Carolina)
 

TRPblue is a therapeutics company developing a unique, dual acting inhibitor that targets transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channels TRPV4 and TRPA1. TRPblue has developed small molecule antagonists that preferentially attenuate signaling of these calcium-permeable channels with proven efficacy in several acute pain and chemical denervation nerve-pain models. These inhibitors have also demonstrated anti-pruritic, anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory activity in relevant preclinical models. The team will develop a topically applied, highly tolerated go-to dermatology therapeutic.

Inventor: Wolfgang Liedtke (Neorology)
Management: Barney Koszalka
 

Eric Benner, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, will feature is myelin, proteins and phospholipids mixture that forms a whitish insulating sheath around many nerve fibers, repair technology which uses oxysterols to promote myelin repair for white matter damage.
 

Realtime Robotics have invented a specialized processor for generating safe robot motion plans in microseconds, enabling robots to function in unstructured, collaborative workspaces, reacting to other movements as soon as they are perceived.

Inventor: Dan Sorin (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
CEO: Peter Howard (Four startups, two IPOs, one strategic exit in robotics)
 

Zephyr Mobility is collaborating with Duke Health to develop a bariatric patient handling device for nurses in the hospital. 75% of patients need to be turned side to side every two hours, but current methods are back-breaking and labor-intensive for nurses. Our mechanical system accomplishes the task at the push of a button, which will improve patient outcomes, reduce caregiver back strain, and improve staff productivity across the hospital. Duke Health is providing major R&D support with seed funding, access to end users and key administrators, personnel and facilities for field testing, and clinical mentorship.

Inventor: Sam Fox (Pratt Grad)
 

TAMS, Teaching Assignment Management System is a software application developed at the School of Nursing that helps predict teaching efforts needed for university courses and assign faculty to those courses. This has been recently licensed to George Washington, and University of Illinois

Inventors: David Bowersox/David Parrish (Nursing)
Management: Michael Evans
 

Carpe Lotion is the developer of antiperspirant solutions for all the neglected, sweaty areas of the body: Hands, feet, and soon, far more. Our mission is simple: Stop the sweat, no matter where you sweat, why you sweat, or how you sweat. Founded by then-UNC sophomore David Spratte and Duke sophomore Kasper Kubica in 2014, Carpe has grown into a top-selling brand on Amazon, and reached millions of Americans with its nationwide presence at CVS.

Co-Inventor: Kasper Kubica (Duke Grad)
 

374 Water - Marc Deshusses, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University, is working on a project funded by the Gates Foundation to "Reinvent the Toilet." His supercritical water oxidation technology has been implemented into a prototype on campus, which Deshusses hopes will mark the beginning of a sanitation revolution for millions of people around the world.

Inventor: Marc Deshusses