Texas A&M Health, Partners Awarded $4 Million For Multi-Institutional Commercialization Hub

Texas A&M University Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health), the Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC) and their partner institutions, Texas Southern University (TSU), University of Texas Medical Branch and TMC Innovation, have been awarded a four-year, $4 million cooperative research agreement grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create the Gulf Coast Consortium Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (GCC-Reach).

This multi-institutional commercialization hub will support the development and commercialization of transformative health care treatments based on research discoveries.

“The creation of the GCC-Reach will help increase the translation of medical discoveries into products and services that will directly benefit the health and welfare of patients with many different types of diseases,” said Dr. Peter Davies a principal investigator and director of the Center for Translational Cancer research at the Texas A&M Health Institute of Bioscience and Technology.

Over the next four years, the GCC-Reach will train academic entrepreneurs and scientists within GCC member institutions, TSU and regional research institutions to navigate the process of successfully commercializing their novel discoveries. The consortium aims to launch as many as 60 early-stage biomedical companies that will attract venture investments and additional grant funding.

Additional principal and co-investigators include:

• Dr. Suzanne Tomlinson, principal investigator and director of research programs for the Gulf Coast Consortia
• Dr. Stanley Watowich, principal investigator and associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health)
• Veronica Ajewole, PharmD, co-investigator and associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration at Texas Southern University
• Dr. Rick Silva, co-investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Texas A&M School of Medicine

“The commercialization process can be very daunting, serving as a barrier to many researchers and scientists considering the process,” Davies said. “We are excited to have the opportunity to lower the barriers to commercialization and the opportunity to help make innovative new medical diagnostics, treatments and devices available to the public.”