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Joust Winner Proposes New Stem Cell Technology to Treat Diseases
By UCF Staff April 27, 2006
Photo: Courtesy of Technological Entrepreneurship Institute
Left to right: Tom O'Neal, CEO of the UCF Technology Incubator and associate vice president, Office of Research & Commercialization; Keith Ewing, chief financial officer of the Avalon Park Group; Lessenia Cervantes and Angel Alvarez, members of the winning team; and Cameron Ford, founding director of the UCF Technological Entrepreneurship Center.
NeoCyte Biopharma, a company that proposes to develop a technology that can help treat neurodegenerative diseases by modifying a patients own cells so they can be used to create personal stem-cell lines, won first place in the University of Central Floridas third-annual Business Plan Tournament called The Joust.
The Joust, sponsored by Avalon Park Group, challenges entrepreneurial UCF students and faculty to create promising new companies. The participants presented their business plans to a panel of expert judges, and finalists were chosen based on the most feasible business concepts.
Twelve teams with 36 participants competed in the semi-final round on April 13, and the finalists competed April 14 for more than $5,000 in prizes.
NeoCyte Biopharmas unique technology approach would give adult stem cells the potential to be embryonic stem cells while avoiding ethical and clinical limitations. The company plans to develop this technology to focus on treating neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers and strokes, and to license the technology for use in other therapies for ailments such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
By winning the Joust competition, NeoCyte Biopharma earned $3,000 in prize money and business-development assistance from the UCF Technology Incubator for one year.
Members of the NeoCyte Biopharma team were Lessenia Cervantes, a student in the Master of Business Administration program; Angel Alvarez, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in Biomolecular Sciences; Maha Khan, a masters student in Management Information Systems; and Temitayo Akinrefon, a masters student in Industrial Engineering.
Other winners of the contest were:
-- Second Place: Stormwater Treatment Environment, which proposes to provide the
-- Third place: Infinipûr, which is designed to answer the sanitation questions of tomorrow. The product cleans surfaces and applies antibacterial coatings that protect for up to one month.
-- Fourth Place: Precision Aviation, which caters to the sport-pilot market by offering training and rental services to the
Lead organizers of the tournament were Cameron Ford, an associate professor in the
As a direct result of our increased outreach efforts, weve seen participation from across the UCF campus now grow, including teams with more students from science and engineering, Ford said.
Business leaders from the Central Florida community who participated as judges were: Bob Case, Kiran Chhaganlal, John DeArmas, Ken Dixon, John Fremstad, Michael Howard, Donna McKenzie, Gary May, David Metcalf, Peter Reinert, Martin Sutter, Blaine Sweatt, Craig Nickerson, Tom Bland, Howard Haug and Jason Rottenberg.
The UCF Technological Entrepreneurship Institute seeks to provide educational opportunities to potential entrepreneurs, inventors and small business employees. The institute facilitates academic research related to new venture creation and success. For more information, visit www.tec.ucf.edu.
