2023 August SUD Sprint Cohort

After my Ph.D. work at Carnegie-Mellon, I knew I wanted to study drugs, for both their therapeutic effects and their abuse potential. Thus, I chose to work with Wagner Bridger, at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where we tested the hypothesis that hallucinogens have two distinct effects—hallucinatory under non-stressful conditions and psychotomimetic under conditions of stress. We used animal models in test that hypothesis and the work was funded by an R01 from NIDA. I then moved to Hunter College as a full time faculty and in addition was recruited to join the Department of Developmental Psychobiology at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (headed by Myron Hofer). Within these two environments, I began a series of studies examining the acute and long-term effects of drugs of abuse. Much of this work focused on opioids, was funded by a K02 award and multiple R01 grants from NIH to study how opioid analgesia differed in both receptor pharmacology and neural localizations, and how morphine tolerance and dependence changes during infant development. Our group established paradigms for studying mechanisms of chronic opiate effects during development that are used commonly today.

In 2008 I joined the faculty at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In keeping with my interest in the effects of opioids, including pain, Dr. Renyu Liu and I have been collaborating on the potential of intranasal dezocine to reduce OUD. Dr. Liu established a start-up company, Neurokappa Therapeutics, LLC to explore further dezocine’s potential as a therapeutic. I am the Director of Medication Development at Neurokappa and we are actively seeking support for this endeavour.

Reason for participating in this course:
I have had extensive experience in the science of drug use and abuse. Now I am deeply involved in the potential of treatment for OUD as part of the start-up NeuroKappa Therapeutics but have little experience in that world. Thus I want to learn the ins-and-outs of the entrepreneurship that I can use going forward.

Innovation: Dezocine as a potential treatment for OUD
To help ameliorate the opioid crisis, we propose to repurpose dezocine, a previously approved non-scheduled intravenous opioid analgesic, in a novel intranasal formulation as a treatment strategy in addition to medication-assisted treatments (MAT) of opioid used disorder (OUD). Since dezocine is not a scheduled medication, and that there are no reported addiction or overdose deaths from dezocine, it can potentially prevent or reduce opioid related dependence, addiction, and overdose.

Scott Burwell, PhD is CEO and Founder of Neurotype Inc. located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has more than 15 years experience researching brain functions affected by Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), including training at the University of Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research and the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at UC San Diego. Dr. Burwell started Neurotype in 2019 with the aim of improving treatments for drug craving and recurrent drug use brought on by triggers in the environment (e.g., people, places, things linked to drug use). The company has been supported by innovation grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, other awards and cash prizes. Dr. Burwell has also led Neurotype in more than a dozen accelerator and medtech incubator programs, such as Yale University’s Innovation to Impact, NIH’s Innovation Corps (“I-Corps”), and UC Berkeley’s Masters in Translational Medicine programs.

Reason for participating in this course:
I am excited to participate in the L-SPRINT program to accelerate development and growth at Neurotype Inc., and to bring positive change to the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) community. Additionally, I very much look forward to connecting and networking with other innovators in the SUD space.

Innovation: Next Generation Neurofeedback for Drug Addiction Therapy
NeuromarkR is a device that helps people with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) by monitoring brain reactivity to drug cues. It’s an all-in-one tool that detects potential relapses in advance. The device uses a 5-minute scan to analyze how the brain subconsciously reacts to cues associated with relapse. This method is about 20% more accurate than current clinical predictions.

By identifying patients at the highest risk of relapse, NeuromarkR provides quick, accurate, and consistent measurements for clinicians right at the point of care. This enables targeted interventions like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness, which can improve attendance in outpatient care and clinical outcomes in preventive therapy by 30–40%. By utilizing NeuromarkR, we aim to reduce the average of nine relapses before successful remission, which can lead to savings of up to $700,000 in health claims. The capabilities of NeuromarkR can also be extended to other Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) like chronic cigarette smoking, as well as conditions where brain responses to images are dysregulated, such as depression and eating disorders.

NeuromarkR comes with a clinician dashboard that provides personalized recommendations based on the collected data. It’s an affordable and user-friendly clinical decision support device designed for easy use at the point of care.

I have a MD, PhD (chemistry) and am a practicing medical/surgical dermatologist. I am also an entrepreneur as a board member and practicing physician for an online skin care company.

Reason for participating in this course:
I hope to connect with others who are pursuing in the endeavor to help with the opioid crisis. My hope is to learn how to make this kit available widely to the public so that testing drugs can be conveniently and accurately performed.

Innovation: Fentanyl test kit
The patented fentanyl test kit is a size of a pocket lighter and is a single use device. It encompasses a pill cutting chamber, a chamber to store the cut pill, a measured water supply and an immunoassay fentanyl test strip that are needed to test street drugs for presence of fentanyl.

Dr. Lisa Cleveland is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, a Mary Jane Ihle Clark Professor in Caregiving, and a tenured Professor at UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing and School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics. Her innovative research with mother-infant dyads impacted by opioid use has contributed to changes in clinical practice and improved outcomes. Her recovery residence, Casa Mia, is a collaborative partnership between the School of Nursing and the nonprofit, Crosspoint, Inc. Casa Mia provides safe and supportive housing for women and children impacted by substance use. This successful model is now being replicated in Ft. Worth and Corpus Christi and expanded to a new comprehensive Women’s Wellness Campus and supportive housing program in San Antonio.

In addition, the findings of Dr. Cleveland’s Maternal Opioid Morbidity Study are providing insight into the contextual factors surrounding maternal return to opioid use and overdose death, a leading cause of maternal mortality in Texas and a growing national concern. She is a leader in the Texas Targeted Opioid Response to ensure access to overdose prevention education and naloxone: moreNARCANplease.com. Further, she has led the statewide expansion of community paramedicine teams that provide overdose follow-up care and improve access to treatment and recovery support services. Dr. Cleveland has also established and is now overseeing six community-based overdose resource centers throughout Texas and administers the only legal and government funded syringe services program in the state, the Bexar County Harm Reduction Initiative.

Reason for participating in this course:
Scalability and sustainability of novel approaches to substance use disorder (SUD) recovery for unique populations is critical. My ultimate goal is for the Casa Mia Model to become the national model of best practices in the care of women and children impacted by SUD. What I hope to gain from Babson College’s L-SPRINT Entrepreneurship Immersion is the knowledge and strategies I will need to successfully scale this model nationally while maintaining integrity to its key philosophical tenets. I also hope to receive mentorship as I work toward my future goal of conducting multi-site testing of the model’s outcomes to demonstrate its worth to managed care organizations and other payors as a reimbursable healthcare service that is fully sustainable.

Innovation: Casa Mia Recovery Care Model for Women and Children
Casa Mia (“My Home”), created by Dr. Lisa Cleveland at the U.T. Health San Antonio, School of Nursing (SON) is a comprehensive substance use recovery program where mothers live with their children. With state funding, Casa Mia opened in 2018 and is unique because it capitalizes on the SON’s clinical expertise and practice. Now being replicated in two additional Texas communities, Casa Mia is expanding to a new comprehensive San Antonio Women’s Wellness Campus that will provide on-site primary/behavioral healthcare services and a specialized nursery where prenatally substance-exposed newborns can recover with their caregiver in a home-like environment while supported by 24/7 nursing care. A permanent supportive housing program that provides rental/leasing assistance and supportive services is now being added to this care model.

Danielle M. Dick, Ph.D. is a tenured Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she serves as the inaugural director of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center at the Brain Health Institute and holds the Greg Brown Endowed Chair in Neuroscience. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology in 2001 from Indiana University and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics. She was on the faculty at Washington University, St. Louis from 2003–2007, and Virginia Commonwealth University from 2007–2022, before joining Rutgers University. Her research involves studying how genetic predispositions interact with environmental factors to contribute to patterns of substance use/dependence and related behavioral disorders across development. She has served as a Principal Investigator (PI) on 15 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, and Co-Investigator on another 9 NIH grants, with grant funding totaling >55 million dollars. She has >400 peer-reviewed publications, and has won numerous national and international awards. She has been named as one of the top 1.5% most highly cited researchers in the world across all fields of science. She is passionate about bringing research to the public in ways that are engaging and accessible; her first book “The Child Code: Understanding your child’s unique nature for happier, more effective parenting” is out now from Penguin Random House.

Reason for participating in this course:
I am excited to learn more about the process of commercialization and entrepreneurship. My passion for research comes from a desire to make a difference in people's lives. But at my mid-career point, I found myself wondering: is my work really making a difference? I realized that academics spend nearly all their time presenting to other academics, writing their work up for other scientists. I became increasingly interested in doing more to get our work into the hands of people who can use it. I don't want my work to simply sit in scientific journals; I want it to be translated meaningfully to make a difference in people's lives. My desire to learn more about entrepreneurship and commercialization is the latest step in my journey to be more proactive about making our research make a difference in the world.

Innovation: Personalized Addiction Risk Program
I have developed an algorithm that combines information about an individual’s genetic make-up and their behavioral and environmental conditions to provide an estimate of how at risk they are for developing addiction, based on my 20+ year career of NIDA/NIAAA funded research. I am working on a personalized feedback program that would provide individual risk estimates and then match individuals with tailored evidence-based resources designed to reduce the likelihood they will go on to develop problems.

Dr. Mo, (Melissa Dittberner), PhD, CPS, PS, LMT, is a lecturer in the Addiction Counseling and Prevention department at the University of South Dakota. She has a Ph.D. in Counseling and Psychology in Education, a master’s in Addiction Studies and a bachelor’s in Health Sciences. Dr. Mo is a TEDx speaker, prevention specialist and peer specialist. She is the CEO of Straight Up Care, a telehealth platform for peer supports. Dr. Mo is a co-author of The Alcohol Reset. She does research on college students’ substance use, pedagogy, addiction, trauma, body brokering, tattoos as healing and harm reduction. Dr. Mo is a person in long-term recovery and her mission is to help people learn to help themselves.

Reason for participating in this course:
I want to be part of this cohort to have an understanding space to learn, network and build the page in my business playbook.

Innovation: Straight Up Care, Peer Specialist training, administrative and compliant tools and app
Straight Up Care is a turn-key web-based platform that connects peer specialists to clients in one easy-to-use space and provides resources for them to share their lived experiences. This ultimately helps build a positive connection with those in the recovery community. The platform consists of a nationally accredited certification training course, a tele-health app for text, audio, and video chat, along with location-based scheduling. Straight Up Care also provides numerous free resources for those seeking help.

Galina Fedorova is an entrepreneur, social change leader, educator and philanthropist. 

Reason for participating in this course:
I am eager to participate in this program as it is tailored to support the commercialization of cutting-edge solutions for Substance Use Disorder prevention and treatment, which aligns perfectly with our needs. Additionally, I look forward to connecting with other like-minded entrepreneurs selected for the program, to contribute to the collective efforts in finding innovative solutions to the addiction epidemic and exploring potential collaboration opportunities.

Innovation: AI-powered Entrepreneurial Mindset Development Platform for women in SUD recovery programs
AI-powered, entrepreneurial mindset development platform that helps women in, or seeking, SUD recovery support to gain understanding of their natural talents, to explore passions, dreams, and goals, and connects them to employment or volunteer opportunities in the community of their choice. Our innovative digital health solution addresses social determinants of health and offers a unique combination of self-discovery and practical support. With a focus on building intrinsic motivation, our platform is a digital tool that supports women in their journey towards recovery and economic independence.

Chandra is committed to making social impact for marginalized populations using technology. As an EMT and SUD research assistant, he has seen the destruction of communities by the opioid epidemic first-hand. As a Clinton Global Initiative University fellow, he is an advocate for harm reduction policy initiatives and comprehensive solutions for SUD patients. As the co-founder of Overdose Guardian, he has received support from the NIH, Amazon, Verizon, and more to reduce inequities OUD populations face.

Chandra studies Neuroscience at Yale University and intends to take Overdose Guardian full-time post-graduation. In his free time, he enjoys running triathlons and playing Catan.

Reason for participating in this course:
As a SUD researcher and innovator from an underrepresented community, the values of Babson's program align with my personal and professional values, as I am committed to creating social impact and making a difference in the lives of those affected by substance use disorders.

Innovation: Overdose Guardian
Overdose Guardian is a safety net for opioid overdose. Our wearable devices detect opioid overdoses using non-invasive biomarkers and machine learning to then rapidly connect users to naloxone intervention.

Dr. Green is a Research Fellow in the Sheps Center for Health Services Research and an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She has had a distinguished 35-plus year career focused on increasing access to gender and trauma-informed integrative substance use disorder (SUD) care and on reducing barriers to evidence-based treatments. Prior to her academic life, Dr. Green worked in the early efforts by SAMHSA, the Children’s Bureau, NIDA, and representatives from the Women’s Service Network and National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, as well as non-profit companies, on state and national efforts to develop, deliver, and evaluate gender- and trauma-informed perinatal and maternal substance use disorder services. Her clinical, consultation, leadership, and coaching experience, and her public health research have been largely at the intersections of health and behavioral health for women, children, and families affected by substance use disorders and chronic health conditions amplified by experiences of trauma, racial and ethnic bias, poverty, and rural access to care barriers.

Two of her recent projects were funded by AHRQ and NIDA, one an intervention with primary care and rural health providers using an intervention designed to encourage adoption of evidence-based medication-assisted treatment in rural primary care, and the other, with her Co-PI and Co-Investigator, an experiment designed to examine the responsiveness of primary care providers to pro-social and financial incentives to participate in a learning collaborative for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). During the last 10 years of her career, Dr. Green shifted focus from directly supporting development of and evaluation of perinatal and maternal SUD treatment services and related policy research work to supporting and training primary care providers and other health professionals on the front lines of the opioid epidemic. During this time in which she worked more directly with her interventions and research at the provider vs the patient level she witnessed first-hand the burnout and struggles of providers who too often suffer in silence with overwork, family stress, and addictions until they are in a crisis with their own health or career.

Reason for participating in this course:
This program could better prepare me to understand the necessary steps and risks to successfully bring my innovation ideas related to provider health, SUDs, and women’s health to market and to get a better grasp on the types of partners I will need to do so. This opportunity comes at an ideal point in my career as I can dedicate the time needed to move from thought to action with this innovation. I have participated in faculty and public health leadership programs, but never one focused on entrepreneurship, an area of personal interest to me.

Innovation: L.I.V.E. Project 
The L.I.V.E project involves integrating evidence-based assessments for SUDs and burnout, and common co-morbidities, including those impacted by gender, with a confidential digital health intervention. My initial goal is to support health and behavioral health care providers as well as other public health leaders who are struggling with co-morbidities associated with overwork, burnout, and the all-too-common coping strategies that lead to the overuse of substances that create a downward spiral of dependency. The approach will be based on a trauma-informed harm reduction model that will be accessible from smart devices for underserved professionals who may not seek treatment due to concern regarding public exposure and impact on career. Both the health education aspects and the intervention side of the digital health solution will consider common co-morbidities and SUD risk factors for healthcare professionals.

Jordan Hansen is an experienced leader in healthcare focused on supporting recovery for people with issues related to substance use. He is especially passionate about improving access to care for underserved populations.

Reason for participating in this course:
We want to improve and refine our commercialization strategy.

Project: YourPath
YourPath is a solution for payers or government entities looking to address issues related to substance across large populations. Through our unique care model and ecosystem platform, we improve the performance of entire systems of care.

Dr. John Hsu worked 29 years in anesthesia, chronic pain management, and addiction medicine. Previously, Dr. Hsu founded Quivivepharma to produce a combined opioid-respiratory stimulant oral pill to address opioid induced respiratory depression and abuse deterrence. He was awarded a $1.9 million two-year NIDA NIH grant. He founded Fentavive, an oral abuse deterrent Fentanyl patch. He co-founded NAOMI systems, a digital platform for practice management. He has eight granted patents in digital medicine, medical devices and drug development.

Reason for participating in this course:
Learn about strategy and commercialization of OUD treatments

Innovation: IPill dispenser
The iPill—a digital health hardware platform to improve access and treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).

iPill consists of a pill dispenser operated by a mobile app for secure opioid storage, real-time remote medication adherence monitoring with bidirectional alerts for missed dose detection and remediation, biometric active controlled dispensing, and destruction of unused pills if tampered and automatic destruction at the end of 30 days.

Many patients with OUD are limited by education, income, SDoH, Health literacy and access to OUD treatment. iPill is trying to address these issues with technology by bringing medications to them. iPill can be prefilled with MOUD and sent directly to patient homes.

Quivivepharma
Quivive takes generic opioids and adds an inseparable respirator stimulant to support breathing and also deter abuse. Quivive reduces opioid side effects to reduce healthcare costs.

Denise is the Chief Executive Officer of Rev Solutions Global, LLC, an operating company for multiple brands that utilize a B2B behavioral reinforcement SaaS platform. The patented machine learning and Just in Time nudge messaging assists individuals and organizations with behavior change in real time around actual daily events. Their clients include FedEx, Intuit, IDEXX, Cox, Lockheed and many more. She is also a Start-Up coach, a fractional and interim CEO and an Angel Investor. Based on Ms. Hummel’s decades of experience in Diversity & Inclusion, the first use-case of the technology was with the behavior of inclusion, the content built by RevWork’s Lead Inclusively division. Predominant current use cases are in the mental health vertical from addiction recovery to depression recovery eating disorder treatments and other digital healthcare transformation goals.

An attorney, with a history of landmark cases, she is a serial entrepreneur and business consultant who scaled and sold her org culture firm to Ernst & Young (EY), joining them as a Principal.

Her cross-cultural strategy model is being is used throughout the world by EY, Deloitte and Aon Hewitt. She is also the author of two books, a Ted Talk finalist, a former HBA Board member, and a member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches ™ Legacy team, chosen from over 16,000 applicants globally.

Highlights of her career include establishing Ernst & Young’s (EY) Talent, Innovation and Culture Transformation offerings client-facing, and a tech team of PhD software engineers to operationalize her I.P. internally. At EY, she won their Innovation Award in 2015, led a major global M&A integration for a high-tech client merger and developed EY's client-facing methodology for Diversity & Inclusion client engagements.

As the Founder and former CEO of Universal Consensus, LLC, she implemented her cross-border business optimization model to generate double digit profit increases for clients, scaled the business to 65 countries, designed and executed the people integration for AIG’s operating companies in Japan and increased cross-cultural process performance for clients including FedEx, Roche, State of California Tourism, and EY’s shared services.

Earlier in her career Denise was a practicing attorney, a Law Clerk in the U.S. House of Representatives, General Counsel for the Overseas Education Association with a jurisdiction of Western Europe, Bermuda, Cuba and Iceland. She litigated and won the first class action under the Americans With Disabilities Act as a solo. She received her Juris Doctor from American University, Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Columbia University, Barnard College in New York, N.Y.. She also participated in international studies in advanced literature at the University of Florence in Italy. She has lived in the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy and executed for clients in every continent. She is fluent in English and Italian with conversational skills in French and Spanish.

Reason for participating in this course:
To learn more about the science of addiction, the sufferers we want to serve, the barriers to serving them with our technology and the ways to change the tech or the market approach to maximize our chances of successfully helping this group of users.

Innovation: Recovery Digital Coach
In addition to all the other barriers to addiction recovery, many continue to suffer because behavior change is hard and there are four primary reasons why even the most well-meaning patients never make the transition to healthy behaviors.

• Behavioral Learning is quickly forgotten: Unless new information is immediately practiced and reinforced, humans tend to forget 75% of what they hear or learn within 6 days.
• Learning happens at the wrong time: Applying knowledge in the real world is crucial to effective recall, but therapy and other behavioral learning tends to happen on a therapy or institutional schedule, not in the flow of day to day life.
• Learning is not reinforced over time: The human brain quickly forgets most of what it does not incorporate into daily practice, but when learning is reinforced at regular, frequent intervals, recall increases from a meager 25% to an enormous 80%, even 60 days later.
• Learning is not personalized: Most therapy or behavioral training does not adapt to the individual's learning style. Research shows that individuals acquire and process information in different ways. RevMyLife nudge notifications align with the learning receptivity of the specific user, which can vary with mental state, interest, time of day, learning style and level of development.

We can have a positive impact on addiction behavior because our technology takes behavioral learning content and super-charges it. Gone are the days where patients see a therapist or case worker week after week with no support in between sessions. Mobile nudge messaging, quick tips and micro-learning related to addiction recovery are integrated with calendared day-to-day events at the user's discretion. And a therapist or institution can also reach out with nudge messages of encouragement, helpful info or relevant event announcements.

I am an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers University where I lead an addiction neuroscience lab. A major focus of our work is preclinical development of new medications to treat substance use disorders.

Reason for participating in this course:
This course comes at an extremely opportune time as we begin the process of incorporating a spin-out company to develop our technology. This course offers an extremely unique opportunity to up-skill in entrepreneurism, which will be critical to our success as we embark on our commercialization journey. I am particularly excited that this course will be focused on the commercial landscape for SUD treatments, as this appears to be a very unique market to which the 'normal rules' of entrepreneurism do not necessarily apply.

Innovation: A non-addicting replacement therapy for stimulant use disorder
Substitution pharmacotherapy is an effective approach for treating opioid and nicotine dependence, and there is strong evidence to support a similar approach for the management of stimulant (cocaine, methamphetamine) use disorder. Despite this, no stimulant replacement therapy has advanced to the clinic, largely owing to the high abuse potential of such treatments. Our technology combines d-amphetamine with a novel adjuvant that i) enhances the anti-craving effects of d-amphetamine, and ii) removes its abuse liability. Our research indicates that this combination approach may be an effective pharmacotherapy for maintaining abstinence during initial abstinence/detoxification from stimulants.

Dr. Alvin Jeffery is an Assistant Professor of Nursing and Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University. He completed his PhD (Nursing Science & Health Services Research) at Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing in 2017 and a Medical Informatics Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Vanderbilt University’s Department of Biomedical Informatics in 2019. Dr. Jeffery previously held an AHRQ/PCORI K12 focused on Learning Healthcare Systems and implementation science. He is currently funded by an NIH/NIDA Avenir DP1 to develop precision phenotypes for substance use disorders with the aim of accelerating genetics studies as well as the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators focused on customizing electronic health record systems for diverse users and settings. He has a background in pediatric critical care nursing and as a staff educator at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He holds board certifications in pediatric critical care nursing and as a Family Nurse Practitioner. He is a former Emerging Leader with the Alliance of Nursing Informatics.

Reason for participating in this course:
I have a depth of knowledge and skill in conducting research, which is also expanding into the development of software systems now that I have grant funding. I can see potential for commercializing our software in the future so that we can achieve greater scalability of our methods. I envision a greater impact on health & healthcare if we can "hand off" our software to companies that have greater expertise in marketing and scaling. I look forward to learning about the process of moving from idea and prototype to a commercial product.

Innovation: Framework to Accelerate Substance Use Disorder Genetic Studies through Customizable, EHR-Based Precision Phenotyping
There is a critical need for accurate, efficient, and portable substance use disorder (SUD) identification methods that support large-scale genetic studies in uncovering biological mechanisms helpful in SUD prevention and management. The long-term goal of this work is to support genetic discovery efforts that result in beneficial interventions for prevention and treatment of SUD. The overall objective in this project is to develop and evaluate an SUD phenotyping method that allows investigators to fine-tune phenotypes for their specific projects. Given most large-scale SUD phenotyping for genetics studies have relied on administrative billing codes (that undercount true cases) and binary outcome labels (that induce arbitrary dichotomization), a system which includes a variety of data sources and generates a probabilistic outcome along a continuum is needed. The SUD phenotyping framework will support the inclusion of heterogenous electronic health record data types (including administrative billing codes, medication information, and unstructured text data) and will be evaluated in multiple organizations. Pairing these SUD phenotypes with genetic data will enhance our understanding of SUD mechanisms among individuals.

I am the Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professor in Health and Human Development and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. I completed postdoctoral fellowships in the Departments of Mental Health and Health, Behavior, and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I received my Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Florida. I am in the early phase of my academic career as I completed my postdoctoral fellowship in 2020, less than four years ago.

My work focuses on understanding the individual and contextual factors contributing to substance use disorders (SUDs) and associated health risks by evaluating and developing interventions targeting multiple levels of analysis (e.g., policy, judicial, and behavioral). I especially focus on the unique circumstances and structural barriers that impact racial/ethnic minorities, women, and other vulnerable populations and communities, often unaccounted for in traditional research. My research agenda has expanded to substance use and comorbid serious mental illness, particularly developing interventions for racially/ethnically minoritized people who use drugs and have comorbid serious mental illnesses (SMIs).

Reason for participating in this course:
To learn effective ways to use technology and marketing to improve substance use treatment

Innovation: Comorbid Substance Use Disorders and Serious Mental Illnesses: Combining Evidence-Based Treatment with mHealth to Improve Functional Measures During Active Disorders
This project proposes combining the effective IPSRT with mHealth components shown to be efficacious to develop the first integrated psychosocial mHealth intervention for Black individuals with comorbid affective SMIs (bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder) and SUDs. MHealth enables the unobtrusive collection of functional and behavioral markers and is a promising avenue to provide much-needed quality and low-threshold treatment for those with comorbid SUDs/SMIs—previous research support mHealth as a viable treatment for each standalone condition.

As a scientist and entrepreneur, I currently serve as the Co-founder and CEO of EvoDenovo. My focus is on the development of innovative treatments for substance use disorders. With an extensive background in research and business, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the biotech industry. My previous roles include co-founding several biotech companies and conducting significant scientific research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Reason for participating in this course:
A startup like EvoDenovo wants to benefit from participating in a program as it provides an opportunity to receive mentoring, access to industry experts, and a supportive community of like-minded entrepreneurs. The program could also help EvoDenovo refine its business plan, develop its entrepreneurial skills, and make important connections with potential investors or partners. Additionally, the Babson L-SPRINT program specifically focuses on developing new technologies and solutions in the life sciences, which aligns well with EvoDenovo’s goal of developing novel therapies to treat opioid use disorder.

Innovation: Mitigating the opioid epidemic
EvoDenovo is developing non-opioid treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD) by targeting a newly discovered receptor called GPR139. This innovative approach aims to manage withdrawal symptoms and lower relapse rates, offering a potential breakthrough in combating the opioid crisis.

Rakesh Lal is a highly experienced management and engineering expert, with extensive experience leading the development of complex medical products, ranging from sophisticated imaging devices and software to wearable sensors and SaMD applications. He possesses extensive software and data management, engineering, manufacturing and leadership experience related to product development, V&V testing, clinical validation, manufacturing process controls, and data and software security. He is also a regulatory expert and has filed several 510k submissions on behalf of medical technology clients. He currently leads the PneumoWave technology team and is passionate about bringing a world-class product that will not only help treat substance use disorder patients but can potentially and directly saves lives as well.

Reason for participating in this course:
The L-SPRINT course appears perfect to help me and PneumoWave further commercialize our technology and solutions. I hope to connect with other entrepreneurs and experts in the SUD space as we hone our commercialization strategies.

Innovation: PneumoWave ALERT
PneumoWave ALERT is a development-stage remote monitoring platform for patients at risk of Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression (OIRD). It aims to continuously monitor and accurately detect respiratory depression, generating an alert. Designed to detect OIRD caused by either prescription or illicit drugs, whether in a healthcare facility or at home, our aim is to stop all preventable deaths from opioid use.

Currently undergoing clinical development and evaluation in an international program of research, we are working to make PneumoWave ALERT widely available, as soon as possible, via the FDA Breakthrough Medical Device Program.

I am currently a fourth-year pharmacology PhD candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Here, I study pain and opioid neuropharmacology under the direction of Dr. Grégory Scherrer. My project primarily focuses on understanding and developing non-opioid therapeutics, with novel G Protein-coupled Receptors (GPCRs) as the primary target. Upon graduation, I plan on entering the world of bio-entrepreneurship to form companies that aim to provide novel solutions to pain and opioid use disorder (OUD). I am currently the co-founder of ExstoBio Inc., which aims to develop safer and personalized cannabinoid therapeutics for pain and OUD patients through a science-based, data-driven approach.

Reason for participating in this course:
This course is a perfect opportunity to bridge the gap between my current research and entrepreneurial endeavors, both of which are in the field of opioid use disorder and therapeutic innovation.

Innovation: Developing non-opioid amygdalar analgesics
Pain is complex and multidimensional, with sensory and emotional components. The aversive quality of pain (i.e. pain unpleasantness) causes a majority of chronic pain patients’ suffering and often leads to comorbid disorders such as anxiety and depression. The Scherrer group has identified the precise neuronal ensemble in the amygdala that encodes this pain unpleasantness, where the deactivation of these neurons yields analgesia without affecting reflexive behavior (Corder et al. 2018). Through a single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) approach, we were able to identify therapeutic targets in the amygdalar ensemble across the central (CeA) and basolateral (BLA) amygdala. Here, we aim to work upon our provisional patent to interrogate the therapeutic capacity of these targets in vivo, validate translatability to humans through post-mortem brain tissue, and generate breakthrough analgesics that lack the possibility for addiction or overdose death.

Born in Norway, with masters in Microelectronics from Univ of Oslo and biology on the side. Now lives in Houston, TX, with wife, 2 children, boy 13 and girl 14. Founded a subsea oil and gas company, now with approx. 100 employees and $50m in revenue. Left to scale and commercialize another start up, GeOME Analytics. Applying DNA sequencing to identify oil and gas subsurface optimized production. Now ready to successfully commercialize another start up addressing an opioid epidemic where targeted solutions are limited.

Reason for participating in this course:
We will commercialize our solution and we will be successful in coming up with the first preventive OUD solution. We believe this program can prepare us for investor presentations, and also introduce us to the right capital partners, whether industrial or private. Once we do, our objective is to secure funding from the right partner, and subsequently complete our research within 18-24 months and consequently be ready for having a solution in the market. Any commercialization would be aligned with the right capital or industrial partner.

Innovation: Detect and prevent OUD
There is currently no solution to prevent Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Our research in human postmortem brains has identified specific microRNAs targeting genes in brains of OUD patients. Leveraging this research, we plan to develop brain organoids/neuron brain cells derived from postmortem fibroblast of the same OUD patients and validate opioid effects on these brain models, as well as determining how the organoids react to repurposed drugs available in today’s market targeting the same genes, and as such we confirm the preventive effects for future OUD.

Dr. Renata Marchette received her Pharm.D. From Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP, Brazil) in 2011 and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in pharmacology from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC, Brazil) in 2013 and 2017, respectively. In 2018 Renata joined Dr. George Koob’s laboratory at the National Institute on Druga Abuse as a postdoctoral fellow and was promoted to research fellow in 2022. Currently, her research at NIDA-IRP focuses on translational pharmacology in opioid and alcohol use disorder. Renata developed rodent models to better understand the neurobiological mechanisms of the negative affect associated with opioid and alcohol dependence and the respiratory depression caused by opioids (alone and in combination with other substances). By utilizing these novel rodent models and state-of-the-art molecular, neuroanatomical, and neuropsychopharmacological approaches she seeks to understand of the neurobiological and pharmacological basis of addiction and to identify potential new treatments for these disorders.

Reason for participating in this course:
By participating in the L-SPRINT program, I can gain a deeper understanding of the business world and learn how to turn our scientific discoveries into practical applications. I can also network with experienced entrepreneurs and gain valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of starting and growing a successful business.

Overall, I believe the Babson College L-SPRINT program will provide me with the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to translate our pre-clinical research findings into potential therapeutic options for patients.

Innovation: Novel pharmacological approaches to reverse overdoses
We have found that combining prototype breathing stimulants with low doses of naloxone leads to full ventilatory recovery and normalize blood oxygen levels without precipitating acute withdrawal symptoms.

Dr. Loren Martin is the chief scientific officer for Alter Health Group and co-founder of Mindfuli, a virtual platform that utilizes the latest technology to enhance the collaborative relationship between providers and clients to support their journey towards recovery and mental wellness. He is also the Executive Director of a non-profit organization, Institute for the Advancement of Mental Wellbeing (IAMWell), devoted to providing free behavioral health services to those in need. Prior to joining Alter Health Group, Dr. Martin served as chief data officer and director of institutional research for Azusa Pacific University where he was also a professor and director of research for the doctoral program in clinical psychology for over a decade. He has mentored over 20 doctoral students in research and has published in several peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Martin has a B.S. in Psychology from Olivet Nazarene University, a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and postdoctoral training from the UC Davis MIND Institute. He blends his expertise in clinical psychology, social neuroscience, and data science to help improve lives and transform behavioral health care.

Reason for participating in this course:
I am excited to learn from the experience of others in how to best develop and market this innovative solution and grow my business model.

Innovation: Deploying Machine Learning Algorithms to Promote Recovery Outcomes
I am developing a virtual behavioral health platform that utilizes two different machine learning algorithms to promote the establishment of a strong working alliance and enhance recovery outcomes. The first algorithm screens care professionals for personal attributes that are most predictive of a strong working alliance. The second algorithm matches clients with the most compatible pre-screened care professionals once again based upon a prediction of establishing a strong working alliance.

Whitney is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Determined to eliminate barriers and cultivate opportunities for others to achieve their self-defined success, meaning, and fulfillment, Whitney leverages her 10+ years of experience working with individuals in recovery and their families to deliver innovative solutions that support the individual in their recovery journey. A persistent advocate for the populations she serves, Whitney is committed to value- and evidence-based approaches to substance use and mental health disorders. With a background in leading treatment and service programs, serving as a member of senior healthcare management, and working directly with individuals with behavioral health disorders, she brings knowledge and experience that enhances the application, adoption, and effective utilization of Behaivior’s technology in behavioral health settings.

Reason for participating in this course:
I know there’s a lot more for me to learn. I’ve been devouring everything I can get my hands on to read and have already learned a great deal from Behaivior’s CEO, but an in-person, intensive training with a mentoring component would help me identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. The opportunity to participate in an SUD-focused entrepreneurial program will, undoubtedly, accelerate my ability to successfully serve individuals with SUD through our company and future opportunities.

Swati More received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and acquired postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. She was appointed to the faculty of the Center for Drug Design at the University of Minnesota in 2013. Research in her laboratory seeks to identify, describe and solve biological problems through chemical means. A keen emphasis is placed on mechanistic probes into neurological disorders, with diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents being the end-goals. Specific projects include development of biomarkers and therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and novel non-opioid therapeutics for management of substance use disorder. A broad range of techniques are employed toward these ends, ranging from animal behavior studies, molecular biology, organic synthesis, rational drug design, biophysics, imaging and microscopy.

Reason for participating in this course:
We currently have prototype small molecules that have shown promise in preclinical testing in animal models. The IP for this technology has been secured. The excellent infrastructure provided by Babson L-Sprint program will enable me to understand the process of commercialization of effective SUD treatment solutions. Although the path to drug discovery is long, entrepreneurial education provided by the program would be valuable for advancing our technology further.

Innovation: Novel alpha2-adrenergic agonists for treatment of opioid use disorder

Opioid abuse and dependence present a rapidly worsening public health crisis. Opiate tolerance develops quickly, necessitating frequent dose increases to achieve the same level of analgesia. Co-administration of α₂-adrenoreceptor agonists such as clonidine is effective at lowering total opiate dose. Analgesic on their own, α₂-adrenoreceptor agonists enhance opioid analgesia when co-administered but inhibit tolerance to and dependence on opioids, thus displaying biphasic modulation of opioid function. The problem is low patient compliance because of intense sedation. An FDA-approved α2-agonist antihypertensive, guanabenz was found to synergize morphine analgesia in our preliminary experiments. For the first time, through chemical manipulation, we have illustrated that the sedative and analgesic effects of guanabenz can be disconnected. We also have developed prototypes that are either centrally active or are peripherally restricted and lack abuse potential of opioids. These novel compounds synergize with themselves and with opioids causing robust analgesia without sedation. Combination of such adrenergic agonists with opioids are expected to attenuate noradrenergic hyperactivity following opioid withdrawal and reduce abuse liability and dependence. Ultimately, we aim to facilitate wider patient acceptance of α2-agonist–opioid combinations by removing the unwanted side-effects of α2-agonists and providing effective address to opioid overuse.

I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Hardware Engineering. During my undergraduate studies, I received multiple awards in international robotics and programming competitions including 3rd place in Iran Open RoboCup 2007 and 2nd place in German Open 2008. After completing my undergraduate studies, I co-founded Pulseware, a startup company focused on providing core banking and payment switch data analysis and monitoring services. As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), I contributed to shaping the company's direction and driving its technological advancements. During my leadership, Pulseware flourished in the competitive landscape of Tehran, Iran, from 2009 to 2013.

I pursued further education in the United States and obtained my Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, followed by a Doctorate in Computer Engineering. During these academic pursuits, in addition to publishing numerous papers and receiving over 250 citations, I realized the immense potential of combining my expertise in computer science and artificial intelligence with neuroscience to treat mental health problems including substance use disorder (SUD). This realization led to the establishment of Metacognium LLC in March 2020, an innovative venture aimed at bridging the gap between technology and neuroscience. With a focus on substance use disorder (SUD) prevention and treatment, my goal is to develop highly effective interventions by leveraging cutting-edge advancements in neuroscience and AI. To accomplish this, I collaborated with renowned brain research institutes, working closely with top neuroscientists and psychiatrists at the Laureate Institute of Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia.

Reason for participating in this course:
So far my main focus was on developing MVP and evaluating its performance via clinical trials. Now that the product and the niche market is established. I want to learn more about financial, marketing and networking strategies. To find answers to questions such as: how to get in touch with new customers? How to present your services? When is a good time for fund raising? What methods should I use for fund raising? How to assign financial resources to various activities? How to set financial goals?

Innovation: Neuroscience Informed Psychoeducation
Our solution is an app-based platform for neurocognitive rehabilitation and neuroscience-informed interventions. We utilized animations and cartoon-based videos for psychoeducation to minimize the stigma associated with addiction and transfer complex neuroscience knowledge in an easy-to-understand and engaging manner. Our brain training games and exercises have roots in extensively studied neuro training concepts. Yet, they are gamified in the way that they meet today's standards in mobile gaming, from graphics to user experience. Furthermore, we provide a web-based dashboard to monitor and report the progress of the users for universities or institutes that employ our system.

Founder and CMO of OpalGenix. Physician-scientist.

Reason for participating in this course:
To network and commercialize the technology

Innovation: Prediction and prevention of Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnancy
Polygenic risk prediction

I have worked in the field of Neuropharmacology, Neurobehavior, and brain disorders since the inception of my doctoral studies in 1999. I have directed, as PI and Co-PI, numerous industrial and NIH-funded research projects in this field and have published this work extensively. I have maintained my own laboratory since 2001 in both industry and academic environments. In 2007 I started, managed, and directed the Stanford Behavioral and Functional Neuroscience Laboratory at Stanford University.

Reason for participating in this course:
Enhancement

Innovation: TBD
Neuroscience

Dr. Kan Shao is an Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at Indiana University (IU) School of Public Health, where he primarily works on human health risk assessment research and education. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering from the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, an M.S. in Machine Learning, and a dual Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering & Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. He was an ORISE postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Environmental Assessment at the US EPA from 2011 to 2014. Dr. Shao’s research primarily focuses on advancing computational and modeling methods to support chemical risk assessment and environmental policymaking in the face of uncertainty. His major contributions to the field of quantitative chemical risk assessment include the development of the benchmark dose (BMD) methodology, the improvement of toxicological study design for BMD estimation, and various methods (especially Bayesian approaches) to quantify different types of uncertainties in dose-response modeling and to promote probabilistic risk assessment. Dr. Shao is the founder of DREAM Tech, LLC a scientific consulting firm providing customized solutions to support quantitative chemical risk assessment. The Bayesian benchmark dose modeling (BBMD) system is the main product developed and being commercialized by the company. The company is expanding the BBMD system to model genomic data to detect SUD related genes and pathways. He is now an Associate Editor of the journal Drug and Chemical Toxicology, and served as a reviewer for a number of government risk assessment reports, including the California EPA and US EPA. He is now the President of the American Association of Chinese in Toxicology (AACT). Dr. Shao’s work has been supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Reason for participating in this course:
I believe that the L-SPRINT will provide me with knowledge and practice regarding how to develop and translate innovative technologies into commercializable products, and further enhance the chance to build a successful business. These skills and experiences will be extremely important for early-stage small business companies. The well-developed L-SPRINT program and knowledgeable instructors are other attractive reasons for this program.

Innovation: Genomic dose-response modeling system for SUD-related gene and pathway identification
The solution being developed aims to enhance the identification of SUD-associated genes and pathways by integrating substance dose information to quantitatively characterize SUD risk. We hypothesize that genetic variants involved in the formation of SUD can be “activated” when substance use reaches a critical level indicating that the genetic risk of SUDs is dose dependent. The rationale arises from a biologically plausible assumption that SUD risk and cumulative dose are positively associated. With the dose-dependent genetic information, noise in the whole genome sequencing data can be mitigated for the identification of the relationship between genetic risk factors and SUD status.

Anna W. Sromek, PhD, received her BS in chemistry at the University of Chicago, and PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was a NIDA post-doctoral research fellow at McLean Hospital from 2008 to 2010, and a recipient of the Alfred Pope Award for Young Investigators in 2011. She was promoted to assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and eventually to Director of the Medicinal Chemistry Program at McLean Hospital. She is currently a Deputy Director at the Center for Drug Discovery, Northeastern University. Anna’s research interests lie in the development of small molecules to investigate and treat neurologic and psychiatric disorders, especially substance use disorders.

Reason for participating in this course:
I am eager to participate in this course because it will teach me how to more effectively build value in my product and market my solution to the public, and maximize its availability to those who need it most.

Innovation: New Therapeutics Targeting D1-D2 Heterodimers for Treating Cocaine Addiction
Cocaine use disorder is currently a major public health crisis. Over 1.7 million Americans have used cocaine within the last 12 months, and 1.4 million meet DSM-IV criteria for addiction (2021). More alarmingly, cocaine related deaths have almost quadrupled between 2015 to 2021, approaching an unprecedented 25,000 deaths. It is a difficult and complex disorder to treat: relapse rates are dismally high, and there are currently no FDA approved medications available to treat CUD. We propose to combat CUD by developing a novel selective small molecule which targets a specific protein complex found in the reward pathway in the brain, and anticipated not to produce unwanted off-target effects. This protein complex is involved in inhibiting both reward and neuronal adaptations in response to chronic cocaine use.

IMMAD Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Driving is a company committed to the development of technology for the responsible use of cannabis.

Reason for participating in this course:
As a bioscience company we appreciate the need to gain a greater understanding of the community and science related to addiction and recovery. This program will better facilitate the networking that will be key in testing our product and the eventual marketing of our product.

Innovation: Retinal Dysfunction and CUD
Our current available technology is a simple VR goggle that displays 21 ten degree striped square targets of variable contrast. A person presses a button whenever they see stripes. We already have demonstrated efficacy of the technology in determining impairment of the retinal cells with acute inhaled cannabis. IMMAD-VR as is a forensic technology for use by law enforcement to determine impairment to drive with marijuana use. We hypothesize that by decreasing the target size to five degrees, increasing the number of targets to fifty-five and covering more of the peripheral retina that we can determine the point at which a medicinal dose of cannabis used for the control of substance use disorder, crosses into the range of impairment and thus would be considered an abuse of cannabis.

We hypothesize that this will beneficial in settings where cannabis use is contributing to a more successful recovery from opioid use such as measuring compliance with medicinal marijuana in drug courts.

I am trained as a molecular geneticist, and have been working in academia. In 1993, we reported the first molecular cloning of the mu opioid receptor gene. Since then, my research has been on the genetics of pain and addiction. In 1994, I served as a scientific co-founder of a biotech company to commercialize our findings and to develop novel pain therapeutics. The company successfully developed FDA-approved therapeutics and went IPO. In recent years, my research has focused on chronic nerve pain, and we have identified novel molecular targets for neuropathic pain treatment. My university and I have founded a biotech company to commercialize our findings, and our patent has been granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Reason for participating in this course:
My academic research has identified a potential molecular target for treating chronic nerve pain, and my university has patented the discovery. With my university, we formed a biotech company, to commercialize the novel discovery. However, we have not been able to get sufficient traction. The Babson L-SPRINT is an ideal program to help us move forward with this entrepreneur endeavor. By attending the Babson L-SPRINT program, I hope to better understand the entrepreneurship process in therapy development, receive advice on leadership team-building and networking, and gain knowledge on how to enhance opportunity to obtain R&D funding to commercialize our non-opioid therapeutic for chronic nerve pain.

Project: Developing a non-opioid therapeutic for chronic pain treatment
Chronic pain from nerve injury is one of the common forms of neuropathic pain, affecting an estimated 3-17% of the general population. Chronic neuropathic pain is long-lasting, often life-long, and effective treating of neuropathic pain remains a clinical challenge. Opioids are often prescribed for management of pain. However, the long-term, chronic nature of neuropathic pain makes it a poor candidate for opioid analgesic -- prolonged use of opioids for chronic pain often leads to opioid tolerance and dependence, and increases the potential of opioid addiction. Developing a non-opioid therapeutic for chronic pain treatment is an important but unmet medical need. We have patented a novel therapeutic, and have shown its efficacy in alleviating neuropathic pain in animal models. We hope to commercialize this innovation, to develop a non-opioid, non-addicting therapeutic for chronic nerve pain patients.