Dogs have great noses. They have an innate talent for sniffing out lost items or people, finding contraband, even signaling medical alerts for diseases such as epilepsy or cancer. The nose knows, and it helps us, too. This proven ability hints at the aromatic maelstrom swirling through our environment, beyond the scope of typical human olfactory senses. NanoBioFab, a biotech company based at the Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. (FITCI) in Maryland, is working on a way to let people tap into those subtle vaporous signals to hone in on various health issues.
Nanobiofab creates wearable nano-material based technologies using state-of-the-art customized inkjet printing nano-techniques. The nano-materials and bio-products detect minute molecules emitted from the skin for real-time tracking of fat consumption and potential disease diagnosis. Last year, NanoBioFab’s research earned support from TEDCO’s Rural Business Innovation Initiative (RBI2) and garnered first place in the US Eastern Entrepreneurship Contest, hosted by the Center for US-China Technology, Innovation, and Development.
On March 19, owners and principal scientists, Drs. Xiaonao Liu and Ruoting Yang will present at MedTech’s Military Pitch Event held in conjunction with US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) and the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC).
MedTech Innovator is the industry’s nonprofit global competition and accelerator for medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies. Their mission is to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of companies that are transforming the healthcare system. Administrators chose NanoBioFab from a pool of more than 750 applicants this year, the highest number in event history. The company was selected to pitch during this special military-focused event as a way to identify and accelerate technologies that may be solutions to military needs. This event also serves as the qualifying round for the MedTech Innovator 2019 Program, giving participants like NanoBioFab the potential to earn part of $500K in cash prizes and awards.
Dr. Liu is passionate about changing lives for the better. She says, “A personal tragedy inspired us to start this company. Once we began our research, we realized that this methodology has even greater potential to increase our understanding of an individual’s health. Imagine the transformative power of such practical, personalized insight.”
Kathie Callahan Brady, FITCI’s CEO and a NanoBioFab advisor, has been following their progress from the beginning. “It’s exciting. The process of getting new biotech products and solutions into the market is notoriously long and expensive. So, being selected by MedTech to pitch is encouraging. It will give them national visibility and connection to some of the agencies that can help push this technology to fruition.”
The Military Pitch Event will be held at the Charleston Area Convention Center in South Carolina. The pitch session kicks off with one-minute introductions, including one slide/graphic, followed by a five-minute presentation. Candidates meet with up to five groups of judges, consisting of strategists, investors, and other industry stakeholders.
For more information about NanoBioFab log onto http://www.nanobiofab.com or http://www.fitci.org.
