Every Thursday night in Collegetown’s eHub location,there’s business building going on.Fueled by Chipotle,startup ideas and knowledge from various disciplines,30-50 students gather every week for Startup Hours,a meetup begun last year by Sean Cai’25,an applied economics and management major in Dyson.“Startup Hours was our take on creating acasual recurring event where CS majors,business majors and creators of all disciplines could meet and build,”Cai said.The informal meetings allow students to work on projects,meet with venture capitalists and mentors,find out about startup resources and catch up with other builders and early-stage investors.Once amonth,organizers invite aguest speaker.During an October meeting,participants heard from investor George Mathew‘95,managing director at Insight Partners,who shared the story of his career and offered advice to students about building acompany.“When you start these journeys,you have to move the best ideas forward and be able to differentiate your ideas from others,”he said.“You have to go from being the idea leader to being the engine builder.”As aneurobiology and behavior major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,Mathew said his Cornell education helped him to be alifelong learner.“I try to optimize for learning and being curious—all the things that Cornell teaches us very well,”he said.Emma Warden’25,an information sciences major(A&S),came to listen to Mathew because she has interests in technology and healthcare and working at astartup.“I love hearing how really successful people think and how they have used their resources,”she said.Peter Lu’25,an industrial and labor relations major,said he comes to Startup Hours to meet other like-minded students share ideas,and find friends to help him build his company.Lu also hosts the Passion Play Profit podcast,and he recorded Mathew’s talk as apodcast episode.“It’s aplace where everyone is willing to help,”he said about Startup Hours.Caroline Zhu’26,an applied economics and management major(Dyson),said some students who come to Startup Hours are venture capital fellows looking for companies for potential investment,others are company founders seeking co-founders and still others just want to learn more about entrepreneurship.“Our primary goal when we started was to bring out those secret entrepreneurs working in their dorm rooms and connect them to all of Cornell’s resources,”she said.“There are alot of nitty gritty details about entrepreneurship that really come out when you get entrepreneurs talking to each other.”Startup Hours are financially sponsored by Entrepreneurship at Cornell and take place every Thursday from 7:30-9 p.m.at eHub Collegetown,409 College Ave. 查看详细>>

A Cornell multidisciplinary research center that studies chronic fatigue syndrome has received afive-year,$9.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease–funding that will enable experts from disparate fields to work together on the mysterious and debilitating condition.The Cornell Center for Enervating Neuroimmune Disease,established in 2017,ultimately seeks to understand the biological basis and develop atreatment for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome(ME/CFS),a disabling disorder for which there are currently no effective therapies.ME/CFS affects an estimated 3million people in the United States and some 65 million worldwide,causing some to be ill for decades and unable to work.The disease leads to overwhelming fatigue that rest does not alleviate.Symptoms may include brain fog,body pains,headaches,difficulty sleeping and prolonged increases in symptoms after mild physical exertion or exercise.“What is desperately needed in ME/CFS are effective treatments that not only improve certain symptoms,but actually ameliorate the whole disease,so that people can get their lives back,”said Maureen Hanson,Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences(CALS),who is the center’s director and co-principal investigator of the grant,which starts on April 1.“When we started the Center in 2017,our goal was to take abroad interdisciplinary approach,with the hope that we would find specific molecular changes in ME/CFS;now that we have found these changes,we can target our research on these changes and understand their impact,ultimately moving towards acure,”said Andrew Grimson,associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in the College of Arts and Sciences,the center’s associate director and co-principal investigator on the grant.The center includes researchers from Cornell’s Ithaca campus(with collaborators from four colleges involved in the current cycle of research projects),the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan,Florida Atlantic University,and Dr.Susan Levine,who will diagnose ME/CFS in patients from her private practice in Manhattan.“The center allows biomedical engineers,bio-informaticists,immunologists,cell biologists–all these people with different expertise to come together and work on asingle problem,”Hanson said.The current grant will focus on three main research projects.First,project lead Ben Cosgrove,working with Iwijn De Vlaminck,both associate professors in the Cornell Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering,will analyze gene expression in muscle biopsies,using anew spatial transcriptomics machine that measures RNA in cross sections of tissue samples to identify all the gene activity in the sample and map where the activity is occurring.Cosgrove and De Vlaminck will look for gene activity in muscle fibers,blood vessels and immune cells from the biopsies of ME/CFS patients and controls to see what differences are found in people with the syndrome.They will also be breaking down tissues from the biopsies into individual cells and looking at the RNA–and genes expressed–in individual cells.The second project,led by Hanson,in collaboration with De Vlaminck,will analyze RNA released into blood plasma when cells die,before and after exercise,as people with ME/CFS respond abnormally–and adversely–to exercise.The tests seek to identify whether RNA released into the plasma after exercise is different between patients and controls.Also,the researchers will examine the proteins in extracellular vesicles–which play key roles in the body’s cellular signaling–before and 24 hours after exercise,to see if proteins present in extracellular vesicles are different in people with ME/CFS versus controls.They will also isolate extracellular vesicles from platelets,neuronal cells and blood vessel cells to check for differences between healthy people and ME/CFS patients,though this detailed inquiry will not involve exercise.Third,Grimson,in collaboration with Dawei Li,a biomedical scientist at Florida Atlantic University,will lead ateam to isolate and characterize gene expression in monocytes(a type of immune cell)and platelets in people with the disease compared to controls.In previous work at the center,Grimson discovered patients had abnormalities in both of these cell types,and this work will seek further information on such differences in the immune and circulatory systems,as both seem to be affected by the disease. 查看详细>>

A multimillion-dollar grant from LinkedIn to the Cornell Ann S.Bowers College of Computing and Information Science(Cornell Bowers CIS)has launched afive-year strategic partnership to support research in artificial intelligence and other areas,and to bolster diversity initiatives within the college.The partnership–a first for both LinkedIn and the college–provides annual funding to Cornell Bowers CIS to support doctoral students,engage faculty through research support and amplify efforts in diversity,equity and inclusion.It also establishes aresearch connection between LinkedIn’s scientists and engineers,and faculty and students in Cornell Bowers CIS,one of the top artificial intelligence programs in the U.S.“This exciting partnership advances our commitment to being an academic leader of innovation for all students and allows for unique research collaborations with aforward-thinking,global company,”said Kavita Bala,dean of Cornell Bowers CIS.Launched in 2003,LinkedIn–with 810 million members worldwide–is the world’s largest professional network.The new partnership will advance its work in key AI research areas,such as fairness and equity,as well as play arole in moving diversity efforts forward through supporting underrepresented students.“Cornell Bowers CIS is aresearch leader in both artificial intelligence and labor statistics,”said Ya Xu,head of Data and AI at LinkedIn.“This partnership enables us to work hand-in-hand to design novel AI solutions built to connect more people to economic opportunity as we all navigate the new world of work.As head of LinkedIn’s Women in Tech group,I’m also excited that LinkedIn can contribute to and support CIS’commitment to bring diversity to the school through initiatives such as Women in Computing at Cornell(WICC).”“When thinking about partnerships,matched interest is top-of-mind for us,”said Souvik Ghosh’08,director of engineering,AI,at LinkedIn.“Cornell Bowers CIS’commitment to world-class AI research and diversity is directly aligned with our vision at LinkedIn,and we believe that through using AI technologies,we can succeed in our mission of providing economic opportunity to everyone.”The commitment from LinkedIn will provide financial support to doctoral students working in strategic research areas and support initiatives such as CSMore,a summer program from rising sophomores in computer science,and student groups including Under-Represented Minorities in Computing at Cornell and WICC.Roughly 43%of Cornell Bowers CIS’2,000 undergraduate majors are women,and 16%are underrepresented minorities,but Bala said there is still much work to be done.“LinkedIn’s vision to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce will inspire exciting new research that can make adifference in the world,”said Thorsten Joachims,associate dean for research at Cornell Bowers CIS and aprofessor of computer science and information science.“Our new model of strategic partnership provides the framework for sustained and long-term cooperation.”Louis DiPietro is awriter for the Cornell Ann S.Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. 查看详细>>

With apinch of pomp and circumstance,Cornell’s McGovern Center life sciences business incubator recently graduated two companies–Bactana Corp.and Conamix.“Entrepreneurship is apart of Cornell’s founding mission as New York state’s land-grant university–[where researchers can]discover and disseminate knowledge for the benefit of people across the state and beyond,”Provost Michael I.Kotlikoff said Sept.24 at the McGovern graduation ceremony.“With the aid of venture development and incubation,entrepreneurs are putting research and inventions to good use,”Kotlikoff said.“Conamix and Bactana were both selected by the McGovern Center for the excellence of the science behind their products,their potential for commercial success and the potential benefits to society.”Bactana,steeped in Cornell veterinary research,is developing products for companion animals to improve digestive health and for livestock to increase feed efficiency and weight gain while reducing morbidity and mortality.The company originally explored the benefits of their naturally occurring bacterium by introducing them into livestock to stave off disease and promote healthy growth.For decades,antibiotics have been used liberally to promote growth and prevent disease in livestock throughout the United States and around the world. 查看详细>>

A team of students who brainstormed their business idea–a cloud-based monitoring system for dairy cows–during the Digital Agriculture Hackathon in March is moving forward with its startup.FoodFul,run by agroup of recent Cornell graduates,earned aspot in the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator,based in New York City,and has secured a$50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps(I-Corps)program.FoodFul is piloting its dairy monitoring system,DairyX,at Cornell’s dairy barns and plans to expand with pilot projects at Tompkins County farms this fall,and alaunch in early 2020.DairyX uses sensors placed throughout adairy barn to measure cows’individual food and water intake,activity level and other behaviors via radio frequency identification tags attached to each cow’s ear.The system collects information on each cow,then sends alerts to farmers by mobile phone or computer.“Farmers have atough time monitoring the health of each individual cow,”said Joseph Tarnate,MPS’19,CEO and co-founder.“Any deviation from the herd average could signify aproblem.”FoodFul is working at the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator through October,and will use its I-Corps grant this fall to interview dairy farmers in various regions of the U.S.about regional differences in farming practices.Other team members include Xitang Zhao’18,M.Eng.’19,FoodFul’s chief technology officer and co-founder;and Han Wang’22,who joined the team after the spring hackathon. 查看详细>>

Five students will examine the business prospects for adiverse array of Cornell technologies–including acryptocurrency model,spine treatment,computer vision algorithm,and materials for high-powered electronics and microfluidic devices–as the newest class of commercialization fellows.The fellows,all engineering doctoral students,will spend afully funded semester and summer exploring the commercial viability of their respective technologies.From intellectual property management to supply chains,the fellowship offers adeep and personalized experience in learning what’s needed to bring products to market. 查看详细>>

The word“praxis”is drawn from the Greek language;it implies action,or getting things done.It’s aconcept informing and animating anew center aimed at fostering New York state startup companies in engineering,digital technology and physical sciences.The Praxis Center for Venture Development hosted agrand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 21 in Duffield Hall.The center will help clients accelerate research and development of their technologies and products.One of the primary goals will be facilitation of clients’progress toward securing significant outside investment and achieving self-sufficiency,all while supporting business development in New York state.“There’s an amazing ecosystem of knowledge,instrumentation and experience in so many disciplines at Cornell,”said Robert Scharf’77,director of the Praxis Center and an entrepreneur-in-residence at Cornell Engineering.“Somewhere within walking distances on campus there is an expert in your topic of interest.This is atremendous asset that we can harness to benefit entrepreneurs in upstate New York.” 查看详细>>

Six New York state businesses have been awarded funding to participate in the Cornell Center for Materials Research(CCMR)JumpStart Program,through which they will collaborate with Cornell faculty members to develop and improve their products.Cornell impacting New York State The program is supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science,Technology and Innovation(NYSTAR),with the ultimate goals of revenue growth and job creation.JumpStart projects receive up to$5,000 in matching funds for project costs that include faculty and research staff time,facilities,services,supplies and materials. 查看详细>>

Twelve graduate students will spend this year refining their dissertation plans and testing the waters of global research,with help from faculty mentors and intensive workshops,in the Einaudi-SSRC Dissertation Proposal Development Program.The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies,partnering with the New York–based Social Science Research Council,selected this year’s awardees based on the potential impact of their research and its cross-disciplinary engagement with world issues.The students will receive up to$5,000 for summer research in countries like Malawi,Sri Lanka and India.“The program is interdisciplinary and brings together students from across the university,”said history professor Durba Ghosh,one of the program’s co-leaders.This year’s theme,“Embarrassment of Riches:Coping With Knowledge in Excess,”tackles big data in the social sciences and humanities. 查看详细>>

Richard Cerione is the Goldwin Smith Professor of pharmacology and chemical biology in the Department of Molecular Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine and in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.Claudia Fischbach is aprofessor of biomedical engineering in the Nancy E.and Peter C.Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering and is co-director of the Cornell Physical Sciences Oncology Center on the Physics of Cancer Metabolism.Together they study cancer biology.Cerione researches cancer cell metabolism,looking at the biological signaling cues and pathways that regulate cell growth,differentiation and development,and the protein-protein interactions underlying the metabolic changes required for cancer development;Fischbach uses tissue engineering,microfabrication and biomaterials strategies to study cancer cells’interactions with other cells and the extracellular matrix and their importance to the development and progression of cancer.Cerione and Fischbach are members of the provost’s Genome Biology Task Force,which Cerione co-chairs with professor of molecular biology and genetics John Lis. 查看详细>>