Technology Opportunities & Ventures
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NYU Langone Health held its second annual Innovators’ Dinner on Wednesday, March 11, celebrating and promoting the commercialization of innovative ideas emerging from research at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and across NYU Langone.
Hosted by Technology Opportunities & Ventures (TOV), The evening took place at the NYU Kimmel Center’s Rosenthal Pavilion, beginning with a cocktail reception featuring passed hors d’oeuvres and live jazz performed by NYU student musicians, followed by a formal dinner. Dr. Alec Kimmelman, Dean and CEO of NYU Langone Health opened the program with remarks that emphasized the importance of tightly aligning NYU Langone’s clinical, education, and research missions to create a coordinated, continuously learning system where progress in one area accelerates another. He highlighted efforts to strengthen NYU Langone’s role as a global leader in healthcare innovation and a preferred partner for industry, government, and academic collaborators.
“We are closing the gap between the lab and the clinic by integrating data, accelerating trials, and translating advances into care in record time,” Dr. Kimmelman said. “These innovations are things that patients can feel and not just read about. NYU Langone is unique among other institutions. We not only have the technology to accomplish this, but more importantly, we have the culture, the data, the infrastructure, and integration to push innovation to its furthest limits.”
Following this address, Marc Sedam, Vice President of TOV, delivered a presentation highlighting NYU Langone’s commercialization progress, advances in translational research funding, and recent enhancements to the office aimed at strengthening support for innovation and industry engagement, along with key accomplishments over the past fiscal year. He also led the recognition of the FY 2025 contributors, including first-time innovation “disclosers,” innovators behind licensed technologies, inventors named on issued U.S. patents, and founders of startup companies.
The evening concluded with the presentation of major university honors, including the Vilcek Innovator of the Year, Deal of the Year, Startup of the Year, and Startup to Watch:
The Vilcek Innovator of the Year is an honor recognizing exceptional NYU Langone Health innovators whose work has made a lasting impact in science, medicine, and society. The award is named for its inaugural recipient, Dr. Jan Vilcek, whose pioneering contributions to biomedical science helped shape modern biotechnology. This year, the award was presented to Dr. Shohei Koide, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a member of the Perlmutter Cancer Center. A pioneer in protein engineering and design, Dr. Koide has helped establish the field of synthetic binding proteins and their applications in biology and medicine
Dr. Koide is best known for inventing FN3 monobody technology, the most widely adopted nonantibody scaffold system. Smaller and more versatile than conventional antibodies, monobodies enable scientists to reach previously inaccessible biological targets, opening new possibilities for treating a wide range of diseases. He has also made important contributions to synthetic antibody technologies and has pioneered many applications of synthetic binding proteins across research and therapeutic development.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Koide has authored more than 130 publications and holds 32 granted U.S. patents and 25 pending US applications. The majority of his issued patents have been licensed to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb and Novartis, and three of the start-up companies that are commercializing his technologies have had successful exit events, including one NYU Startup PureTech Health. His inventions have also led to multiple startups and successful commercial ventures, including his most recent company, Aethon, co-founded with Dr. Ben Neel, which aims to create custom antibody therapeutics that unite immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Several therapies based on Dr. Koide’s discoveries are advancing through clinical development to treat serious diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular conditions, and autoimmune disorders.
Dr. Koide is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the National Academy of Inventors, and he was also presented the inaugural Deal of the Year award at last year’s dinner in recognition of the licensing of his groundbreaking work on therapeutic MuSK antibodies to the biotech company argenx, with one indication (Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome [CMS]) entering Phase III trials later this year.
We are honored to recognize Dr. Shohei Koide as the 2025 Vilcek Innovator of the Year, celebrating his pioneering science, entrepreneurial leadership, and lasting impact on human health.
©Jones: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau
The NYU Langone Health Deal of the Year award honors exceptional innovation and strategic industry collaboration that delivers meaningful real-world impact. This year, we are proud to recognize Dr. Jef Boeke for his collaboration with OpenTrons to launch the Pandemic Response Lab, a partnership that also led to the acquisition of NYU startup Neochromosome.
In the years leading up to COVID-19, without knowing how critical it would become, Dr. Boeke’s lab built an advanced platform of automated, miniaturized PCR workflows powered by robotics and supported by a custom Laboratory Information Management System capable of tracking data at a massive scale. When the pandemic struck, this infrastructure became the backbone of a powerful public health response.
Dr. Boeke partnered with Brooklyn-based robotics company OpenTrons to create the Pandemic Response Lab, a wholly owned OpenTrons subsidiary. In record time, they built a high-capacity diagnostic facility that dramatically expanded New York City’s COVID-19 testing, delivering rapid, reliable, low-cost results. At its peak, the lab processed a large share of the city’s tests and produced genomic sequencing data crucial for tracking viral spread and evolution.
This collaboration also led to OpenTrons’ acquisition of Neochromosome, an NYU startup based on Dr. Boeke’s synthetic genomics work, strengthening OpenTrons’ platform at the intersection of automation, diagnostics, and synthetic biology.
Together, the launch of the Pandemic Response Lab and the acquisition of Neochromosome helped drive OpenTrons’ historic $200 million Series C financing at a $1.85 billion valuation in 2021, creating New York City’s first biotech unicorn.
The partnership with OpenTrons is a model for how innovative research and entrepreneurial collaboration can deliver large-scale public benefit, while also generating significant revenue that supports further research at the University. We are honored to recognize Dr. Jef Boeke and the OpenTrons partnership as the NYU Langone Health Deal of the Year.
©Jones: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau
The NYU Langone Health Startup of the Year Award recognizes a company that has successfully translated institutional research into meaningful commercial and societal impact. It celebrates the power of turning academic innovation into real-world solutions that improve patient care. This year’s winner, UltraSight, is an excellent example of that journey, from foundational research to transformative clinical application.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and cardiac ultrasound is a critical diagnostic tool. Yet obtaining high-quality images can be challenging, even for trained professionals, limiting access to this technology in many care settings. To address this challenge, Dr. Achiau Ludomirsky of NYU Langone Health collaborated with Itay Kezurer and Dr. Yaron Lipman of the Weizmann Institute of Science to develop an AI-powered solution. Their technology uses geometric deep learning to guide users in capturing cardiac ultrasound images and assess image quality in real time.
This innovation led to the creation of UltraSight, a digital health startup co-founded by NYU and the Weizmann Institute’s technology transfer company, Yeda. By pairing AI software with standard ultrasound devices and tablets, UltraSight enables clinicians, even those without sonography training, to acquire diagnostic-quality cardiac images.
Since its founding, UltraSight has rapidly progressed from concept to clinically validated platform. The company has received multiple FDA clearances, including for its core AI ultrasound guidance technology, and subsequent expanded authorizations to support additional functionality. The company has raised $14.1 million in funding, including strategic investment from the NYU Langone Health Venture Fund, and launched collaborations with leading health systems, including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Jefferson Health to validate AI-guided ultrasound workflows. With this strong foundation and growing clinical adoption, UltraSight is well-positioned for significant market growth over the next year and an increasingly meaningful impact on real-world patient care.
We are proud to recognize UltraSight as the NYU Langone Health Startup of the Year.
©Jones: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau
The NYU Startup to Watch award was created to recognize one high-potential NYU startup launched during the past fiscal year. We are proud to name Tezcat Biosciences as this year’s NYU Langone Health Startup to Watch. Co-founded by Dr. Dafna Bar-Sagi, NYU Langone’s Executive Vice President and Vice Dean for Science, and Chief Scientific Officer, Tezcat is developing a new class of therapeutics designed to target difficult-to-treat cancers driven by RAS mutations, one of the most challenging areas in oncology.
Led by Craig Ramirez, Co-Founder and CEO, in just a few years, Tezcat has distinguished itself through rapid scientific and commercial progress. The company’s lead asset has received FDA Orphan Drug Designation for both pancreatic cancer and RAS-mutant multiple myeloma and was selected for the National Cancer Institute’s Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) Program. Tezcat has also secured multiple $2 million NCI SBIR awards to advance its lead oncology program.
The company’s momentum has been recognized across the innovation ecosystem. Tezcat was named a Nature Spinoff Prize finalist, won the BIO International Start-Up Stadium Emerging Start-Up category, and received awards from organizations including Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s JLABS, Bristol Myers Squibb, and the Children’s Tumor Foundation. In 2026, the company further expanded its impact with support from Breakthrough T1D to explore a novel innate immune-targeted anti-inflammatory approach in diabetes.
With strong scientific foundations, growing external validation, and a pipeline aimed at addressing some of the most challenging diseases in medicine, Tezcat Biosciences exemplifies the promise of NYU Langone innovation.
We are proud to recognize Tezcat Biosciences as the NYU Langone Health Startup to Watch and present this award to Dr. Bar-Sagi. We look forward to following its continued progress.
©Jones: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau
“The Innovators’ Dinner provides NYU Langone Health with a meaningful opportunity to highlight the University’s accomplishments while also setting a forward-looking vision,” said Sedam. “By celebrating our innovators, we underscore our commitment to building a research ecosystem that accelerates the translation of pioneering discoveries into real-world impact, advancing human health, partnering with industry to bring transformative solutions to market, enhancing quality of life, and supporting job creation and economic growth.”
NYU Langone is already planning for next year’s dinner and looks forward to celebrating the innovations and commercialization accomplishments of FY 2026.
Are you an NYU Langone innovator with a big idea? Check out TOV’s website to learn more about innovation disclosure and how TOV can help you reach your commercialization goals.
