News

Life Science Works Welcomes Rich Giersch as Senior Vice President

Life Science Works is pleased to announce that Rich Giersch has joined the executive team as Senior Vice President.   Rich will oversee the SBIR/STTR business unit and LSW’s work to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems in and around universities more broadly.  Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, LSW President, said, “Rich brings immense expertise and experience in technology commercialization and the whole entrepreneurship ecosystem, having founded his own life science company; grown the life science ecosystems in both Washington state and West Virginia, including at two R1 universities; and, helped countless entrepreneurs in securing SBIR/STTR non-dilutive funding.  His vast knowledge base and network coupled with his passion for helping entrepreneurs are invaluable as LSW continues to grow.”

Rich commented, “I am honored and delighted to join Life Science Works and partner with Sharon to build a company that delivers meaningful results for our clients. I’ve been fortunate to work with amazing entrepreneurs and organizations across the globe and learn from many talented mentors and colleagues. I can’t imagine a better positioned organization to spend my time with and am excited about the team and our future.”

Join us in welcoming Rich to LSW in his new role!

Dr. Florence Haseltine, champion for Women’s Health, joins LSA Advisory Board

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Florence Haseltine PhD MD to our Advisory Board,” said Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, LSA Founder and President. “Dr. Haseltine brings a unique blend of intellect and passion to all that she does. Our community of entrepreneurs in the life science and all of us at LSA who will collaborate with Dr. Haseltine in one way or another will benefit immensely.”

Dr. Haseltine is a world recognized leader in women’s health research and an advocate for advancing women’s health globally. Dr. Haseltine currently serves as the Jenkins Garrett Professor and Presidential Distinguished Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington with an appointment in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. Her prior roles include Associate Professor for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine, where she and her Yale colleagues were at the forefront of IVF, and as Director of the Center for Population Research at NIH’’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Dr. Haseltine founded the Society for Women’s Health Research, a non-profit group that worked with Congress and the federal government to allow women’s participation in federally funded clinical trials. Prior to 1993, women did not have such access. That achievement quite literally changed the face of medicine for women in the US. Dr. Haseltine has received many awards and recognitions for her service to society, including the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Health and Dignity of Women and Girls from the Friends of the United Nations Population Fund and the Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Woman Award. She is an elected member of The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors.

SBIR contract solicitation for NIH and CDC just announced

 

Just released —  The annual announcement of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract topics for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was released on August 2, 2024, PHS-2025-1.

While the lion’s share of the over $1.3 billion annual budget for SBIR programs at NIH and CDC are provided through the grant mechanism, once a year there is a call for SBIR proposals supported through the contract mechanism.  The list of Institutes and Centers participating in the solicitations varies year to year as do the topics of interest.  This year, topics range from “Leveraging Multimodal and Generative Artificial Intelligence to Advance the Application of Social Robotics in Caregiving” (National Institute on Aging) to “Rapid Diagnostic Assays for Self-Monitoring of Acute or Rebound HIV-1 Infection” (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) to “Data Science Solutions to Characterize Polysubstance Use Behavior from Online Sources” (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control).  Six NIH Institutes and 3 CDC Centers are participating in the contract offering this year.

See the full list of eligible topics, expected number of awards for each topic, application requirements, and expected award dates at:

https://sam.gov/opp/b6c0bad2a0924520a704bb1bca846615/view

Life Science Associates can work with you to develop your non-dilutive funding strategy and help prepare compelling and highly competitive SBIR/STTR grant and contract applications. Read more about our team and contact us for a free initial consultation to see if we are a good fit for your needs.

Applications are due October 18, 2024, 5 PM, EDT.