Louisville hosting national conference for start-ups

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hundreds of entrepreneurs, researchers and start-up company CEOs from across the country will be in Louisville May 30-June 1 for the annual National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer conference (SBIR/STTR).

The conference is hosted by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation and sponsors are the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, University of Louisville and University of Kentucky.

“This is a prime opportunity for UofL, Nucleus and Louisville to show off our exciting, innovative, high-tech companies and researchers,” said UofL President James Ramsey. “We hope these small businesses, as well as NIH officials, will see the dynamic research and development happening at UofL.”

Ramsey, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and NIH’s Kathy Hudson and Matthew Portnoy are among the conference speakers.

The NIH provides more than $700 million for small businesses to perform research in life and health sciences. The conference features workshops for start-up company CEOs to help them understand the federal SBIR/STTR funding process, how to access those funds and how to place a value on their intellectual property.

Conference attendees also will be offered tours of the university’s Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, Rapid Prototyping Center and Micro/Nano Technology Cleanroom Center.

“These companies will find that UofL can provide a place for them to do very specialized research and product development no matter where their home office is located” said Bill Pierce, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation.

The conference will be at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Louisville. For more information about the conference including a schedule of events, go to nih.kysbir.com/.