UofL hires first class of entrepreneurs to guide inventions to market

May 2, 2019

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville has hired its inaugural class of “entrepreneurs-in-residence” (EIRs) to help guide research-backed inventions to market.

The EIRs, under the UofL Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation (EVPRI), will provide guidance on product development, business planning and other activities to accelerate the commercialization of university inventions. UofL’s first class of EIRs is:

  • Josh Nickols, Ph.D., MBA, a seasoned biotechnology entrepreneur and venture advisor with experience in commercializing technologies born at higher education institutions;
  • Jeff Cummins, MBA, a finance and business development executive with experience in start-up and fast-growth companies;
  • Charley Miller, MPS, a technology startup founder, product manager and game designer with a focus on systems and user journey.

UofL ranks as one of only 120 U.S. “Research 1” universities with “very high research activity,” according to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The EIRs will amplify UofL’s existing efforts aimed at getting technologies born from that research to market, which include a “superfecta” of translational research programs.

“UofL research has produced groundbreaking innovations that have impacted a great number of industries and could impact so many more,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “By pairing those innovations with seasoned, tested entrepreneurs, we can accelerate their journey from idea to the marketplace, generating new products and companies and making the world a better place.”

Each EIR will serve a six-month term, beginning in April, and will work with the UofL EVPRI’s Commercialization EPI-Center and researchers. More information on the EIRs is available here. 

“UofL is full of potential game-changing technologies,” Nickols said. “I’m excited to work with faculty and staff at UofL to drive those innovations toward market.”

 Funding for the EIRs comes from the Louisville Entrepreneurship Acceleration Partnership (LEAP), a public-private partnership, led by UofL and backed by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, to grow Louisville’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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