The TMA supports researchers & entrepreneurs to critically evaluate their translational ideas, sharpen those ideas towards a viable commercial product, and ultimately advance that product through a spinout,  industry collaboration, or other partnership. We are open to all lifescience researchers under UMZH which includes UZH, ETH, and all affiliated hospitals. 

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We are excited to invite you to our next SPARK Night for Biotech Projects on September 16th. Further details will follow closer to the event. We are looking forward to having you join us for another exciting SPARK Event!

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Title: From Target to Therapy – Translating Science to Clinical and Commercial Success
Speaker: Markus Kalousek, Venture Partner at BioGeneration Ventures (ex-Novartis)
When: September 28th, 12:00-13:0
Where: Rämistrasse 59, Room TBD (will be updated by end of August, as soon as UZH room availabilities become visible for the upcoming semester)

We're thrilled to launch our brand-new Industry Insights Seminar Series — and we'd love for you to join us for the kick-off!
Markus has spent his career turning promising science into real-world therapies, and he'll walk us through what it truly takes to bring a medical breakthrough from the lab to the market. Come for the insights and enjoy a light lunch! The session is free to attend — a quick registration just helps us plan the right amount of lunch.
Register HERE

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This week, Mirco Müller and Anna Hanzl from our team had the pleasure of joining the SPARK Global Meeting in Helsinki, where 40+ affiliates from SPARK programs around the world came together to celebrate two milestones: 20 years of SPARK at Stanford and 10 years of SPARK Finland.
Over the meeting we exchanged ideas on everything from education to partnerships, funding, communication and branding. There's so much to learn from one another. Most of all, it was inspiring to experience the SPARK community first-hand - a community that openly shares knowledge and supports each other, because we only move forward by pulling in the same direction.

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We have put together an overview of industry partnership programs for translational life science research in academia (and start-ups). The document features calls from Daiichi-Sankyo, CSL, Debiopharm and others, covering deadlines, topic areas, collaboration formats, and application guidance. Beyond funding (CHF 40k to several hundred thousand), these programs in many cases offer direct access to industry expertise, infrastructure, materials, and networks.

Download the document HERE and see what's in it for you!

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Another SPARK night focusing on MedTech topics took place on May 27th. Two outstanding teams presented their projects to a panel of industry advisors and Medtech experts:

- Skaaltec presented by Paulius Viskaitis, developing a non-invasive approach for vagus nerve stimulation to support the rehabilitation of stroke patients

- MutaDent presented by Isaac Maximiliano Bugueno Valdebenito and Argyro Lamprou, Ph.D, developing a regenerative biomaterial for deep carious lesions with the potential to actively restore damaged dental tissue and reduce the need for root canal treatments and tooth extraction