“Innovation is not a buzzword for us,” says Alex Abuin, R&D director of the Eshelman Innovation Therapeutics Accelerator. “We really do fund truly innovative programs, first-in-class projects most of the time.”
Abuin helps UNC-Chapel Hill researchers translate their lab discoveries into therapies that may one day benefit patients in North Carolina and beyond.
Among the projects he’s involved in are a bispecific antibody that could be a new mechanism for treating lupus, an inhibitor of a novel target for the blood cancer multiple myeloma and exciting early research into a new type of weight loss therapy.
When it comes to scientific translation, “I tell investigators … this is where the value really goes up, from an idea in your head to perhaps an asset that someone’s willing to carry forward. Not just monetary value, but value to patients,” Abuin says during the latest episode of the video series “North Carolina Innovators You Should Know,” hosted by former Eshelman Innovation Executive Director John Bamforth.
