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UL Lafayette Students & Faculty-- Be a Shark!

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We invite you to join us for an interactive forum & pitch competition that will bring together some of the best and brightest minds from around the country. This shark tank-style event, the 4th annual Get Started Medical pitch will feature the country’s hottest business ideas in the medical industry, and you can be a part of the excitement!

Watch as 7 companies pitch their healthcare innovations and compete for up to $40,000 in cash prizes.

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Schedule Overview
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM CST

Get Started Medical powered by Cox Business
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM CST

State of Venture Capital in Louisiana with Mark Graffagnini, Partner with Callais Capital Management
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Our Moderator
Monte Danos, Field Marketing Director, Cox Business Southeast Region

2021 Judges Panel

  • Mike Dozier, Chief Information Officer, Ochsner Lafayette General
  • Charles Edwards, CEO/ Advance Telehealth Consulting Solutions L.L.C. and One Telemed, LLC
  • Bruce D. Greenstein, LHC Group EVP, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer
  • Trivia Frazier-Wiltz, PhD, MBA, Obatala Sciences Inc, President and CEO
  • Josh Sommer, Cox Communications, Vice President of New Growth

Meet Our Finalists

  • Crosscope (Mountain View, CA) is a medical artificial intelligence (AI) software company building flexible digital pathology workflows and AI-based clinical decision support tools for automating histopathology analysis for more accurate and efficient cancer diagnosis
  • General Genomics (Midland, TX) is a bioinformatics company harnessing the power of AI and machine learning (ML) to build a platform (Curo46) using algorithms on genetic markers, healthy history, and medical information to determine an individual’s health risks, appropriate preventative measures, customized treatment programs and more.
  • Kinnos’ (Brooklyn, NY) colorizing platform, Highlight®, colors bleach and bleach wipes a vivid blue to let us see our disinfection, instantly improving users' ability to correctly cover the entire surface being disinfected.
  • NEVAP (San Jose, CA) makes breathing tubes that remove pathogens during mechanical ventilation, reducing time on mechanical ventilation, the cost of treatment, and mortality in critically ill patients.
  • Prep Tech (Lafayette, LA) is a Louisiana-based medical device company with two product lines — ULTRAPREP streamlines/reduces OR time and ISOCUBE protects healthcare professionals and hospital visitors from COVID contamination.
  • Protean BioDiagnostics (Orlando, FL) is an innovative precision medicine diagnostic company with a focus on accelerating access to precision cancer treatments through its Oncology MAPS™ system.
  • SafeBVM (Chesterfield, MO) minimizes unsafe manual ventilation with resuscitation bags and its subsequent complications with near-ventilator precision, making emergency ventilation patient-centric.

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Thank you to our partners for making the 4th annual Get Started Medical Pitch Competition possible!

Partners: Cox Business, Ochsner Lafayette General, and Opportunity Machine

Healthcare Partners: Louisiana Center for Health Innovation, The Advocate, Homebank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, Cox Media, VieMed, and CGI

Supporting Partners: LHC Group, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Tides Medical, Louisiana Economic Development (LED), Innovation Ochsner, Acadian Companies, and Lafayette Economic Development Authority (LEDA)


To Be a Virtual Shark Judge - Sign up here - https://live.remo.co/e/get-started-medical-pitch-compet/register?mc_cid=e518f7c8a2&mc_eid=3770ff7429

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Learn More About Our Research Centers

Accessible Healthcare through AI-Augmented Decisions

The National Science Foundation approved the Accessible Healthcare for AI-Augmented Decisions (AHeAD) Center to move forward with planning in July 2025. Its mission brings university researchers and healthcare industry stakeholders together to conduct foundational research needed to create usable AI-augmented decision support tools that enhance healthcare delivery, improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs.AHeAD is a multi-university research partnership between UL Lafayette (lead), Tulane University, the University of Florida, and Georgia Tech. Tampere University in Finland has expressed interest in becoming a university partner.

Meet AHeAD Director, Dr. Raju Gottumukkala

 

 

 

 

 

 

Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence

The Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence (CAAI) is dedicated to pursuing use-driven AI research, training an AI-ready workforce, and creating a platform to accelerate innovation to support the local economy. The center serves as a hub where AI researchers, domain experts from diverse disciplines, industry specialists, and community stakeholders come together to address real-world challenges.

Meet CAAI Director, Raju Gottumukkala, PhD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Center for Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (CCIC)

The Center for Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (CCIC) brings together multiple and diverse experts from across the University to help our nation prepare for cyberattacks that may impact the country's critical infrastructure.CCIC was founded to examine cybersecurity from the perspective of the cascading impact of a significant cyber incident on the nation’s critical infrastructure, such as that experienced by the 2015 cyberattack on the Ukrainian Power Grid. The Center for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University, UK, now places cyberattacks as a “blue sky hazard” that can take an entire power grid down for a prolonged period. A consequence of such an attack would extend beyond the loss of data; it could completely disrupt the functioning of society, much like a large-scale natural disaster.

 Meet CCIC Director Arun Lakhotia, PhD

Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center

The NIMSAT Institute manages the daily operations of the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center (LABEOC). The center assists Louisiana businesses and non-profit organizations in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts to ensure community stability, resilience, and economic revitalization.

Louisiana Center for Health Innovation

The Louisiana Center for Health Innovation (LCHI) is dedicated to advancing healthcare innovation by developing research, education, and engagement activities that foster collaboration among academia, industry, and the community. This commitment aims to improve healthcare outcomes, promote health equity, and develop a skilled workforce that meets the needs of Louisiana and beyond.


Learn more about LCHI and meet the Director, Gabriela Wilson, PhD, MSc, FHIMSS, FIAHSI, SNAI.

 

 

National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies

The National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies (NIMSAT) Institute focuses on enriching public-private partnerships and advanced information technologies to enhance the national resiliency for a full range of potential disasters. Our mission is to save human lives. Our experienced emergency management team joins university researchers and technology experts to build a more resilient America through education, training, outreach, and operational support, empowering the homeland security and emergency management community.