KU research leads to new startup company
LAWRENCE – University of Kansas research has led to the creation of a new startup company that will develop online curriculum for health care professionals involved in managing the care of cancer survivors.
Cancer Survivorship Training Inc. (CST) has finalized a licensing agreement with KU to commercialize research done by Dr. Jennifer Klemp, a researcher in the university’s departments of internal medicine, nursing and psychology. The startup company will provide online and mobile resources and education to health care professionals to help them better treat and advise cancer survivors.
“With the growing number of cancer survivors, there’s an urgent need for ongoing education targeting both primary care and specialty health care providers,” said Klemp, who will serve as CST’s chief executive officer. “Unfortunately, there are limited resources available that provide evidence-based continuing medical education to health care providers. CST hopes to fill that gap through online and mobile solutions.”
CST becomes the 23rd active KU startup company. Click here for a complete list of KU startups.
The United States has more than 14 million cancer survivors, and it is estimated that by the year 2020, this number will grow to 18 million. According to Klemp, most cancer patients lack guidance on the health care they require for common late- and long-term effects of cancer or its treatment. More than one-third have unmet psychosocial needs. And many cancer patients do not receive adequate health promotion, cancer screening, and coordination of care post-treatment and into long-term survivorship.
“Surviving cancer is a lifelong process that entails regular checkups, ongoing treatment, side effects of cancer and its treatment, and major lifestyle changes,” Klemp said. “Our goal is to create e-learning solutions to keep health care providers current on these issues so they can better assist patients.”
Klemp recently published research on a national needs assessment in collaboration with the National Oncology Nursing Society to evaluate the extent and type of survivorship care being delivered to patients and the educational needs for health care providers. This was the foundation for CST, which has continued to build relationships with experts and premier institutions nationwide, including the KU Cancer Center.
CST will officially launch its suite of online and mobile solutions to health care professionals in May. The company is based in Prairie Village. Klemp’s research spans both the Lawrence and University of Kansas Medical Center campuses.
“We’re excited and proud to work with Klemp and facilitate the creation of this new startup company – the 23rd active startup company to come out of KU,” said Julie Goonewardene, associate vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship. “At KU, we’re working to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset among our researchers so we can continue to transfer university research into new products and new cures. This is exactly the type of technology transfer that we want to facilitate at KU. We applaud Dr. Klemp and look forward to working with her as she grows this exciting new startup company.”
Today’s announcement caps a notable stretch for KU in the area of technology transfer and commercialization:
• On Jan. 19, KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little delivered the keynote address at the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer’s annual University Startups Conference in Washington, D.C. The three-day conference is regarded as the premier event for administrators, researchers and scientists involved in university commercialization.
• On Jan. 18, drug discovery company Ligand Pharmaceuticals signed a lease with the Bioscience & Technology Business Center at the University of Kansas. The move brings the BTBC Main Facility to 100 percent occupancy just a year-and-a-half after it opened its doors in summer 2010.
• On Jan. 18, KU announced the hiring of Rajiv Kulkarni as the new director of its bicampus Center for Technology Commercialization. Kulkarni comes to KU from the University of Utah, which has been named No. 1 in the nation at starting companies based on university research for the past two years.