Upstate Medical University urology faculty are among the winners of the SUNY Startup Summer School, winning a $10,000 grant to aid their start up business Taurus Diagnostics pursue a new imaging technology to aid in the detection of prostate cancer.

Gennady Bratslavsky, MD, the Phillip Capozzi Professor of Urology and chair of the Department of Urology, and Thomas Sanford, MD, assistant professor of urology, will receive a $10,000 S4 Technology Accelerator Fund Catalyst Investment grant. Additionally, they will receive support from SUNY Research Foundation venture advisers on matters related to business development.

The only other individual to receive the tech grant was Stony Brook Professor Rong Zhao.

This year’s competition saw a 20 percent increase in participation from the previous year:

• 153 faculty, students, and staff participated in 2021
• 22 SUNY campuses were involved in this year’s program

S4 provides faculty, students, and staff with the knowledge and networks that will enable them to commercialize breakthrough technology and offers virtual accelerated entrepreneurial education and training for participants to help them secure the initial funding needed to get their technology to market.

“Being an entrepreneur takes a strong team working together collaboratively, and that’s especially the case with breakthrough research,” said SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras. “Programs like the SUNY Startup Summer School help to give our students, faculty, and staff opportunities where they wouldn’t have them otherwise.

“Our SUNY participants are helping spur innovation crucial to society. I’m excited by what we’re doing—and we need to do more. This is where we give students—no matter their background—opportunities to succeed. My congratulations to this year’s winners from Stony Brook University and Upstate Medical, as well as all the participants that made this year’s competition a success,” Malatras added.

Caption: Thomas Sanford, MD, and Gennady Bratslavsky, MD, are winners of start-up support from SUNY Research Foundation's Summer School competition.