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Comparative Medicine Institute

CATALYZE Commercialization Conference

Inspiration, networking and resources to help you bring your research from lab to market.

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2026 CATALYZE Conference

Friday, March 6th, 2026 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

McKimmon Conference & Training Center

Rooms 4, 5 & 6

CMI is proud to partner with North Carolina Biotechnology Center, the College of Sciences, the Bezos Center for Sustainable Proteins, IConS & ASSIST on the 2026 CATALYZE Conference.

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Schedule

  • 8:00-8:30 a.m. Check-in & Booth Set-Up  
  • 8:30-8:45 a.m. Welcome to CATALYZE 2026 Ashley Brown, Director, CMI & Thomas Theis, Director of Entrepreneurship, CMI
  • 8:45-9:05 Brian Eller, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor, NC State Office of Research Commercialization Technology Office of Technology Licensing: ”Commercialization of Early Stage Research Discoveries”
  • 9:05-9:25 Tim Martin, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor of New Ventures and Investments, Moderator, Panel Discussion: “New Ventures and Investments 101”
  • 9:25-9:45 Lisa Chang, Director of Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization: “Making the Most of NC State Entrepreneurship Resources”
  • 9:45-10:00 Michael Daniele, Co-Director, ASSIST Center and IConS, “From Lab Bench to Life: Bringing Sensors Breakthroughs to the World”
  • 10:00-10:15 Coffee Break
  • 10:15-10:40 Panel Discussion hosted by Tim Martin, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor of New Ventures and Investments NC State Office of Research Commercialization: “Introduction to Bezos Initiative and Panel with Companies”
    • The Path to Market: How University Startups Solve Clinical Problems” The panel is made of an investor, entrepreneur and a former grad student founder. 
      • Clay Johnson, Managing Partner, Riley Capital
      • Russell Thomas, Serial Entrepreneur
      • Jordan Fong, Senior Biomedical Engineer – R&D and Co-Founder, Gradient Medical
  • 10:40-11:15 Keynote Address: Nicole Bell, CEO, Galaxy Diagnostics: “Turning Passion Into A Career”
  • 11:15 – 12:45 p.m. Networking & Career Fair: “Connecting Startups with Students and Students with Startups“
  • 11:45-12:45 Lunch (Overlaps with Career Fair)
  • 12:45-1:25 NC Biotechnology Funding Agencies Panel: North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NC Innovation, NC IDEA, FirstFlight, Small Business and Technology Development Center. Moderated by Thomas Theis
  • 1:25-1:55  John Corliss, Strategic Advisor, Board Director – Development Stage Life Science Services & Technology Scale-up “Funding & Finance in Biotech”
  • 1:55-2:10 Coffee Break
  • 2:10-4:30 Student Pitch Competition
  • 4:30-4:45 NUCLEATE: “A Trainee-Led Organization that Represents the Largest Global Community of Bio-Innovators” +  CAM & ASSIST/IConS Student Organization Presentation
  • 4:45-5:00 CATALYZE Pitch Competition Award Ceremony and Wrap-Up

Keynote Speaker: Nicole Bell

Chief Executive Officer, Galaxy Diagnostics

Nicole is an experienced executive in the medical device and diagnostics industries in roles ranging from science and engineering to business development and marketing. At Advanced Liquid Logic, a company that sold to Illumina for $96M, she ran product management and interfaced with top companies across medical diagnostics. At TransEnterix Surgical, she served as the Vice President of Research and Development, driving the development of the surgical robot from breadboard design to FDA submission in 3 years and propelling the company’s market cap to over $500M.

She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from MIT in Materials Science and Engineering, as well as a Master’s of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University. Her best-selling and award-winning memoir, What Lurks in the Woods, vividly details her family’s experience with undiagnosed tickborne infection. This firsthand knowledge of the devastating impact of misdiagnosed chronic illness fuels her passion to drive a new diagnostic standard of care for the industry. She also served as the primary author of “The State of Lyme Disease Research in the United States,” and regularly collaborates with the Center for Lyme Action to change the political landscape for Lyme Disease and related coinfections.

Student Pitch Competition:

  • Graduate students & postdoctoral researchers are eligible to compete.
  • Undergraduate students may compete as long as they have at least one graduate student or postdoc on their team.
  • The pitches are 7 minutes followed by 5 minutes of questions by judges.
  • The pitches should speak to the product and the business model.
  • No more than 5 slides should be used for the pitches.
  • Teams should be at least two people.
  • Winning teams will receive up to $2k to use toward the creation of their startups.
  • The awards can be used at the discretion of the winning teams to further their business ideas in a broad sense.
  • After 6 months of the award, we request a written report of 1.5 pages detailing how the funds were used

Interested in Particpating? Join One Of Our Upcoming Info Sessions!

  • Friday, January 23rd, 12:00-2:00 p.m. in Hunt Library Room 4502 **in person**
  • Thursday, January 29th, 6:00-7:00 p.m. **Virtual via Zoom**
  • Tuesday, February 3rd, 12:00-1:30 p.m. in Talley Student Union Room 5260 **In Person**
  • Monday, February 9th, 10:00-11:00 a.m. **Virtual via Zoom**
Attend Info Session
Example Slide Deck

We are excited to continue to expand our Networking & Career Fair with Local NC State Biotechnology Startups!

Past Participating Companies Have Included:

Pitch Competition Info Sessions:

Want to learn more? Spring 2026 Info Sessions will be announced soon!

Info session attendance is not required to participate in the competition. Can’t make the Q&A? View the info session slides below. Or reach out to Megan Pike, pitch competition coordinator, ([email protected]) directly with any questions.

Register for Info Session
Info Session Slides

The pitches will be judged based on the following criteria:

  • Was the message clearly communicated?
  • Did the presenters define a market? How well was the technical feasibility explained?
  • Did the presenters explain how they will translate from prototype to final product/service? Did the presenter define a viable business model?
  • Did the presentation address the potential for growth of the business?
  • Were the presenters enthusiastic and compelling with their pitch?
  • Were questions answered appropriately?
  • Did the presenters display understanding of their topic?
  • Will the product/service positively impact the wider community?

Past winning projects have included:

  • Biosensys
  • Next-Generation Biosensors
  • HAPI:ER Solutions, Inc.
  • Avex Motion
  • Biobattery
  • Automatic Video Recording for Athletes

For More Information

Contact Valerie Vella, CMI Executive Assistant for general questions at ([email protected])

Contact Thomas Theis, CMI Director of Entrepreneurship, for questions regarding sponsorships at ([email protected])

Contact Megan Pike for questions regarding the pitch competition and team formation at ([email protected])