A Growing & Connected Ecosystem

Yale Innovation Summit 2023 

Yale Ventures | June 2, 2023

The 2023 Yale Innovation Summit stood out as the largest gathering of entrepreneurs, investors, and creators in the Northeast, taking place from May 31 to June 1, 2023. More than 2,100 innovators convened at Yale's campus for two days of engaging programming.  

ClimateHaven Opens in New Haven

CT Insider | November 10, 2023

Tech incubator, ClimateHaven, aims to expedite the development of climate technology solutions. As a nonprofit organization, it offers essential support and workspace to entrepreneurs in the climate technology sector. The new initiative is poised to position New Haven as a frontrunner in climate change innovation.

Yale, UConn propose a ‘quantum corridor’ for new tech, jobs in Connecticut 

Yale News: Jim Shelton | May 11, 2023

Yale and the University of Connecticut are leveraging a $1 million planning grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to officially nominate Connecticut as a hub for quantum-related research, technologies, and employment opportunities. This grant aligns with the NSF Engines program, a nationwide initiative dedicated to transforming advanced research into innovative technologies that foster job creation and drive economic advancement.

Yale Joins Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Biohub NY

Yale University is one of three partners that will form a new biomedical research hub announced by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). The mission of CZ Biohub New York, to be located in New York City, will be to bioengineer immune cells to detect the earliest stages of diseases—potentially allowing clinicians to intervene before they become symptomatic and detectable using current approaches. Yale’s team will be led by John Tsang, PhD, professor of immunobiology and of biomedical engineering at Yale School of Medicine and director of the Yale Center for Systems and Engineering Immunology (CSEI).

Additional stories:

• Yale’s $163M Schwarzman Center brings new dynamic to New Haven’s arts, culture scene

• Megan Ranney named dean of Yale School of Public Health 

• Training program aims to extend benefits of biotech boom to city residents

From Lab to Impact: Yale Faculty Innovation

Out of the lab and into the world: Yale faculty bring research to market  

Yale News | Jan 26, 2023

Yale faculty members are translating their research into new technologies and treatments for disease. Yale Ventures helps them along the way.  

Blavatnik Family Foundation Gives Additional $40 Million to Yale Innovation Fund  

Yale Ventures | May 23, 2023

The Blavatnik Family Foundation, whose historic gift in 2016 helped create what has become Yale’s flagship life science accelerator, has made an additional $40 million donation that will increase the number of research awards available to Yale scientists, support a wider range of biomedical innovations, and reach deeper into the Yale community to support new and innovative research.

The 2nd annual Yale Faculty Innovation Awards honor Yale scientists  

Yale Ventures | October 10, 2023

This year, Yale University has recognized fourteen members of their faculty with Yale Faculty Innovation Awards. The recipients were honored for bringing their discoveries to market and launching Yale innovation into the world.

Health of Women Summit Brings Together Early-Stage Yale Research, Investors, and Industry Partners  

The full-day event focused on accelerating the translation of early-stage Yale research on women’s health. Eleven outstanding Yale researchers in this field were spotlighted for their groundbreaking work exploring areas that disproportionately impact women, including oncology, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular health, mental health, orthopedics and reproductive health.  

Yale’s Life Science Community Celebrates Innovation at the 2023 Yale Life Science Pitchfest; 4 Yale Faculty Awardees Recognized

From an engineered RNA oncology therapeutics platform to an evidence-based digital mental health app, the 2023 Yale Life Science Pitchfest showcased Yale's most promising life science innovations from 32 Yale faculty-led teams. The day-long event drew 400 registrants—industry partners and healthcare investors from Virginia to Boston, and scientists and partners from the Yale and Connecticut biotech ecosystem—to witness Yale’s most promising research in therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

Yale researchers wield AI for heart health

Yale Public Health Magazine: Matt Kristoffersen

Yale researchers at the Cardiovascular Data Science Lab developed an AI-driven tool that detects heart disorders through machine learning algorithms trained on extensive global heart test data. The innovation enables early identification through a web-based or smartphone application, potentially revolutionizing heart health screening for a wide population.  

Roberts Innovation Fund to Support 10 Bold SEAS Faculty Inventions 

Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science | February 21, 2023

The inaugural Roberts Innovation Fund Awards allocated $500,000 in accelerator funding to back 10 pioneering inventions spearheaded by faculty from Yale’s School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS). Among these projects are groundbreaking initiatives involving the utilization of artificial intelligence to control cells, fortifying cryptocurrency and blockchain systems, and propelling advancements in natural language processing.

Grant supports development of novel test for malaria

Yale Public Health Magazine: by Jessica M. Scully | Fall 2023

Professor Dr. Sunil Parikh, MD, MPH, co-leading a research team, secured a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funding supports the advancement of a noninvasive malaria test using lasers and ultrasound. This grant will facilitate the development of two enhanced prototypes for their cytophone testing platform and enable extensive field trials in Burkina Faso, a West African nation where malaria is endemic.

Additional stories:  

• Yale Innovator Spotlights

• Jung Han Named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

• New faculty hit the ground running with carbon capture research 

• New approach a paradigm shifts for evaluating public health interventions  

• Finding a Pathway to a Human Leptospirosis Vaccine 

• InnovateHealth Yale Supercharges Public Health

• YSPH team develops first evidenced-based mental health treatment created by and for LGBTQ+ people 

Celebrating Student Entrepreneurs

Tsai CITY hosts Yale’s biggest student entrepreneurship awards competition 

Tsai CITY | March 3, 2023

Yale’s biggest student entrepreneurship awards competition, Startup Yale 2023, took place between March 30–31 at Tsai CITY. Thirty-two teams of entrepreneurs presented ideas to address a range of global challenges — and competed for more than $175,000 in prizes.

SOM’s Black Business Alliance hosts Black Venture Summit

Yale SOM | March 31, 2023

Entrepreneurs from Yale showcased their startups at the inaugural Black Venture Summit — a collaborative effort between the student-led Black Business Alliance, CT Next, Tsai CITY, and Startup Yale. The event comprised keynote speakers, a pitch competition and a Venture Capital panel.

Banofi Leather, founded by Jinali Mody YSE ’23, wins the Hult Award

Yale Sustainability | October 23, 2023

A Yale-based startup, founded by Jinali Mody YSE ’23, clinched the $1 million Hult Prize 2023, securing victory in the world’s largest social entrepreneurship competition for students. The company transforms banana crop waste into an eco-friendly alternative to leather. The team also includes Maggie Boreham ’24, Jen Adachi ’24, YSE ’24, and Isobel Campbell YSE ’23. 
 

A New Path for Student Leadership at Tsai CITY

Tsai CITY: Emma Hodgdon | November 24, 2023

The Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale focuses on nurturing the experiences of its student innovators — a commitment exemplified through its Student Fellows program. These Fellows are distinguished leaders across campus and serve as Tsai CITY ambassadors. They engage in outreach marketing, foster targeted involvement in Tsai CITY programs and offer strategic counsel to Tsai CITY leadership, strengthening the center's impact and connectivity across Yale's diverse student body.

How Two Social Innovation Interns Made Their Mark at Freedom Reads, a Startup Nonprofit

Tsai CITY: Lisa Beebe | September 19, 2023

Tsai CITY provides social innovation internships that align with its core mission of offering practical opportunities for students to creatively tackle real-world issues that resonate with their interests and passions. Two students, Meara Brown ’25 and Ana Paula Padilla Castellanos ’25, were chosen as interns to work with Freedom Reads, a New Haven-based nonprofit that opens 500-book libraries in prison housing units.

Pills2Me- an Innovation Success Story

Yale Public Health Magazine: Jane E. Dee | Fall 2023

Pills2Me, a technology startup that increases medication adherence through on-demand prescription delivery and medication therapy management. The company received its initial support and funding in 2020 from InnovateHealth Yale, YSPH’s social entrepreneurship program, and was recently named one of the U.S. recipients of the Google for Startups Black and Latino Founders Fund for 2023.

Additional stories:

• Hil Moss (SOM AND YSPH '22), founder of VivorCare, spoke on the Health & Veritas podcast
• Charityvest, founded by Stephen Kump (SOM '16), sees record charitable activity across all categories
• Revert Technologies, founded by Ryan Li was featured in USA Today
• Two Yale student entrepreneurs names to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare List

Yale’s Investments in Innovation

Yale to make historic investment in engineering, lower Hillhouse Avenue 

Yale News | February 23, 2023

Yale University unveiled a monumental blueprint for infrastructure investments set to revolutionize its School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS) and drive the university's agenda for accelerating engineering, science, and technology innovations. Across the next decade and beyond, Yale aims to embark on a series of significant construction ventures within the lower Hillhouse Avenue vicinity, leveraging existing university-owned sites.

Empowering Yale Student Innovators: A Closer Look at Yale’s Entrepreneurship Courses 

Yale Ventures: Hailey O’Connor ’24 | November 8, 2023

Entrepreneurship and innovation-centric courses are at the root of Yale’s ever-growing innovation ecosystem. These courses serve as a curricular starting point for aspiring student entrepreneurs, as well as those interested in learning more about how to apply innovative thinking to solve the world’s greatest challenges.  

Yale SOM Launches New One-Year master's in technology management

Yale SOM | September 19, 2023

Yale School of Management is launching a master's in technology management tailored for graduates of technical programs, aiming to equip them with robust business skills in conjunction with their technical expertise. This collaborative program between the School of Management and the School of Engineering & Applied Science seeks to prepare students to navigate the intricate intersection of technology and business

Additional stories:  

• Peter Salovey: A More Unified, Accessible, and Innovative Yale
• New vice provost Julie Zimmerman helps focus Yale’s commitment to planetary solutions 

Alumni in the News

The Czingers disrupt manufacturing at top speeds

Yale Engineering: William Weir | July 24, 2023

Yale alumni Kevin and Lukas Czinger have created the first “human/AI-designed and 3D-printed hypercar.” It only hints at the father-son team’s greater ambition.

Honorary Doctorate latest Accolade for YSPH alum Shadrack Osei Frimpong

Yale Institute for Global Health: Jane E. Dee | Fall 2023

Shadrack Frimpong has transformed the lives and prospects of over 20,000 people living in rural communities, creating a sustainable farming model which delivers income, education, health care, and hope. Cocoa360 is a community-based organization that supports local cocoa farmers by providing tuition-free schooling and localized health care that the farmers help fund and manage. Frimpong launched Cocoa360 with a three-year, $150,000 grant he received through the President’s Engagement Prize from the University of Pennsylvania. Cocoa360 also received a Rita Wilson Seed Grant in 2019 and was a 2020 Finalist for the Thorne Prize.

Yale SOM’s Colloquium on Entrepreneurship featured Linda Rottenberg ’93

Yale SOM | February 14, 2023

Yale SOM’s Colloquium on Entrepreneurship this past spring which was chaired by Linda Rottenberg, a 1993 graduate of Yale Law School and the co-founder and CEO of Endeavor. Panelists included Peter Njonjo, co-founder and CEO of Twiga Foods; Mona Ataya, founder and CEO of Mumzworld; and Songe LaRon, co-founder and CEO of Squire Technologies and a 2010 graduate of Yale Law School.

Additional stories:

• It’s two Oscars and counting for Yale computer scientist Theodore Kim
• Building a Mental Health Unicorn: The Entrepreneurial Journey of April Koh YC ’16
• The Case for Mental Health in Our Social Change Worlds by Daisy Rosales SOM ’20
• Alexia Akbay - Symbrosia: reducing livestock methane with seaweed SPH ’19
• Cambium Carbon co-founded by Ben Christensen (YSE ‘20) and Marisa Repka (YSE ‘20), was named winner of the World Economic Forum Sustainable Forest
• Raise Green. co-founded by Franz Hochstrasser (USE 10) and Matt Moroney (YSE ’18) Closed Seed Round & Pushes Past $10M Raised for Clean Energy & Climate Solutions

For more alumni stories, visit Tsai CITY “In the News”