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Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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Guppy Tank is back and better than ever!

The partnership between Harvard University's Office of Technology Development and LabCentral has found you two more innovative teams to present at Guppy Tank episode 10. Two early-stage life-science projects will pitch their innovation concepts to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors for constructive, in-depth feedback regarding application priorities and their commercialization models. Come and be inspired!

Innovation Team 1
I can’t believe it’s not CR!
James Mitchell, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Calorie restriction (CR) is well established as a means to improve health, but it is difficult for most people to abide. This prevents CR from being applied in any practical way against numerous clinically relevant endpoints demonstrated in prospective clinical trials including reduced aging rate, prevention of neurodegenerative disorders, and improved glucose and lipid homeostasis. Recent findings demonstrate that many benefits of CR are due to a decreased intake of protein or essential amino acids (EAA), not necessarily a reduction in overall calories consumed. For the general public interested in weight loss and improved metabolic health, without CR, we envision a total replacement diet in the form of individual daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) that alternately eliminates individual EAAs to induce the beneficial low-protein metabolic state.

The team is seeking input regarding the relative value of various clinical approaches, product strategy, and potential partnership priorities.

Innovation Team 2
I don’t want to go to bed!
Dragana Rogulja and Alex Vaccaro, Harvard Medical School

Sleep is an ancient and conserved behavior, common to most complex organisms and required for survival and health. Surprisingly, to date, little has been known about the biological processes associated with sleep deprivation. Our innovation team conducted exhaustive studies to identify and characterize sleep deprivation damage and, importantly, demonstrated that it can be readily prevented. Drawing on these striking findings, we are developing nutritional supplements and foods to minimize the negative health impact in those individuals who cannot sleep more or choose to sleep less.

The team is seeking input regarding the ideal commercialization and product strategy, and potential partnership opportunities.