Skip to content
University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus CU Denver | CU Anschutz
  • Webmail
  • UCD Access
  • Canvas
  • Quick Links
 
 

Tools & Resources

  • Campus Directory
  • A-Z Index
  • Human Resources
  • University Policies
  • Auraria Library
  • Strauss Health Sciences Library

Schools & Colleges

CU Denver

  • College of Architecture and Planning
  • College of Arts & Media
  • Business School
  • School of Education & Human Development
  • College of Engineering, Design and Computing
  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • School of Public Affairs

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

  • School of Dental Medicine
  • Graduate School
  • School of Medicine
  • College of Nursing
  • Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Colorado School of Public Health

CU Campuses

  • CU Anschutz Medical Campus
  • CU Boulder
  • CU Colorado Springs
  • CU Denver
  • CU Online
  • CU System

Announcement: CU Denver is Celebrating 50 Years

Whether you’re an alumnus, current student, member of the faculty and staff, donor, or neighbor, you’re a valuable part of the CU Denver community. Help us celebrate the last 50 years and a future that works for all.

Learn More

SPARK | REACH Colorado

  • Home
  • SPARK Awards
    • What We Fund
    • Application Process
    • Our Funding Sources
    • FAQs
    • Submit an Application
  • Who We Are
    • SPARK Fellows
    • External Review Board
    • SPARK Team
  • Events
    • SPARK Upcoming Events
  • Get Involved
  • Resources
    • SPARK Documents
    • Applicant Supports
  • Contact Us
University Quick Links

Meet our SPARK Fellows

SPARK Cohort 5

Eduardo Davila, PhD

davila_eduardo

Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy Switch

Learn more about Dr Davila

Jim Lambert, PhD

Novel Small Molecules as Breakthrough Therapy for Melanoma

Learn more about Dr Lambert

Ken Maclean

Ken_McLean-3338782880

Formate treatment of cystathionine beta synthase deficient homocystinuria

Learn more about Dr Maclean

Aaron Michels, MD

aaron-michels_300

Vaccine for Type 1 Diabetes

Learn more about Dr Michels

Peter Gottlieb, MD

peter-gottlieb_300

Vaccine for Type 1 Diabetes

Learn more about Dr Gottlieb

Maria Nagel, MD

Neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists as antiviral agents against herpes simplex viruses

Learn more about Dr Nagel

Andrew Bubak, PhD

Andrew Bubak

Neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists as antiviral agents against herpes simplex viruses

Learn more about Dr Bubak

Yiqun Shellman, PhD

Therapeutic potential of targeting MCL1 to improve cancer therapies

Learn more about Dr Shellman

Richard Tobin, PhD

Richard Tobin

Therapeutic potential of targeting MCL1 to improve cancer therapies

Learn more about Dr Tobin

Sujatha Venkataraman, PhD

Novel therapeutic antibody against a fatal brain tumor in children

Learn more about Dr Venkataraman

Rajeev Vibhakar, MD, PhD, MPH/MSPH

Novel therapeutic antibody against a fatal brain tumor in children

Learn more about Dr Vibhakar

Zhirui Wang, PhD

CCR4-IL2 Bispecific Immunotoxin for Cancer Treatment via Treg Depletion

Learn more about Dr Wang

David Westerly, PhD

Radioactive foil therapy for non-melanoma skin cancer

Learn more about Dr Westerly

Quentin Diot, PhD

Radioactive foil therapy for non-melanoma skin cancer

Learn more about Dr Diot

SPARK Cohort 4

Traci Lyons, PhD

Diagnostic and Therapy for Breast Cancer

Learn more about Dr. Lyons.

Virginia Borges, MD

Diagnostic and Therapy for Breast Cancer

Learn more about Dr. Borges. 

Ram Nagaraj, PhD

Gene Therapy for Glaucoma

Learn more about Dr. Nagaraj. 

Joshua Thurman, MD

Non-Invasive Detection of Tissue Inflammation Using Molecular Imaging

Learn more about Dr. Thurman. 

Omer Mei-Dan, MD

Arthroscopic Instruments to Support New Surgical Methods in Hip Arthroscopy

Learn more about Dr. Mei-Dan. 

Jacob Segil, PhD

Arthroscopic Instruments to Support New Surgical Methods in Hip Arthroscopy

Learn more about Dr. Segil. 

Michael Wempe, PhD

michael-wempe

A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause

Learn more about Dr. Wempe. 

Steven Nordeen, PhD

A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause

Learn more about Dr. Nordeen. 

Cohort 3

An ultra-compact CT scanner for point-of-care imaging

Visit Dr. Altunbas's website.

LPL activators as novel therapeutics for neurological conditions

Team Members

  • Kimberley Bruce, PhD - learn more
  • Philip Reigan, PhD - learn more

 

Multifunctional Nanoclusters for Detection and Treatment of Bladder Cancer

Team Members

  • Thomas Flaig, MD - learn more
  • Jared Brown, PhD - visit website
  • Won Park, PhD - visit website

 

Methods for understanding functional heterogeneity among single cells

Team Members

  • Jay Hesselberth, PhD - visit website
  • Mandy Richer, PhD

iSense: A First-in-Class Therapy for Insufficient Pupil Dilation

Learn more about Dr. Ifantides here. 

Novel inhibitors of trimethylamine lyase for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Team Members

  • Kristi Kuhn, MD - learn more
  • Sabrina Fetchner, PhD - learn more

 

 

Repositioning neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonists as antiviral agents against human herpesviruses

Team Members

  • Maria Nagel, PhD - learn more
  • Andrew Bubak, PhD - learn more

 

Oral Biofilm Disruption and Selective Inhibition of S. mutans Biofilms

Learn more about Dr. Nair's research here. 

IL2-CCR4 Bispecific Immunotoxin Targeting Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma

Learn more about Dr. Wang's research here.

Cohort 2

First In-Class Therapeutic for Neuro-Protection After Ischemia

Team Members

  • Ulli Bayer, PhD - learn more
  • Steven Coultrap - learn more

Targeting the Six1-Eya Complex to Inhibit Metastasis

Team Members

  • Heide Ford, PhD - visit website
  • Rui Zhao, PhD - visit website
  • Kristine Fischenich, PhD - learn more

Novel Drug Delivery System to Eradicate Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection

Team Members

  • Marsha Guess, MD - learn more
  • Devatha Nair, PhD - visit website
  • Michael Schurr, PhD - learn more
  • Dmitri Simberg, PhD - visit website
  • Kathleen Connell, MD - learn more

 

Therapeutically Targeting of Ctbp-Mediated Transcription in Traumatic Brain Injury

Learn more about Dr. Huang's research here.

Development of Antimicrobial Peptides to Treat Gram-Negative Infections

Team Members

  • Robert Hodges, PhD - learn more
  • Colin Mant, PhD - learn more
  • Lajos Gera, PhD

VasaFast - Central Arteries and Vein Access Tool

Team Members

  • Juan-Pablo Idrovo, MD - learn more
  • Andrew Scallon, MS - learn more

Drugs That Reverse Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition for the Treatment 
of Metastatic Cancers

Learn more about Dr. LaBarbera's work here. 

Targeting Myofibrillar Deacetylases to Treat Heart Failure

Team Members

  • Tim McKinsey, PhD - visit website
  • Ying-Hsi Lin, PhD - learn more
  • Kathleen Woulfe, PhD - learn more
  • Maria Cavasin, PhD - learn more
  • Keith Koch, PhD - learn more

A Functional Assay for Synthetic Cannabinoid Detection

Team Members

  • Andrew Monte, MD - visit website
  • Robert Scheinman, PhD - learn more

The Button Huggie - Securement Method for Gastrostomy Button

Team Members

  • Steven Moulton, MD - learn more
  • Tyler Mironuck

Bioresorbable 3-D Printed Personalized Implant for Cartilage Regeneration in Pediatric Growth Plate Injuries

Team Members

  • Karin Payne, PhD - visit website
  • Nancy Hadler Miller, MD, MS - visit website 
  • Stephanie Bryant, PhD - learn more
  • Virginia Ferguson, PhD - learn more

Targeting AMPK in Glioblastoma

Learn more about Dr. Reigan's work here.

ESCAPE (External Stereotactic Cranial Access Port for Evacuation)

Team Members

  • Joshua Seinfeld, MD - learn more 
  • Zach Folzenlogen, MD - learn more

Heart Regeneration by Conversion of Non-Myocytes Into Functional Cardiomyocytes

Team Members

  • Kunhua Song, PhD - visit website
  • Peter Buttrick, MD - learn more
  • Yuanbiao Zhao, PhD - learn more

 

Generation of Engraftable Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Team Members

  • Michael Verneris, MD - visit website
  • Sunny Shim, PhD

Cohort 1

Novel Cages Accommodating Individual Endplate Architecture

Team Members

  • Evalina Burger, MD - visit website
  • Vikas Patel, MD - learn more
  • Andriy Noshchenko - learn more
  • Todd Baldini, MS - learn more
  • Ji Ma, PhD (UVA) - learn more

Stem cell-derived 3D retinal transplant to treat dry AMD

Learn more about Dr. Canto-Soler's work here.

tPA-Challenged™ Viscoelastometric Hemostatic Assay

Team Members

  • Michael Chapman, MD - learn more
  • Hunter B Moore, MD - learn more

Visit the ThromboTherapeutics Inc website.

DT-EGF to treat bladder cancer

Learn more about Dr. Glode here.

This technology was spun out into Aurora Oncology. Visit the website here.

Inhibitors of sugar (fructose) metabolism for non alcoholic liver fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Team Members

  • Richard Johnson, MD - learn more
  • Miguel Lanaspa-Garcia, PhD -learn more
  • Michael Wempe, PhD - learn more

Phosfilter –Managing Blood Phosphates for Hemodialysis Patients

Team Members

  • Melanie Joy, PhD - visit website
  • Marian McCord, PhD (NC State) - learn more

Small molecule Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Team Members

  • James Lambert, PhD - learn more
  • Steven Nordeen, PhD - learn more
  • Hamid Gari
  • Scott Lucia, MD - learn more
  • Ann Thor, MD - learn more
  • Rahul Ray, MD (Boston University) - learn more

This technology was spun out into Vona Oncology.

HNKlear: A Saliva-Based Molecular Test for Head and Neck Cancer

Team Members

  • Shi-Long Lu, MD, PhD - learn more

Apical Cuff Implant Tool (ACIT) for Left Ventricular Assist Device

Learn more about Dr. Mitchell here.

Intraocular Device to Potentiate Retinal Stem Cell Transplant in Macular Degeneration

Learn more about Dr. Olson here.

Biologic for Cataract Inhibition

Team Members

  • Mark Petrash, PhD - learn more
  • Xiao-Jing Wang, PhD - learn more

Surrogate Molecular Assessment of Response to TB Treatment 

Team Members

  • Nicholas Walter, MD - learn more
  • Martin Voskuil, PhD - learn more
  • Gregory Robertson, PhD (CSU) - learn more
  • Sarah Born, PhD - learn more

Autologous CD117+ Progenitor Cell Therapy for Solid Organ Transplantation

Team Members

  • Mary Zamora, MD - learn more
  • Robert Plenter
  • Todd Grazia, MD - learn more

CU Innovations

CU Anschutz

Anschutz Health Sciences Building

1890 N Revere Ct

Suite 6202

Mail Stop F411

Aurora, CO 80045


303-724-3720

Twitter
Additional Resources
  • CU Innovations
  • SPARK @ Stanford
  • Other Funding Opportunities
  • Startup in a Box
  • Contact Us
  • Website Feedback
  • CU System
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • Accreditation
  • Employment
  • Give Now
 

© 2023 The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate. All rights reserved.

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. All trademarks are registered property of the University. Used by permission only.

CMS Login

Webmail

UCD Access

Canvas

Opens in a new window Opens document in a new window