CU Innovators News
CU 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó College of Engineering and Applied Science—Aoife Henry is leading Zentus, a startup she founded that addresses a critical challenge in the energy sector: preventing costly equipment failures that can bring wind and solar farms offline without warning. After participating in the 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó Ascent Deep Tech Accelerator, Henry landed a fellowship with the Stanford Sustainability Accelerator at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
Gates Institute—The Gates Institute at the 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó Anschutz, in partnership with CU Anschutz Innovations, has announced the recipients of its 2025 Grubstake Awards. The awardees include Wyatt Shields (CU 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering), partnering with Benjamin Bitler (CU Anschutz) on their project Macrophage Backpacks for Delivering Olaparib to High-Grade Serous Carcinomas.
The Embark Deep Tech Startup Creator pairs seasoned entrepreneurs with 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó technologies to bring those breakthroughs to market to address urgent societal needs. Embark has launched its third cohort of Embark Startup Founders and will provide intellectual property rights, funding for the founders and their companies, startup accelerator programming support and investor introductions to launch startups with real-world impact.
FOX31 Denver—Host Genelle Padilla speaks with Jack Gugel and Thomas Martin, two researchers at the 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó, who are studying pythons to develop a weight-loss treatment.
CU 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó Today—UNESCO named physicist Jun Ye to its Quantum 100 list—a catalogue of some of the top leaders around the world in the rapidly growing field of quantum science.
The 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó & Innovation Office (RIO) announced the 2026 RIO Faculty Fellows cohort. This year’s cohort includes 18 faculty members from departments and research institutes spanning the campus—the largest and most interdisciplinary Faculty Fellows cohort since the program launched in 2018.
OEDIT—The Global Business Development division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade announced that five companies based on innovations from the 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó and one CU researcher have been awarded Proof of Concept and Early-Stage Capital and Retention grants through OEDIT’s Advanced Industries Accelerator Program.
91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó & Innovation Office—Clarivate’s Highly Cited 91ÃÛÌÒ¸óers 2025 list, announced on Nov. 12, again includes a number CU 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó faculty who are demonstrating “broad and significant influence in their fields.
91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó 91ÃÛÌÒ¸ó biochemistry professor Xuedong Liu was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors this year, recognizing a career of pioneering discoveries and real-world impact. His research on cellular communication has fueled four startups advancing novel treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Forbes—Professor Kristi Anseth is known for developing tissue substitutes that improve treatments for conditions like broken bones and heart valve disease. She recently made key discoveries about sex-based differences in cardiac treatment outcomes. Anseth is also among the few innovators elected to all three national academies: Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.