UNeMed released its 2024 annual report highlighting notable achievements of inventors and researchers at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Notable metrics include 104 new inventions, 91 new inventors, 35 products on the market and 74 total patents issued — setting a new record. 

The report also brought attention to two UNMC innovations that achieved FDA approval and are now available on the open market:

• Virtual Incision’s surgical robotics platform MIRA provides a minimally invasive surgery option for colectomy procedures. The company plans to get approval for other surgical uses. 
• Carecubes provides medical staff a safe, deployable environment to care for patients with a highly infectious disease. It was the Startup of the Year winner during UNeMed’s 2024 Research Innovation Awards. 

The UNeMed Corporation assists with moving ideas and advancements from university labs forward into the marketplace for wide-scale use. The technology transfer office collaborates with both UNMC and UNO in financing and commercialization efforts. 

UNeMed President and CEO Michael Dixon, Ph.D., said that the metrics they prioritize and types of initiatives they take on have evolved over time. The change reflects the organization’s shift from mainly licensing innovations to large companies like Pfizer to building more startups from the ground up through the university system.

Dixon continued that some startups have already begun making progress in 2025 and have gained recognition, including University Medical Devices and its MicroWash product, as well as RespirAI Medical and its recent grant funding from the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation. 

“We track opportunities now, how many companies we have talked to, getting feedback,” said Dixon. “We’re starting to see things bear some fruit, raise money, start to develop and get through their regulatory approvals.” 

With the goal of assisting startups with funding, scaling and eventually exiting, Dixon said UNeMed continues to try to find ways to connect researchers with entrepreneurs. He continued that their community events, like the Idea Pub: Morning Edition series that launched last year, and programs, like the Innovation Hub at the recently completed Catalyst building, provide necessary connection points. 

“Hospitals are super creative places, but not a lot of people like to hang out at hospitals,” said Dixon. “When you pull the healthcare community into a business environment like Catalyst, they get energized. They get excited.”

Beyond chances to grow, Dixon said the new year presents additional challenges to navigate due to ongoing uncertainties from the following financial policies and proposals:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s cuts to grant funding for facilities and administrative (f&a) costs under the Trump administration and its efforts to lower government spending.
• Gov. Jim Pillen’s proposed budget cuts to state spending that target the University of Nebraska‘s funding, in addition to state programs like the Business Innovation Act. 

Dixon said UNeMed will continue to make efforts to give students, faculty and the community the opportunity to build out a HealthTech and bioscience ecosystem in Omaha.

“We’re not going to sit still and just do what we’ve always done,” said Dixon. “We’re going to create new programs, we’re going to create new opportunities for interaction and we’re going to be looking to the public to say, ‘Help us engage.’” 

The full 2024 annual report is available on UNeMed’s website.