The work that we do as scientists and engineers is made more meaningful when we are connected to the problem we are trying to solve. I realized early on in my graduate school career that there is a major difference between an idea that has intellectual and academic merit and one that addresses a real societal need. I identified entrepreneurship as a way of having far-reaching impact by connecting real societal needs with promising and fascinating scientific innovations.
The New Venture Development program, organized by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, has been a highly rewarding outlet for me to explore this process. As a part of this program, MBA students are paired with students pursuing the Graduate Certificate of Entrepreneurship, and the program is designed to give participants practical and hands on experience developing a viable business model for promising ideas and innovations.
In August of 2021, I joined a team of scientists and business professionals to develop CiphrX Biotechnologies, a startup that addresses the current limitations of brain cancer diagnosis. In addition to myself, the founding team consists of Hailey Carter, Drake Harrison, Dr. Stephanie Gannon, and Dr. Emilie Darrigues. Hailey is an Executive MBA (EMBA) student with healthcare startup experience and Drake is also an EMBA student with 6 years corporate experience with JB Hunt and serves as a National Account Executive. Stephanie recently graduated with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and now works in Emerging Technology at Walmart. My journey in this program ultimately began when I met Dr. Emilie Darrigues, a post-doctoral fellow in the department of Neurosurgery who is advised by Dr. Analiz Rodriguez, Director of Neurosurgical Oncology at UAMS. Dr. Rodriguez is an inventor on the patent-pending technology, and CiphrX has leveraged this piece of technology to develop a diagnostic workflow that improves upon the current standard of diagnosis for brain cancer. 
300,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumor in the United States every year, and it takes up to six weeks to confirm a diagnosis after receiving a tumor biopsy. This time delay is largely due to the World Health Organization guidelines, which recommends genetic sequencing as part of standard diagnosis. As a result, tumor samples are sent to an external sequencing company, resulting in a prolonged and distressing wait for patients and their families. CiphrX provides a solution that enables same-day genetic sequencing to be performed within the hospital, ultimately accelerating the initiation of treatment and enabling enrollment into potentially lifesaving clinical trials. We leverage a third-party Oxford Nanopore sequencing device and our product consists of a patent-pending sample preparation kit that enables rapid sample preparation using a CRISPR-based enrichment approach. Additionally, CiphrX provides a proprietary software platform that analyzes the data and produces a user-friendly report to guide clinical decision-making. I was drawn to this idea early on because of its relevance to my own research in the lab of Dr. Chris Nelson (Department of Biomedical Engineering), exploring the application of Oxford Nanopore sequencing to characterize the precision and efficacy of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.
We conducted over 45 customer discovery interviews in the Fall semester, focusing on key stakeholders such as neurosurgeons, hospital administrators, and pathologists. Based on our validated business model, we competed in four business plan competitions over the Spring semester. Most notably, we were the only Arkansas team to make it to the final round of the Heartland Challenge and ultimately placed 4th overall as well as 2nd place in the Elevator Pitch. We also placed 2nd in the Arkansas Governor’s Cup competition. The business competition circuit was definitely the highlight of this program and was an incredible opportunity to network with and receive feedback from highly established entrepreneurs and investors. The mentor network that the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation has built is vast and one of the more exciting aspects of the program. As participants in the Heartland Challenge, we heard from and were able to meet highly successful entrepreneurs and investors like Alice Walton, Jim Goetz, and Steve Nelson.
As I reflect on my experience in this program, I am left with a greater understanding of the importance of engineers and scientists leaving the laboratory to meaningfully connect with the problem that is being addressed. I also recognize the value of collaboration across multiple disciplines and being able to communicate technically complex ideas to unfamiliar and non-scientific audiences. The value of pursuing something that makes you uncomfortable initially should not be underestimated. It is not my natural instinct to get up in front of hundreds of people, but I quickly became the designated “elevator pitcher” for our team and used this as an opportunity to grow and communicate more effectively. I also learned that who you choose to surround yourself with is crucially important, and a great team with great mentors makes all the difference. Northwest Arkansas is a great place to grow a business and this program has highlighted the wealth of opportunities available to budding entrepreneurs and growing businesses. I am very appreciative of the work of Sarah Goforth and David Hinton, who have designed such an impactful program and been excellent mentors to CiphrX. I am excited to take my learnings from this program and apply it in a meaningful way.
By: Landon Burcham
MS Student, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Graduate Fellow, Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation