Benefiting society is a prime motivator for many scientists and engineers. A direct way to pursue this aim is via entrepreneurship, where discoveries in the lab can translate to the commercial sector. Yet for many faculty members, finding the time to launch a business, given their myriad other responsibilities, is inherently daunting.
To help navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship at Johns Hopkins, the university established a tech incubator, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV), over a decade ago. JHTV guides researchers on whichever path makes the most sense for their particular innovation. The paths available include creating a startup company (often the most readily thought of), as well as obtaining a patent or seeking corporate collaboration and licensing opportunities. “We work with a lot of faculty to get their ideas out of academia and out into the world,” says Elizabeth Burger, the senior director of strategic initiatives at JHTV. “Through one or more of the entrepreneurial pathways, we’re here to support faculty on their journey, especially junior faculty who are new to this kind of enterprise.”
One young faculty member who is working with JHTV to realize the profound potential of his research is Jude Phillip, Engr ’15 (PhD), an assistant professor of biomedical engineering who joined Johns Hopkins in 2023. His lab focuses on developing technologies that can predict and modify aging trajectories, overall helping people live healthily into their 70s, 80s, and beyond. “We’re applying engineering to aging research,” says Phillip. “We want our work to have an impact on people, whether it be through clinicians or hospital systems or right-to-end users.”
“Through one or more of the entrepreneurial pathways, we’re here to support faculty on their journey, especially junior faculty who are new to this kind of enterprise.” —Elizabeth Burger
Boosting older adults’ welfare is a largely unmet and increasingly dire issue; by the mid-2040s, it’s estimated that more people will be over 60 than under 18 years of age across much of the developed world, including the United States. Given this urgency, Phillip and colleagues are presently exploring all three entrepreneurial pathways. Over the last few years, the researchers have submitted several reports of invention to Johns Hopkins. These discoveries are presently being evaluated for potential patenting or commercial application by JHTV, which meets with Phillip regularly to offer development feedback and strategy.
Meanwhile, companies in the pharmaceutical and venture capital spaces have also begun reaching out to Phillip about possible partnerships, investment, and licensing. In light of such buzz, Phillip and his team are additionally considering creating their own startup, again leveraging JHTV’s expertise. “We have a lot of ways we can go at this time, and JHTV has been super-instrumental in getting us to this stage,” says Phillip, who serves on the JHTV faculty advisory committee.
One key discovery from Phillip and colleagues is that senescent cells—aged cells that no longer divide and proliferate—are not all the same, as had been thought. Studies have tied the buildup of senescent cells to age-related disease, due to these cells releasing pro-inflammatory molecules that degrade tissue function. Phillip revealed, however, with machine learning and imaging techniques that at least three subtypes of senescent cells exist, only one of which strongly correlates with unhealthy aging.
“We have a lot of ways we can go at this time, and JHTV has been super instrumental in getting us to this stage.” —Jude Phillip
Those findings, in turn, have spurred development of screening platforms for gauging how different senescent cell subtypes respond to so-called senolytics—an emerging new drug class that targets senescent cells and could, in theory, lessen the brunt of some age-related maladies. “The goal here is not to kill all senescent cells, because some have beneficial roles,” says Phillip. “We just want to kill the bad ones.” Phillip and his colleagues continue to mature their techniques while assessing the most advantageous entrepreneurial approach. In this vein, JHTV has also connected Phillip with alumni entrepreneurs who’ve successfully pushed out companies, as well as hosted lunch-and-learn workshops where businesspeople have shared their startup, patent-filing, and licensing experiences.
“We’re really excited about what our work could do for the critical challenge of aging populations,” says Phillip.
Securing Next-Generation Communications
Another junior faculty member walking the entrepreneurial path is Alex Marder. Like Phillip, he joined Johns Hopkins a couple of years ago. Marder’s research centers on enhancing the security of 5G communications networks, initially for use by the Department of Defense (DoD). 5G is continuing to roll out worldwide, offering much higher speeds and data capacities than today’s 4G. For the federal workforce, though—especially the military—accessing new, public 5G can pose significant security concerns because third-party network infrastructure might contain unknown and untrusted hardware. As a result, sensitive communications could be intercepted by adversaries.
“The issue is that the DoD needs to be able to use cellphones and other devices, both tactically and not tactically, in military and other settings, and it’s not yet known how to do that securely,” says Marder, who is an assistant professor of computer science. “But we’ve come up with a solution.”
Marder and colleagues have developed mobile device software that can identify the hardware on cell towers before the device proceeds with data transfer. Rather than trying to fingerprint hardware through physical properties of manufacturing, as prior approaches have explored, Marder’s platform instead observes the behavior of the hardware. That behavior gives telltale signs that reveal the hardware’s maker, helping DoD workers to assess and avoid risks.
“The phone basically looks at the equipment that lives on the cell tower and even beyond, and gauges if this is equipment we want to be connecting to,” says Marder.
To commercialize the technology, Marder and colleagues created a startup last year called Revelare Networks (pronounced “rev-UH-layr,” derived from a Latin word meaning “reveal”). The company, supported by DoD funding, has now grown to seven employees and is further implementing Marder’s network visibility and reliability tools. Field testing has also begun, with Marder and team having recently shipped several phones to U.S. Special Forces in Okinawa to vet cellular networks.
JHTV has advised Marder through the startup process which, he says, is indeed significantly time-consuming, as one might expect. To help shoulder the load, Marder and colleagues have out- sourced some of the chief financial officer-centric tasks to an outside company, and may look to bring in a fractional or full-time CEO down the road.
“JHTV has been an invaluable resource for us. We’re looking forward to seeing Revelare grow and our tools potentially allowing everyone to have a secure 5G experience.” —Alex Marder
Marder has also filed two patents for the underlying technology, with one of the patents going through Johns Hopkins and receiving process assistance from JHTV on how to protect as much of the intellectual property as possible. “JHTV has been an invaluable resource for us,” says Marder.
Marder’s hope is—as has happened previously with technological innovations like the internet and the Global Positioning System—that his team’s 5G-securing technologies are proven effective in the defense sector and will eventually translate to the everyday civilian sector. “We’re looking forward to seeing Revelare grow and our tools potentially allowing everyone to have a secure 5G experience,” says Marder.