The competition for research funding is fierce, especially if your field is rare diseases and the source is industry. Five research teams from across Quebec qualified to enter the ring in Quebec City on December 6, challenging a panel of biotech “Heavyweight Champions” for $500,000 in financing. One team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) was prepared to go the distance.
Dr. Nancy Braverman, a scientist at the RI-MUHC, and Catherine Argyriou, a student in her laboratory, emerged the victors in this year’s final KNOCK OUT round of presentations, a highlight of the 11th Quebec City Healthcare Industry Forum. Having worked closely with Dr. Costas Karatzas, Director of the Business Development and Contracts Office of the RI-MUHC, the team delivered a presentation with punch and was awarded first prize from venture capital seed fund AmorChem for the project “Retinal gene augmentation for peroxisome biogenesis (REGAIN).”