Rotman, Maarten

Abstract There is a general separation between medical and business education, despite the substantial intersection of these fields in hospital and industry settings. This separation hinders medical innovators, who rarely have opportunities to see how entrepreneurial concepts apply to the translation of medical innovation. To address this, the Office of Entrepreneurship at Mayo Clinic Florida provides experiential entrepreneurial training through an internal pitch competition: the alligator tank (AT). This study evaluates the impact and efficacy of the first seven years of the AT. Key metrics include a modified technology readiness level (TRL), determined by the presence of a disclosure, prototype, and preliminary data. A high TRL is not indicative of success in the pitch competition, leveling the playing field for early-stage inventions. The AT is characterized by broad representation across academic and professional ranks, departments, and genders, as well as strong participant retention. Innovators with prior disclosures are more likely to win the AT, presumably due to their experience. The AT serves as an institution-wide initiative that cultivates an inclusive, supportive innovation culture, fosters interdisciplinary medical innovation, and helps advance innovation maturity. Adopting the AT framework may help similar medical systems build an innovation ecosystem within their institutions.

Abstract Type 2 diabetes has reached endemic proportions and is a substantial burden for the affected patients and the society. Along with lifestyle factors, a number of genetic loci predisposing to type 2 diabetes have been identified, including SORCS1 that encodes the transmembrane receptor SorCS1. The ectodomain of SorCS1 (sol-SorCS1) is shed from plasma membranes but the biological function of this fragment is unknown. Here we show that sol-SorCS1 acts as a high-affinity binding partner for the insulin receptor to stabilize the receptor and increase insulin affinity, protein kinase B activation, and glucose uptake in myocytes. Sol-SorCS1 is liberated from adipocytes, and in diabetic patients the plasma concentration positively correlates with body mass index, but inversely with plasma glucose. In mouse models of insulin resistance, exogenous sol-SorCS1 restored insulin sensitivity. We conclude that sol-SorCS1 increases peripheral insulin sensitivity and propose sol-SorCS1 as a novel insulin sensitizing adipokine and potential antidiabetic agent.