Proof of Concept (POC) Project Showcase

OIST Innovation and the Technology Development Section (TDS) would like to welcome you to the annual Proof of Concept Project Showcase, at 9:00 on Tuesday, March 4th, 2025, at the Sydney Brenner Lecture Theater!

Beyond world-class basic scientific research, OIST is also home to researchers of the Proof of Concept (POC) program and Technology Pioneer Fellows, who are turning their discoveries into products and services that will benefit society beyond the lab. By attending the POC Project Showcase you will learn about the best technologies that are currently being developed at OIST and get the chance to meet the 14 research teams that are making scientific innovation a reality.

The OIST Innovation team will be available for a Q&A, as well.

This event is open to all interested attendees (OIST and external) and it will include a networking break with coffee and snacks.

Event program:

• 9:00 – 9:15: Proof-of-Concept (POC) Program introduction — Angela Ares Pita
• 9:15 – 10:15: Advanced-stage POC teams and Technology Pioneer Fellows
  • POC Phase 1 speakers:
    • A new small peptide, PHDP5, as a potential treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease — Chia Jung (Anna) Chang
  • POC Phase 2 speakers:
    • A hybrid 3D-nanofabrication technology for the development of 3D-scaffolds, hydrogels, and implants for research and medical applications — Lokesh Agrawal
    • Spin-based ultra-low noise amplifier for microwave quantum technologies — Ivan Kostylev
  • Technology Pioneer Fellows:
    • Opioid potentiators for enhancing analgesia and suppressing tolerance development of morphine and other opioids — Peng Zhou
    • Plastitective: Fast and efficient microplastic detection — Samantha Phan
    • Search — Sergey Zobnin
• 10:15 – 10:45: Coffee break and networking
• 10:45 – 11:00: Alumni talk
  • Watasumi — David Simpson
• 11:00 – 11:45: Early-stage POC teams' lightning talks
  • POC Seed Phase speakers:
    • Accelerating Human Cardiac Regeneration with UD Proteomics-guided Stem Cell Programming — Zacharie Taoufiq
    • Development of peptide inhibitors to target neuroblastoma — Franz Meitinger
    • EbiSeq: Innovative Environmental Nucleic Acid Tools Improve Shrimp Farming — Roger Huerlimann
    • iH2O2: Iron-catalyzed H2O2 production — Anju Balakrishnan Syamala
    • Ion trap and optics developments for quantum networking — Ezra Kassa
    • Optimization of AAV Vector Production Using Riboswitch — Elvira Vitu
    • Unlocking microbial PFAS-degradation with evolutionary approaches — Paul Matthay