CU Innovators News
The Research & Innovation Office (RIO) announced the 2026 RIO Faculty Fellows cohort. This year’s cohort includes 18 faculty members from departments and research institutes spanning the campus—the largest and most interdisciplinary Faculty Fellows cohort since the program launched in 2018.
OEDIT announces grants to University of Colorado startups and researchers in the advanced industriesOEDIT—The Global Business Development division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade announced that five companies based on innovations from the University of Colorado and one CU researcher have been awarded Proof of Concept and Early-Stage Capital and Retention grants through OEDIT’s Advanced Industries Accelerator Program.
ñ Research & Innovation Office—Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list, announced on Nov. 12, again includes a number ñ faculty who are demonstrating “broad and significant influence in their fields.
ñ biochemistry professor Xuedong Liu was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors this year, recognizing a career of pioneering discoveries and real-world impact. His research on cellular communication has fueled four startups advancing novel treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Forbes—Professor Kristi Anseth is known for developing tissue substitutes that improve treatments for conditions like broken bones and heart valve disease. She recently made key discoveries about sex-based differences in cardiac treatment outcomes. Anseth is also among the few innovators elected to all three national academies: Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
ñ Chemical and Biological Engineering—Georgia Tech associate professor and 2025 Schmidt Polymath Saad Bhamla will join ñ’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the BioFrontiers Institute this August. Known for pioneering ultra-low-cost scientific tools and bio-inspired devices, Bhamla plans to collaborate across campus and spin out new companies leveraging ñ’s innovation ecosystem.
ñ Environmental Engineering Program—Mark Hernandez is serving as a commissioner of the newly launched Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air to elevate indoor air as a critical public health priority and drive coordinated global action and solutions.
CUbit Quantum Initiative—Svenja Knappe (ñ Mechanical Engineering) is collaborating with scientists from the CU Anschutz Medical Campus to advance the use of quantum sensors into real-world health applications. These quantum sensors could aid in more effective diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of brain disorders.
Technology Networks—Daniel Acuña, a ñ computer scientist and founder of ñ startup ReviewerZero, led development of an AI tool that analyzed ~15,200 open-access journals and flagged roughly 1,400 as potentially problematic, with over 1,000 confirmed to exhibit questionable publishing practices.
Eleven teams of University of Colorado entrepreneurs, faculty researchers and graduate student innovators will compete for a combined $750,000 in startup funding grants in this year’sLab Venture Challenge (LVC) Showcases at the Dairy Arts Center. Judges from Venture Partners at ñ’s entrepreneurial network will hear Shark Tank-style pitches across two nights, one for innovations in biosciences and another for physical sciences and engineering.