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Students at three North Louisiana universities competed for prizes and startup assistance at BRF’s Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program’s (EAP) Grand Prix, a series of university business plan competitions held in November and designed to support student innovation. The top five participants –– individuals or teams –– at Northwestern State University (NSU), Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSUS) and Grambling State University (GSU) each pitched their business idea to a panel of judges made up of representatives from sponsors, university faculty, and the local business community. “One of EAP’s objectives is to foster entrepreneurial education at the university level,” said Dave Smith, Executive Director of EAP. “We think the best way to grow an entrepreneurial-minded ecosystem is to expose students to an environment that celebrates their innovation. Through EAP’s Grand Prix college business plan competitions, we are guiding students and young entrepreneurs in growing their businesses, taking them from concept to reality.” The top three finalists at each competition were awarded cash prizes, scholarships to the Louisiana Startup Prize 2019 and the Patent Academy, plus professional services from EAP. The grand prize winner of each competition received $3,000, while second and third place received $1,000 and $500, respectively. The winners of NSU’s Inferno […]

BRF’s Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP) has been awarded a U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant, resulting in the creation of the North Louisiana Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (NorLEAP), which will expand EAP services to 21 parishes in North Louisiana. EAP, with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D., and U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, announced the award on Nov. 2 at Bossier Parish School for Technology and Innovative Learning. Cassidy and Johnson, along with other North Louisiana elected officials and economic development organizations, provided letters of support to secure the grant. The two-year, $600,000 grant will be matched by BRF, creating a $1.2 million expansion of EAP services. Over the next 15 months, the grant is expected to create or save more than 200 jobs and generate $15 million in revenue to the 21-parish region’s economy. “This region has so many wonderful traits, but unless we have young and innovative people investing back into our region, it won’t be able to grow,” said Cassidy. “That’s why leveraging these resources to create more opportunities for those who live here is so important.” EAP is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs grow ideas into businesses by providing them with expertise, mentorship and key connections needed to fuel their […]

Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP) portfolio company Oleolive has been awarded a $350,000 federal grant to study oleocanthal, a compound found in extra virgin olive oil, and its effects on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute on Aging (NIA) was awarded to the Shreveport-based company, which licensed a University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) technology for extraction of oleocanthal from the oil, a process developed in Dr. Khalid El Sayed’s laboratory. Segue Science Management (SSM) negotiated the licensing agreement, the first technology licensing deal for ULM, and partnered with Oleolive to form a private company to provide high-quality oleocanthal to researchers, develop a consumer product to show the beneficial effects of oleocanthal on the skin, and, through the grant award, continue research on oleocanthal’s effects on Alzheimer’s disease by Dr. Amal Kaddoumi at Auburn University. Kaddoumi also received pilot funding from BRF’s Center for Molecular Imaging and Therapy while on the ULM faculty. Oleolive operations are based out of BRF’s InterTech 1 facility in Segue Science Labs. SSM, which aims to commercialize scientific technologies discovered in the academic setting, has entered a second-year contract with ULM to commercialize more technology […]

BRF thanks the more than 3,200 University Health employees for their dedicated service and achievements during the past five years. 2013-2018 Achievement Highlights Finances • Increased revenue from commercially insured patients by $100 million annually, which was used to supplement state funding to take care of the state’s Medicaid and uninsured patients. We took steps to protect that revenue stream, which was essential to the hospitals’ survival. • Improved finances and service without charging a management fee • Invested more than $58 million in capital improvements in first three years of ownership and operation • Supported the academic and teaching mission of LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport with over $334.5 million in payments • Generated a more than $900 million boost to the State in new federal matching revenue sources, impacting the North Louisiana region through $1 billion in new sales, $400 million in household earnings, an average of 2,818 jobs per year and $18 million in local government treasuries from tax collections, according to a study by Dr. Loren Scott, former LSU Department of Economics Chair (as of FY 2016) People • Saved more than 3,200 jobs • Restored salary increases through pay-for-performance and merit-based programs • Implemented tuition-reimbursement […]

Dear Friends: As of Monday, October 1, Ochsner LSU Health System of North Louisiana takes over operations of the safety net hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe from BRF/University Health System. This outcome is the culmination of over three years of our deliberate efforts to bring this vision to reality. In 2013, the Jindal administration sent over 3,200 pink slips to the hospital employees in Shreveport and Monroe. BRF entered the hospital business to save those jobs when no one else in North Louisiana was willing to do so. The loss of those jobs would have been devastating to our Shreveport medical school, and to the Shreveport and Monroe communities. There were many reasons that no one in the hospital business, or any other business, wanted to take this on. We were told that the two hospitals were experiencing operational losses, and no working capital was being given to the new privatized owners. The aging hospitals and the LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport were estimated to need $150 million in deferred maintenance expenses. Five years to the day, the hospitals that we received from the State in 2013, with no working capital and regular operational losses, are being handed to […]

10 new startup companies added to EAP’s Wall of Entrepreneurial Achievement BRF’s Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP) celebrated its fourth year of operation and successful launch of local high growth startups with the addition of 10 new startup companies to its Wall of Entrepreneurial Achievement. EAP installed the wall at Intertech 1 in Shreveport and hosted an unveiling with an original 13 portfolio companies two years ago in a community celebration with representatives from the City of Shreveport and Caddo Commission. In EAP’s fifth year, the wall now showcases 34 local startups that have reached milestones to launch in Caddo Parish. EAP is an economic development initiative and partnership between BRF, the City of Shreveport and the Caddo Parish Commission to launch and grow startups locally to diversify the regional economy and grow the area’s tax base through job creation and new industry. Companies on the EAP Wall of Entrepreneurial Achievement are those EAP has helped launch and grow locally in Shreveport and Caddo Parish. “In four years we’ve helped over 210 companies that needed startup services and tools they could have left the market to find, but thanks to the partnership we’ve developed and a growing network of support for […]

Six North Louisiana universities and foundations have partnered with the New Louisiana Angel Fund 2 (NLAF 2), a $3 million angel investment fund made up of more than 60 accredited angel investors or entities, to expose business students to such areas as entrepreneurship,investment in private entities, technology transfer and innovative startup activity. Four-year institutions in North Louisiana with business schools were invited by BRF, the managing member of NLAF 2, to participate in educational opportunities for faculty members and students. Participating universities or foundations are LSU Shreveport Foundation, Centenary College, Louisiana Tech University Foundation, University of Louisiana at Monroe Foundation, Grambling State University Foundation and Northwestern State University Foundation. BRF provided a total of $75,000 for the participating foundations or universities to become members of the fund. NLAF 2’s investors make informed investment decisions to fund startups in North Louisiana after a rigorous due-diligence process, in which the universities’ business students will be invited to participate. “With this NLAF 2 partnership, we hope to open the world of investing and entrepreneurship to promising students in North Louisiana, whom we believe will become active entrepreneurs or supporters of the startup community in North Louisiana,” said John F. George Jr., M.D., President […]

2017 • CMIT provided a $16,000 pilot grant for a University of Louisiana at Monroe researcher. The funded proposal is entitled “Extra-virgin olive oil ameliorates blood brain barrier function and reduces microglial activation: a pilot study” by PI Amal Kaddoumi, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2018 • CMIT provided a $7,500 pilot grant for a LSU Health Sciences Center researcher. The funded proposal is entitled “Interactions between alpha-syn/beta-Amyloid/tau and cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease” by PI J. Steven Alexander, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology. CMIT is headed by Dr. Pradeep Garg. Learn more about CMIT at www.cmitla.org.  CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS STORY AND MORE IN BRF’S QUARTERLY REPORT FOR MAY 2018. 

CMIT has signed a six-year contract with Eli Lilly/ AVID to produce a PET radiopharmaceutical for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. The compound, F-18 labeled AV-1451, targets the brain’s tau protein that is one of the leading culprits in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease has become a higher priority in the research community, as it has become the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 5.7 million Americans are living with the disease, and by 2025, the number is projected to rise to nearly 14 million. This radiotracer is being produced at CMIT’s Southern Isotopes facility on King’s Highway in Shreveport. “Besides mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s, this radiopharmaceutical is also quite effective in imaging Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and several other traumatic brain injury cases,” said CMIT Executive Director Dr. Pradeep Garg. “This radiopharmaceutical binds to a protein called ‘tau protein’ which accumulates in the brain during repeat concussions and traumatic brain injuries. Availability of this PET radiopharmaceutical allows the non-invasive detection of various neurodegenerative brain disease.” Garg said this radiopharmaceutical is relatively new and not widely used in the region yet, but it is likely to become more prevalent […]

Eight Caddo Parish High School students who graduated from the Science and Medicine Academic Research Training (SMART) program were honored at a special luncheon. The SMART program matches high school seniors with LSUHSCS researchers. The students spend a year working alongside graduate students on a number of medical research projects. 2017 – 2018 SMART STUDENTS, MENTORS & RESEARCH PROJECTS JEMMA CLARY Caddo Parish Magnet High School Mentor: J. Steven Alexander, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology Project Title: “The Role of Lymphatic Proteins in the Brain and Multiple Sclerosis” CHASE COLVIN C.E. Byrd High School Mentor: Mani Panchatcharam, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy Project Title: “Hyperglycemic Vascular Complications and the Autotaxin-LPA-LPP3 Axis” CHRISTOPHER FERRIER Caddo Parish Magnet High School Mentor: Elizabeth Disbrow, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience; Adjunct, Department of Neurology Project Title: “The Relationship Between Brain Volume and Cognitive Function in Parkinson’s Disease” TOBIAS KALLENBERG Caddo Parish Magnet High School Mentor: Christopher Kevil, Vice Chancellor for Research; Dean, School of Graduate Studies; Professor, Department of Pathology; CCDS Director Project Title: “An Investigation into the Possible Application of Selenide in the Treatment of Ischemic Vascular Disease” LILLY KAMBEROV Caddo Parish […]