NEWS

Vulcan Servant Leader Award presented in recognition of selfless service to others. This award recognizes those who, like Vulcan, has stood for the community by serving others. CerFlux CEO, Dr. Karim Budhwani, receives the Servant Leader Spear Award at the annual Vulcans Community Awards for his work in scientific research and developing strategies to help combat the spread of COVID-19.

In a year like this, heroes rise to the occasion. Since the Covid-19 crisis emerged in March, we’ve seen it time and again across a variety of industries. But, in this challenging year, the heroes in our health care world deserve special recognition. Cancer – the emperor of all maladies – kills nearly 10 million people every year; one death every three seconds. At CerFlux, we are developing nanomedicine biotechnology to change the paradigm from “dying of cancer” to “living with cancer”

A cancer-specific personalized medicine startup in Birmingham has received a R43 grant from the National Cancer Institute. CerFlux received $249,148 to help fund the continuing development of its low-cost, rapid personalized oncology efficacy test, dubbed POET, for Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

As Alabama schools prepared to reopen during rising COVID-19 case counts, Dr. Karim Budhwani outlines practical steps to reduce transmission risk while keeping in-person learning possible. He stresses planning for multiple spread routes (surfaces, droplets, and airborne aerosols) and recommends layering protections such as consistent masking, reducing “the three C’s” (closed spaces, crowded places, close contact), strong hygiene, cleaning, and improved ventilation/filtration. The piece also encourages symptom monitoring and community-aware vigilance as conditions evolve.

“The Alabama Launchpad Seed Award will be invested in areas ranging from procuring additional equipment, hiring and training scientists, to underwriting costs associated with intellectual property protection and regulatory approval processes. Bottom line: we intend to multiply and reinvest this ‘seed’ back in Alabama,” Budhwani said.

The capital raise, which includes funds from many local investors, will be used to support the company’s research and development on its upcoming test called the Personalized Oncology Efficacy Test, or POET. Company leaders hope the capital can help bring the product to the public faster.

Birmingham has been a health care town for a long time with a tremendous concentration of emerging leaders who are poised to shape the health care, technology and innovation sectors for years to come. We are recognizing those emerging leaders such as Dr. Rachael Guenter in this special NextGenBHM feature.

While this is a very difficult time for our physical, mental, and financial health; it is also a critical time for us to set differences aside and come together to fight this pandemic. It is in this spirit that we are writing to you today to suggest an approach which costs a fraction of the proposed $3 trillion package, is sustainable over twelve months, and provides a more robust path to economic recovery while simultaneously safeguarding those most susceptible to COVID-19 and shielding health systems from becoming overwhelmed.

Amid the backdrop of national protests and calls for change to eliminate racism and ensure social justice, the BBJ reached out to business leaders in Birmingham for their reactions, reflections and calls to action.

Efforts in Birmingham to thwart the spread of COVID-19 stretch from volunteer organizations that have stitched more than 18,500 cloth face masks to tech companies and businesses using prototyping, fabrication and 3D printers to create face shields and ventilator adaptors. Birmingham biotech company CerFlux is using its manufacturing, fabrication and prototyping capacities to create PPEs. “Our primary focus is on producing personal protective equipment (PPE), which includes face shields and respirators/masks. We are also preparing to assist in other areas such as ventilator adaptors,” said Dr. Karim Budhwani, CEO of CerFlux and visiting scientist at UAB’s School of Medicine.

CerFlux’s imaging technology is used to provide efficiency that is critical for processing breast cancer tumor specimens through a Personalized Oncology Efficacy test, or POET. The personalized medicine approach at the heart of POET, according to CerFlux, will address the critical, urgent and unmet need for accessible and affordable predictive tools that identify the optimal systemic therapy regimens and eliminate ineffective options for treatment.

The 2020 BIO Alabama Conference wrapped up its final day with panels and keynote speakers including biotech innovation, incubators, and accelerators. In total, the conference delivered over 70 presenters in over 30 sessions. Dr. Karim Budhwani, CEO of advanced personalization medicine technology company CerFlux Inc., gave an insightful talk on innovation and new knowledge, the basis of innovation.

Dr. Karim Budhwani and Dr. Craig Wilson are putting their considerable talents to work designing something that might make returning to school this fall safer. Learn more about the simple desk partition that has the potential to make safe and healthy learning in schools—in Birmingham and elsewhere—much easier all around. Keep reading for all the details.

One exciting aspect of CerFlux’s new way of work is how it’s opening up more research to not just cancer treatments, but also COVID-19 relief. Working closely with their colleagues at the mighty UAB, including Dr. Nitin Arora and Dr. Bert Pierce. Collaborative efforts resulted in an adaptation of the elastomeric half-mask respirator to make it compatible with hospital-grade inline N1000 filters.

Birmingham companies are stepping up to fill in the gaps due to a shortage of PPE during the COVID-19 outbreak, and 3D printing is proving to be one successful resource. "I don’t have to tell you that we are facing an unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 pandemic," said Dr. Karim Budhwani, CEO-Scientist, CerFlux. "Fortunately, we have some of the best health care institutions in our region, however, disruptions in supply chain are threatening to severely constrain these organizations and jeopardize the safety of our friends and colleagues at the very frontlines of fighting this pandemic. So, CerFlux and several others have stepped up to rapidly 'band-aid' these supply-chain disruptions by utilizing local manufacturing and prototyping capacities."