UD partners with cmpanies on Smartphone app offering info on substance abuse issues
A new smartphone app puts a network of information and support about opioid and other substance use disorders into the hands of users, their loved ones and health care providers.
The app, Help Near and Now (or HeNN), was developed by a multidisciplinary team at the University of Delaware, along with industry partners Greenline Business Group and CompassRed.
Click here Apple IOS app or here for Google Play app.
It offers features designed to address Delaware’s opioid crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the state was ranked in the top 10 in the nation for highest 2018 overdose rates, with 400 fatal overdoses.
“Like many other states across the country, overdose deaths in Delaware continue to escalate and are expanding to other types of opioids and other drugs, both legal and illegal in origin,” said Tammy L. Anderson, leader of the team that developed HeNN.
A professor of sociology and criminal justice and associate director of the University’s Center for Drug and Health Studies, Anderson has been studying drugs and crime since the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. She said HeNN provides a location-based, interactive platform to connect those with opioid and other substance use disorders and their families to resources and services.
The app is free.
In addition to the wide access, another important feature is that the app creates a peer network where people can rate and comment on services.
Gabriel Humphreys, director of technology and operations at Green Line Business Group, said the company was enthusiastic about the project from the start.
“On hearing HeNN’s mission and proposed goals, we knew immediately they aligned with Green Line’s values,” he said. “So we decided to contribute our expertise in crafting location-based mobile apps in order to provide the help HeNN’s users need.”
Innovation Space announces advisory council
The Delaware Innovation Space announced the formation of the Entrepreneurial Advisory Council (the EAC) for the Delaware Innovation Space and is pleased to introduce its foundational class which includes the following experts with diverse perspectives from across the country:
The EAC will be asked to provide specific advice and perform periodic assessments to aid the Delaware Innovation Space with further development and enhancement of its overall offering with the continual goal of keeping abreast of industry trends and the needs of the scientific entrepreneurial community.
“I am excited to partner with the EAC and their diverse wisdom and perspectives to enable the Delaware Innovation Space to provide the best home for science entrepreneurs and their startups,” says Bill Provine, CEO of the Delaware Innovation Space. “Our goal at the Innovation Space is to rapidly accelerate science-based startups to market years earlier than otherwise would be achieved.”
Advisory board members are
- Saeed Amidi
Founder and CEO, Plug and Play Tech Center and Ventures
Partner, Amidzad Ventures - Michael Burychka
Founder and CEO, IP Group, Inc. - John Carlisle
Director, Chain Reaction Innovations at Argonne National Lab - Vanessa Z. Chan
Professor of Material Science & Engineering and Innovation & Entrepreneurship at UPENN
Partner, Robin Hood Ventures - Frederick (Rick) Jones
Partner at BioAdvance - Cheryl Martin
Founder, Harwich Partners
Former Director, ARPA-E - Purnesh Seegopaul
General Partner, Pangaea Ventures - Ben Solomon
Founder and Managing Partner, FedTech - Robert Urban
Former/Retired Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, LLC - Andrea Wesser-Brawner
Senior VP of Strategy and Partnerships, InBIA, International Business Innovation Association
Agilent buys another company
Testing equipment company Agilent Technologies Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-owned BioTek Instruments for $1.165 billion.
Agilent has operations in the Little Falls area west of Wilmington.
BioTek designs, manufactures and distributes life science instrumentation. Agilent operates similar businesses.
BioTek generated revenues of $162 million in fiscal year 2018 ending December 31 and is expected to grow approximately 10 percent in 2019.
“BioTek represents a strong strategic fit with Agilent,” said Mike McMullen, Agilent president and CEO. “The combination of these two companies will accelerate our multi-year growth strategy to expand our position in cell analysis. This is another example of Agilent investing in high-growth segments of the life sciences market to serve new and existing customers. Agilent is committed to continuing operations in Vermont and retaining the great team of nearly 500 employees that have been at the core of BioTek’s 50-year history of excellence and success.”
Agilent has been making acquisitions in the health science area in recent years.
InterDigital sells CEVA
CEVA, Inc., a licensor of signal processing platforms and artificial intelligence processors for connected devices, today announced the acquisition of the Hillcrest Laboratories, Inc. business from north Wilmington-bsaed InterDigital, Inc. Hillcrest Labs is a leading global supplier of software and components for sensor processing.
InterDigital is a research and patent-holding firm in areas such as mobile technology.
Costco goes digital on membership cards
Finally, Warehouse giant Costco is now offering an app that serves as a membership card.
This is nothing new. YMCAs in Delaware have offered the feature for years.
The big gripes, according to a story from Business Insider, is the need to keep the plastic around when filling up at the gas pumps and the lack of ApplePay.
The lone Delaware Costco does not have gas, reportedly because the pumps would sit under an aquifer.
Costco typically offers gas at prices that are a dime or more below the competition. Rival BJ’s uses a similar appraoch at its Delaware stores.
