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Problem

Experts agree that worldwide investments in mental health research are meagre, and historically, this clinical area has sought phased and marketable advances. In an article published in 2006, Tom Insel, then Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, wrote that “In contrast to researchers in cancer and heart disease who have sought cures and preventions, biological psychiatrists in both academia and industry have set their sights on incremental advances, such as drugs with fewer adverse effects.” He proposed that the field of psychiatry will need to develop groundbreaking strategies for prevention of mental disorders.

Solution

To that end, Dr. Christopher Lowry’s team at CU Boulder has been working on developing novel therapies for prevention of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Specifically, Dr. Lowry’s team has developed a new nutritional fitness approach to enhance stress resilience and prevent stress-related psychiatric disorders including anxiety disorders, affective disorders and PTSD. This approach consists of exposures to certain mycobacteria (the “good bacteria”), a genus of common and abundant environmental bacteria with immunoregulatory and anti- inflammatory properties. This research group has published multiple peer-reviewed papers on this technology and are the leading researchers in the science of using mycobacteria to enhance stress resilience. Ten novel strains of mycobacteria have been discovered so far and technical progress continues here at CU.

Market Application

Applications for the technology include clinical psychiatry and psychology.

What's Next?

The spin-off company, Mycobacterium Therapeutics, Inc., is engaging in strategic talks with several industry partners and is currently looking for business and technical executives to join the team and/or fill board seats.