Research-inspired weight-loss bars set to launch

Rodent refreshments served as inspiration for Deborah Good’s new recipe for weight loss. 

Good, associate professor of human nutrition, foods, and exercise, had a history of successfully using conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) to treat genetic obesity in mice by adding the compound to their food but had only seen it given to humans in pill form. 

“I was literally looking at the data from my mice and thinking about the fact that it’s in a biscuit for them and thought, why can’t I just have a biscuit that’s tasty with the same benefits,” Good said. 

Fast forward about a year, mix in help from Virginia Tech’s LAUNCH: Center for New Ventures, and Good Family Foods Group LLC has been born. The first product, the CLAW Bar, which stands for Conjugated Linoleic Acid Weight Loss Bar, debuted in three flavors - cranberry orange almond, dark chocolate cherry, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough – this spring.

“LAUNCH has been very supportive, especially on the patent side of things,” Good said. “They really made me think about how I could turn this idea into a product, which was amazing and what we really needed to get started.”

Good’s project was one of nine projects selected by LAUNCH to support in 2024.

CLA is a fatty acid commonly found in meat and dairy, which was initially identified as an anti-cancer compound. 

Good began researching CLA with mice about 20 years ago. She and her colleagues were the first to show it could treat obesity in a mouse model of adult-onset obesity and more recently, successful used it in a mouse model of Prader-Willi syndrome, a human genetic condition that includes onset obesity, pubertal delay, and small gonads. The findings are included in two U.S. and one international patent applications.

Motivated by the idea of producing CLA-supplemented foods for humans, Good attended LAUNCH’s Startup Labs workshop series, and she and her team were accepted to the 2023 Proof-of-Concept Program. The team includes Shadi Ariyanfar, a Ph.D . candidate in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Exercise, and Daniel Miglia, owner of Hick’ry Ridge Management and a Culinary Institute of America trained chef.

Along with support to fill the gap between public research funding and early-stage commercialization, the program tasked the team with completing a four-week National Science Foundation course and conducting market research with a variety of potential customers. 

With the help of LAUNCH and contacts like Matt Livingstone at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center “Co-Gro” labs, Good and her team also were selected to be a part of the 2023 Fall Life Sciences cohort of the Regional Accelerator and Mentor Program (RAMP), a technology entrepreneurship program in Roanoke, last fall. Verge, a coalition that includes RAMP and the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology council, provided additional funding while the program provides mentoring and a 12-week intensive curriculum to help jump-start new businesses. 

“Deborah and her team are a great example of how the Proof-of-Concept Program serves as a springboard for much larger grant and research opportunities,” said Mark Mondry, who leads LAUNCH. “Providing Virginia Tech researchers early stage commercialization funding and related innovation support services, helps to validate technology, market applications, and attract future funding from federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and foundations.”

While LAUNCH and RAMP helped navigate the business processes, it was Good and Miglia, who is also Good’s husband, who journeyed through the product creation process. 

“We sat down at one point last year with Sean O’Keefe and Joell Eifert from the Department of Food Science at Virginia Tech and with a big bag of different types of health food bars and ate and evaluated bars for ingredients, taste, chewiness, etc.,” Good said. “I thought, 'Man, I should have really gone into food research.'”

With plenty of research and experimentation behind them, Good Family Foods Group debuted samples of its three CLAW Bars at the 2024 Virginia Food and Beverage Expo in Richmond in March. Bars for purchase are expected to be available in and around Blacksburg this fall, and the group aims to expand into other lines of food, such as shakes and coffee pods, in the near future.

“This has been a whirlwind of progress that I do not believe would be happening if LAUNCH had not funded our initial proposal,” Good said. “It truly jump-started our capabilities and confidence in launching this company as an offshoot of our research.”

LAUNCH’s Proof-of-Concept Program combines early-stage commercialization grants and complementary resources to assist Virginia Tech researchers in increasing the impact of their research by pursuing the commercialization of technologies emerging from their labs. The program provides competitive grants up to $50,000 and associated resources support these early-stage activities.

The 2024 projects include the following:

Recycling and Upcycling of Plastic Wastes

Post-consumer plastic waste, such as polyethylene, that makes grocery bags and milk jugs is often not recycled, causing environmental challenges. The Liu lab in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech has developed a process to convert polyethylene waste into surfactants and potentially use them as household detergents. 

Team members:

• Guoliang "Greg" Liu, principal investigator and associate professor, Department of Chemistry
• Nuwayo Eric Munyaneza, fourth-year Ph.D. candidate, Department of Chemistry
• Carlos Posada, second-year graduate student, Department of Chemistry 

Prototype Refinement and Customer Discovery for In-Network Intrusion Prevention for Enterprise Network Security

The team is developing a novel network defense system that precisely confines end-to-end information flows and prevents cross-host cyberattacks in real time when the connection is established on the fly.

Team members:

• Peng Gao, principal investigator and assistant professor, Department of Computer Science
• Bo Ji, associate professor, Department of Computer Science
• Osama Bajaber, Ph.D. student, Department of Computer Science

Dual-Cool Power Modules for Electric Vehicles

This project will accelerate the commercialization of an innovative technology for manufacturing low-cost, dual-cool power modules for traction inverters in electric vehicles. These power modules serve as the pivotal components within the inverter, comprising semiconductor switching devices that regulate the flow of electrical energy from the battery to the motor. 

Team members:

• Guo-Quan Lu, principal investigator and professor, Department of Materials and Systems Engineering
• Joshua Gardner, Ph.D. student, Department of Materials and Systems Engineering
• Qingrui Yuchi, graduate student, Department of Materials and Systems Engineering

Motorcycle Collision Alert and Management System: Customer Discovery

This project will help reduce motorcycle-related crashes in low- and middle-income countries by providing a safety technology bundle for low-cost, low-capacity motorcycles. 

Team members:

• Richard Hanowski, principal investigator and director, Division of Freight, Transit, and Heavy Vehicle Safety at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute 
• Carl Cospel, director, Hardware Engineering Laboratory at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Enhancing Crop Resilience and Sustainability through CRITT Gene Editing Technology

Developed by the group, “CRITT” introduces innovation by using CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) in conjunction with grafting techniques to modify plants without making them transgenic, thereby preserving the unique qualities of high-value cultivars while enhancing their resilience to environmental stresses. This approach not only promises to improve crop production by ensuring the sustainability and quality of fruits and vegetables but also opens up a new frontier in agricultural technology, significantly impacting food security and climate resilience. 

Team members:

• Sherif Sherif, principal investigator and associate professor, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
• Mohammad Zarrabian, postdoctoral research associate, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

CycliCx: A novel drug for the targeted treatment of vascular disease

CycliCx offers a unique solution for patients with narrowed and blocked coronary arteries. Using our patented peptide technology, CycliCx simultaneously promotes healthy vessel repair while preventing excessive cell growth. Ultimately this reduces the risk of heart attacks and mortality, improving overall quality of life.

Team members:

• Meghan Sedovy, principal investigator and Ph.D. candidate, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
• Scott Johnstone, assistant professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Department of Biological Science
• Mark Renton, postdoctoral associate, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

Evaluation of a Wearable Device to Manage Lymphedema

LymphaVibe is dedicated to developing a wearable device to reduce upper extremity lymphedema in breast cancer patients. 

Team members:

• Chris Arena, principal investigator and collegiate associate professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
• Andy Muelenaer, professor of practice, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
• Tara Newberry, clinical lead, Carilion Clinic Occupational Therapy
• Jenny Munson, associate professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics

Wireless, Field Deployable 3D-printed Sensors for Monitoring Phosphate and Calcium Ions

This project aims to develop lithography-free, low-cost, and wireless sensors using 3D-printed geometries for the continuous detection of ions including phosphate and ionized calcium in river water quality and dairy cows' milk samples.

Team members:

• Azahar Ali, principal investigator, assistant professo, School of Animal Sciences
• Dong Sam Ha, professor, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering