University of Wisconsin, Madison

Madison, Wisconsin, US

Flagship public research university in Madison, WI, with shared labs and core facilities, an integrated academic health system, an affiliated research park, and statewide extension. Decades of commercialization experience and industry-ready IP processes ease collaboration.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is the state’s flagship public research university, a comprehensive institution with a large research enterprise and broad disciplinary breadth. Industry engages through shared instrumentation, pilot‑scale testbeds, and co-located core facilities that support prototyping and scale-up. An affiliated research and technology park hosts startups and corporate R&D, while integration with a major hospital system enables clinical translation; a statewide extension network connects campus advances to companies and communities across Wisconsin. Research is sustained by competitive federal funding from agencies such as NIH, NSF, DOE, USDA, and DoD, alongside state and industry partnerships. Dedicated commercialization support—through an affiliated foundation and campus offices—provides IP management, licensing, startup mentoring, and flexible, industry-friendly agreements.

Top industry applications

Halo’s AI pipeline combines publication data and faculty input to determine the industry applications with greatest concentration of publishing faculty. It then surfaces those with the strongest industry collaboration evidence.

Medicine

Medical diagnostics

UW–Madison researchers are developing portable photonic biosensors and point-of-care devices that enable rapid, label-free diagnosis of sepsis, bacterial infections, and cancer biomarkers at the bedside or in the field. Complementing this hardware, they are advancing AI-driven diagnostic platforms—including automated PET/CT reporting, mammography analysis, and smartphone-based cognitive screening—that translate complex data into real-time clinical decisions. Together, these innovations target critical gaps in early disease detection, remote monitoring, and precision medicine, positioning them for strong commercial impact in decentralized and digital health markets.

Relevant Innovators

Filiz Yesilkoy

Principal Investigator

Medical diagnosticsMedical imaging

Dhananjay Bhaskar

Principal Investigator

Medical diagnostics

Steven Schrodi

Principal Investigator

Immunology & immune-mediated diseaseInfectious disease & antimicrobialsMedical diagnostics

Medicine

Oncology & cancer therapeutics

UW–Madison researchers advance precision oncology through targeted radiopharmaceuticals for metastatic prostate cancer, next-generation CAR-T and base-edited cell therapies for relapsed leukemias, and circulating tumor DNA diagnostics that predict immunotherapy outcomes. They also develop patient-derived organoid screens and live tumor fragment platforms to identify drug vulnerabilities and personalize solid tumor treatment. These programs translate basic discoveries into clinically viable therapeutics and companion diagnostics for some of the most lethal malignancies.

Relevant Innovators

Jason Kwan

Principal Investigator

Oncology & cancer therapeuticsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Fong Liew

PhD Candidate

Oncology & cancer therapeutics

Katherine Henzler Wildman

Unclaimed

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsOncology & cancer therapeutics

Medicine

Medical imaging

UW–Madison researchers are integrating artificial intelligence with PET, MRI, and CT imaging to transform Alzheimer’s diagnosis, cancer staging, and radiation therapy planning. Their development of novel PET biomarkers, advanced MRI motion tracking, and automated image analysis delivers quantitative, noninvasive tools that reduce clinical uncertainty and accelerate drug trials. These innovations address growing market demand for smarter diagnostic software and image-guided interventions across neurology, oncology, and cardiology.

Relevant Innovators

Chu Ma

Principal Investigator

Medical imaging

David A. Bluemke

Unclaimed

Cardiovascular healthMedical diagnosticsMedical imaging

Sterling C. Johnson

Unclaimed

Medical diagnosticsMedical imagingNeurology & neurological disease

Medicine

Pharmaceuticals and drug delivery

UW–Madison researchers are accelerating pharmaceutical innovation through AI-driven natural-product discovery, high-throughput screening platforms, and organ-on-a-chip models that mimic human disease. They engineer targeted drug-delivery systems—including nanocarriers, polypills, and exosome-based therapies—to overcome barriers like the blood-brain barrier and enable precise dosing. Complementing this pipeline, the university advances radiopharmaceutical theranostics that pair diagnostic imaging with targeted alpha- and beta-emitter therapies for hard-to-treat cancers.

Relevant Innovators

Chase Clark

Postdoctoral Scientist

Pharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Samuel h. Gellman

Unclaimed

Pharmaceuticals and drug deliveryVaccine development

David m Lynn

Unclaimed

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsMedical diagnosticsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Agriculture

Veterinary medicine & animal health

UW–Madison researchers are optimizing dairy cow nutrition, reproduction, and welfare through rumen-protected amino acid supplementation, robotic milking systems, and precision monitoring of heat stress and metabolic disorders. A new USDA-ARS dairy research facility—opening 2027 with greenhouse gas chambers and advanced animal nutrition labs—anchors a three-campus Dairy Innovation Hub connecting academic research to industry partners across Wisconsin's dairy supply chain. This work directly supports feed supplement, animal health, and dairy technology companies seeking to improve herd productivity, sustainability, and animal welfare outcomes.

Relevant Innovators

Steven Ricke

Unclaimed

Food processing technologyFood safety and quality controlVeterinary medicine & animal health

Thomas C. Friedrich

Unclaimed

Food safety and quality controlVeterinary medicine & animal health

Richard R. Dubielzig

Unclaimed

Veterinary medicine & animal health

Energy & natural resources

Nuclear energy applications

UW–Madison is a national hub for fusion energy commercialization, with three campus-born spinoffs—Realta Fusion, Type One Energy, and SHINE Technologies—translating decades of plasma physics and reactor engineering research into commercial fusion systems. Researchers are advancing stellarator and tokamak confinement, high-heat-flux materials, and tritium fuel cycle technologies through a $19M DOE Fusion Innovative Research Engine award and the Great Lakes Fusion Energy Alliance. These efforts position UW–Madison as a primary partner for companies developing fusion power plants, advanced fission reactors, and nuclear-adjacent diagnostics and materials.

Relevant Innovators

Scott Sanders

Principal Investigator

Fossil fuel optimizationMetallurgical processingNuclear energy applications

Adelle Wright

Principal Investigator

Nuclear energy applications

Paul Wilson

Principal Investigator

Nuclear energy applications

Industrial materials

Electronic materials

UW–Madison scientists pioneer semiconducting carbon nanotube arrays, atomically thin 2D materials, and ferroelectric/multiferroic thin films for next-generation computing, memory, and energy-harvesting devices. Collaborations with Intel and HRL Laboratories on silicon-based semiconductor qubits, alongside spinoff SixLine Semiconductor's carbon nanotube chip technology, demonstrate a direct pathway from materials discovery to device commercialization. The Advanced Materials Industrial Consortium provides commercial partners structured access to faculty expertise across electronic, optical, magnetic, and quantum materials.

Relevant Innovators

M. G. Lagally

Unclaimed

Electronic materialsQuantum computing systems & platforms

Medicine

Vaccine development

UW–Madison virologists develop novel vaccine platforms—including the self-limiting M2SR influenza backbone adapted for COVID-19 (CoroFlu)—through spinoff FluGen and manufacturing partner Bharat Biotech, with clinical-grade production at the on-campus Waisman Biomanufacturing facility. Researchers are engineering next-generation immunogens for respiratory pathogens, leveraging CRISPR-enabled antigen design and advanced adjuvant systems to improve immune durability and breadth. These capabilities serve vaccine companies seeking academic partners with an integrated discovery-to-GMP-manufacturing pipeline and WARF's industry-friendly licensing infrastructure.

Relevant Innovators

Mary S. Hayney

Unclaimed

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsVaccine development

Gabriele Neumann

Unclaimed

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsVaccine development

Bruce S. Klein

Unclaimed

Immunology & immune-mediated diseaseInfectious disease & antimicrobialsVaccine development

Last updated by Halo AI Jun 28, 2026. Please verify key information.

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Jack Heinemann

University Administrator, University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Top industry applications

Medical diagnosticsOncology & cancer therapeuticsMedical imagingPharmaceuticals and drug deliveryVeterinary medicine & animal healthNuclear energy applicationsElectronic materialsVaccine development