The New Mexico Start-Up Factory (NMSUF) announced that John Chavez, Founder and Managing Director, has been invited to participate in the 2026 Pilot Grant Review hosted by the Center for Translational Medicine (CTM) at the University of Montana.

CTM is a multidisciplinary research center dedicated to advancing translational medicine by supporting faculty, staff, and students in moving biomedical discoveries from early-stage research toward clinical application. As part of its annual program, CTM will award two to three Pilot Grants of up to $100,000 each to support innovative research projects and generate preliminary data for future external funding.

Chavez was invited to return as a reviewer following his participation in the previous grant cycle. In this role, he will evaluate multiple pilot project proposals submitted through CTM’s competitive request for applications (RFA) process. The program received eight letters of intent, with seven full proposals expected for review.

In addition to proposal evaluation, Chavez will participate in the in-person Pitch Competition scheduled for May 19, 2026, where selected finalists will present their research concepts. His expertise in technology commercialization and venture development will contribute to assessing each project’s translational potential and readiness for future funding and real-world application.

The CTM program partners with the Rocky Mountain Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (RMT-REACH), an NIH-funded initiative within the L.S. Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation. Through this collaboration, selected projects receive pitch training, commercialization guidance, and project management support to help accelerate promising discoveries.

Chavez’s participation reflects continued collaboration across regional innovation ecosystems and reinforces NMSUF’s commitment to advancing the commercialization of breakthrough research throughout the Mountain West.

A delegation of 12 international leaders will visit the New Mexico Start-Up Factory (NMSUF) in mid-April as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a premier professional exchange initiative focused on advancing global collaboration and leadership.

Hosted locally by Global Ties ABQ, the delegation is participating in a program titled “Advancing U.S. and Global Economic Prosperity,” which brings emerging leaders to the United States to explore economic development, innovation, and international trade. During their Albuquerque visit, participants will engage with regional organizations to gain a deeper understanding of how innovation ecosystems drive growth.

As part of the program, the delegation will meet with the New Mexico Start-Up Factory to examine how scientific discoveries are translated into high-growth companies. The visit will provide a firsthand look at technology commercialization efforts across New Mexico’s research and innovation landscape.

Melissa Firestone, Company Creation Specialist at NMSUF, will open the session with an overview of the organization’s mission, portfolio, and approach to building companies rooted in scientific innovation. The presentation will highlight how NMSUF collaborates with researchers from universities, national laboratories, and medical institutions to advance technologies from concept to market.

The program will also feature company presentations that illustrate the commercialization process in action. Dr. Sang M. Han will present on Osazda Energy, a company developing advanced materials to enhance solar cell performance. Dr. Kristina Trujillo will provide an overview of TNeuroDX, a company focused on developing a diagnostic platform for Alzheimer’s disease. These sessions will demonstrate how NMSUF supports founders through strategic guidance, mentorship, and access to capital.

The IVLP visit is part of a broader Albuquerque itinerary designed to showcase the region’s innovation and economic development ecosystem. The delegation will also meet with organizations including the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance (AREA), the International Trade Administration (ITA), UNM Rainforest Innovations / InnovateABQ, the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, and the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Through engagements like this, the International Visitor Leadership Program continues to foster global partnerships while highlighting the role of regional innovation hubs in advancing economic prosperity.

The New Mexico Start-Up Factory (NMSUF) is proud to support the University of New Mexico’s Lobo Venture Capital Cup, an immersive, hands-on competition designed to equip students with real-world venture capital experience and strengthen the state’s innovation ecosystem.

The Lobo Venture Capital Cup challenges student teams to think and operate like professional investors—guiding them through the full investment lifecycle, from developing investment theses to conducting due diligence and making portfolio decisions.

Experiential Learning in Venture Capital

Working in teams of two to five, participants manage a simulated $1M–$2M fund, gaining practical experience in:

• Developing investment theses and fund strategies
• Raising simulated capital from limited partners (LPs)
• Conducting due diligence on peer startups
• Preparing investment memos and drafting term sheets
• Making portfolio decisions under real-world venture constraints

Throughout the program, students lead the work while receiving guidance from experienced mentors across New Mexico’s innovation ecosystem, who provide insights grounded in real investment experience.

Program Timeline

Education Week (March 2–6)

Students participate in rotating sessions covering venture capital fundamentals, including deal flow analysis, due diligence frameworks, term sheet economics, portfolio construction, and investment strategy.

Pitch Preparation (March 9–12)

Teams refine their evaluation approach, strengthen diligence frameworks, and develop the critical thinking and questioning skills needed to assess startup opportunities.

LP Pitch Review (March 13–16)

Teams present their investment thesis and fund strategy through LP pitch videos. Mentors evaluate submissions, provide feedback, and allocate simulated capital.

VC Partner Meeting (April 2)

Venture mentors convene to assess team performance and determine competition winners based on investment decisions, diligence quality, and overall execution.

Strengthening New Mexico’s Innovation Ecosystem

The Lobo Venture Capital Cup plays a critical role in expanding early-stage investment literacy, building a stronger pipeline of venture and startup talent, and fostering meaningful connections between students, founders, and industry leaders.

Ortega NeuroRx continues to make meaningful progress as it advances its therapeutic development strategy and prepares for its next phase of growth.

The company was formed through the strategic separation of TNeuroPharma’s diagnostic and therapeutic assets—a decision driven by distinct investor priorities. By creating two focused entities—TNeuroDX for diagnostics and Ortega NeuroRx for therapeutics—the organization is better positioned to align each opportunity with the right investor base and accelerate development.

Over the past four months, the Ortega NeuroRx Board has worked closely with the New Mexico Start-Up Factory to define a clear and intentional roadmap for the company’s future. With additional guidance from an external consultant, the team has developed a strategic plan designed to support long-term growth and scientific advancement.

A central focus of this plan is the recruitment of a domain-expert Chief Executive Officer to lead the company forward. This leader will play a critical role in shaping the company’s fundraising strategy and guiding the scientific team in identifying the therapeutic indication with the greatest potential impact in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

To support this effort, the Board has engaged a specialized executive search firm and has already identified a strong pool of candidates. Eight individuals have been interviewed to date, and the Board is currently conducting due diligence and reference checks to ensure alignment with the company’s vision, culture, and long-term goals.

As Ortega NeuroRx continues to build its leadership team and refine its strategic direction, additional updates are expected in the coming months.

T-NeuroDx today announced significant progress across its diagnostic platform, including advancements in clinical research, strategic partnerships, and fundraising efforts to support its next phase of growth.

The company has sharpened its scientific and commercial strategy, aligning product development, validation, and go-to-market planning to accelerate its path toward clinical adoption and commercialization.

Financing to Accelerate Development

T-NeuroDx has entered diligence with a potential lead investor to support a $2 million financing round. Proceeds are expected to further de-risk the platform and position the company for a projected $8 million Series A raise in the coming year.

Key initiatives supported by this financing include:

• Continued assay optimization and biomarker validation to support peer-reviewed publication and scientific adoption
• Launch of a Research Use Only (RUO) kit and Lab Developed Tests (LDTs) with clinical laboratory partners
• Advancement of regulatory and reimbursement strategies, including FDA pre-submission and application for Breakthrough Device designation

Advancing Clinical Research and Scientific Leadership

The company is actively generating clinical data through a $500,000 NIH-funded study in collaboration with the University of Southern California, with initial results anticipated by the end of the first quarter and funding secured through mid-2026. Additional grant applications are in development with leading academic and industry collaborators.

T-NeuroDx’s platform continues to gain recognition within the scientific community, with recent and upcoming presentations at major conferences, including:

• Society for Neuroscience (SfN)
• Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD)
• AD/PD™ 2026 Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases Conference

These presentations underscore the potential of the company’s proprietary hiT Cells™ technology as a differentiated prognostic biomarker that complements existing amyloid-tau-neurodegeneration (ATN) diagnostic frameworks.

Expanding Strategic Partnerships

T-NeuroDx is actively engaging with clinical laboratories, diagnostics leaders, and technology partners to advance assay validation and future integration opportunities. Ongoing discussions include TrilliumBiO, Beckman Coulter, Immudex, BD, and LabCorp.

The New Mexico Start-Up Factory was proud to partner with J.P. Morgan and the UNM Anderson School of Management to host Money & Molecules, a timely conversation at the intersection of capital, science, and entrepreneurship.

The event offered a chance to reflect on key themes emerging from the 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, bringing insights from San Francisco directly to New Mexico’s innovation community. Founders, industry leaders, ecosystem partners, and academic stakeholders gathered to explore the evolving economic outlook for 2026 and the strategic priorities founders are navigating at every stage of growth—from early validation to scale.

Beyond the formal discussion, Money & Molecules created space for meaningful connections and candid conversations, reinforcing both the depth and momentum of New Mexico’s innovation ecosystem. The exchange of ideas underscored the importance of collaboration across industry, finance, and academia in advancing science-driven ventures.

We are grateful for the thoughtful perspectives shared by Jennifer Yandle, Patrick Browning, and Troy Snell, and we’re proud to work alongside partners across the state who are committed to supporting high-growth entrepreneurship in New Mexico.

Stay tuned for the next event in the J.P. Morgan series: De-mystifying the Family Office, where we’ll continue the conversation on capital, strategy, and scaling innovation.

Osazda Energy continues to build momentum by forming strategic partnerships with both U.S.-based and international solar manufacturers, along with key suppliers across the global solar value chain. These collaborations are accelerating the development and adoption of next-generation solar technologies, positioning Osazda at the forefront of innovation in advanced photovoltaics.

In parallel, Osazda is advancing a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project in collaboration with Morphorm. Together, the teams are developing an advanced software platform that integrates electrical, mechanical, and thermal physics into a single multiphysics modeling environment. This tool enables manufacturers and researchers to rapidly test, iterate, and optimize solar cell designs—leveraging the latest material innovations—before any physical prototypes are built on the factory floor.

Recent progress under the SBIR Phase II effort highlights two significant advances. Osazda is continuing to adapt its proprietary CarbonThread™ technology for use with the latest TOPCon solar cell architectures, expanding its potential impact across high-efficiency solar manufacturing. At the same time, Morphorm is advancing the development and validation of the multiphysics simulation software, helping enable faster, smarter, and more cost-effective solar cell design.

Together, these efforts reflect Osazda’s commitment to pairing deep materials innovation with cutting-edge digital tools—supporting a more efficient, resilient, and scalable future for solar energy.

ASCEND2.0, a commercialization initiative overseen by the New Mexico Start-Up Factory (NMSUF), is proud to announce the launch of Tozho LLC, a pioneering new biotech company emerging from research supported by the Idaho ASCEND2.0 program.

Tozho LLC is developing a novel targeted drug delivery technology that utilizes a specialized carrier to transport therapeutics directly to specific locations in the body—offering transformative potential for precision medicine and improved patient outcomes.

The company, led by John Chavez, Managing Director of NMSUF, works to accelerate the path from research to market through entrepreneurial support and investment. As a collaborator assisting for non-dilutive funding, Dr. Ching-An Peng created the Tozho technology, but he is not part of the company.

“This is exactly the kind of translational science ASCEND2.0 was designed to support,” said John Chavez, managing director of NMSUF. “Tozho represents how regionally rooted research can scale into national impact.”

The launch of Tozho highlights the success of ASCEND2.0 in fostering biotech innovation in underserved regions like Idaho and underscores NMSUF’s role in turning early-stage technologies into investable, high-impact companies.

Learn more about the Tozho team and technology here.

TrilliumBiO, a leader in biomarker discovery and precision diagnostics, today announced a strategic collaboration with T-NeuroDx, a pioneering diagnostics company dedicated to developing innovative solutions for detecting neurodegenerative diseases, to advance the development of blood-based biomarker diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease.

This partnership brings together TrilliumBiO’s expertise in diagnostic assay development and clinical validation with T-NeuroDx’s deep scientific and clinical understanding of Alzheimer’s disease pathology and biomarker discovery. Working together, the companies will co-develop and validate blood-based biomarkers that can support earlier diagnosis—addressing one of the most urgent challenges in neurodegenerative care.

“We are proud to partner with T-NeuroDx to bring more accessible, non-invasive diagnostics to patients and providers,” said Laura Vivian, CEO of TrilliumBiO. “By combining our diagnostic development capabilities with their cutting-edge biomarker science, we aim to help shift Alzheimer’s detection from late-stage confirmation to early, actionable insight.”

Blood-based biomarkers represent a transformative opportunity in Alzheimer’s disease. As part of the strategic partnership, the teams will commercialize T-Neuro’s technology as a Lab Developed Test (LDT) and incorporate it in the evaluation of promising investigational biomarkers that appear earlier in the disease process, designed to support more timely and accessible diagnosis and disease management.

“This partnership accelerates our core mission to advance the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Michael Reed, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer of T-NeuroDx. “TrilliumBiO’s commitment to providing cutting-edge diagnostic solutions to underserved communities aligns perfectly with our own and strengthens our combined effort to revolutionize early-stage Alzheimer’s care.”

The initiative will include clinical studies across diverse populations, with the goal of supporting regulatory submissions and the commercialization of clinically validated blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease in the coming years.

About TrilliumBiO

TrilliumBiO is a life sciences company specializing in biomarker discovery and the development and commercialization of novel diagnostic tests in collaboration with healthcare innovators. With a proven track record of translating clinical insights into market-ready solutions, TrilliumBiO delivers validated, physician-guided diagnostics that address complex medical challenges. Backed by strong research partnerships and a commitment to evidence-based development, TrilliumBiO transforms discovery into actionable innovations that inform real-world clinical decisions. More information about TrilliumBiO can be found at TrilliumBiO.com.

About T-NeuroDx

T-NeuroDx is an early-stage diagnostics company at the forefront of neurodegenerative disease research, with a primary focus on Alzheimer’s disease. The company is developing a revolutionary diagnostic biomarker that can identify Alzheimer’s disease at its earliest stages before other biomarkers are detectable or useful. The technology is based on the detection of dysfunctional T cells, a disease initiating factor that precedes the accumulation of aggregated amyloid beta and tau proteins, the traditional markers of Alzheimer’s. By enabling early and accurate diagnosis, T-NeuroDx’s innovative biomarker technology has the potential to transform the landscape of Alzheimer’s drug development and patient care. More information about T-NeuroDx can be found at www.TNeuroDx.com.

Osazda Energy is proud to announce that Chief Engineer, Andre Chavez, has been awarded the Best Poster Award for Area 4: Packaging, Reliability, Recyclability, and Supply Chain at the IEEE 53rd Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC-53).

This award recognizes excellence in research and presentation within a critical area of photovoltaics focused on enhancing the durability, sustainability, and logistical viability of solar technologies. Chavez’s poster stood out among a competitive field of international presenters, offering innovative insights that advance the reliability and long-term performance of photovoltaic systems.

Hosted annually, the IEEE PVSC is one of the world’s premier technical conferences for photovoltaic science and engineering. The event draws leading researchers, industry professionals, and policymakers to share breakthroughs and collaborate on the future of solar energy.

“It’s an honor to be recognized among such a talented and forward-thinking community,” said Chavez. “I’m grateful to the University of New Mexico, Osazda Energy, and our many collaborators for their support in this work.”

Click here to learn more about the IEEE PVSC Poster Contest and this year’s awardees.

General information about the IEEE PVSC conference.