Innovate Louisiana, a statewide festival of research spotlighting Louisiana’s brightest minds

Tulane University is transforming its Tulane Research, Innovation and Creativity Summit into Innovate Louisiana, a bold, statewide festival of ideas that puts the state's best research, innovation and creative work on one stage, in front of the people who can help take it further.

Louisiana Economic Development and LCMC Health are backing the expansion, with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Ochsner Health joining as academic partner institutions.

For four years, the Tulane Office of Research and the Tulane University Innovation Institute have built TRICS into a showcase for Tulane's brightest students and researchers. Now that stage is getting bigger: the new statewide format will bring students, faculty and research staff in the arts, sciences, engineering, medicine, business and beyond face-to-face with the industry leaders who can put their ideas to work.

Innovate Louisiana will take place April 6-9, 2027, at the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse on Tulane's uptown campus.

"TRICS demonstrated that the ideas coming out of Louisiana's classrooms and labs can compete anywhere in the world," said Kimberly Gramm, the David and Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at the Tulane Innovation Institute. "Innovate Louisiana doubles down on that talent. This is a paradigm shift in how Louisiana discovers, funds and scales its best ideas. It puts our researchers exactly where they belong at the center of the conversation."

The expanded event turns that conversation into a marketplace of ideas, a single place where companies, researchers and students connect across institutions to discover new research, new technologies, and new talent.

"Innovate Louisiana gives our faculty and students a front-row seat to what their peers are building at other universities, and it gives industry a front-row seat to the full complement of research being conducted in Louisiana's higher education system," said Chad Steele, vice president for research at Tulane. "We want companies like SpaceX, Hyundai, Laitram and Saronic in that room, recruiting our talent, licensing our technology and building their next breakthrough with Louisiana researchers."

"The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has a substantial track record of partnering with government and industry to translate research and innovation into workforce development, economic opportunity and real-world solutions," said Kumer Das, interim vice president for research, innovation and economic development and assistant provost at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. "As a Carnegie R1 university, we know what is possible when research institutions and external partners combine their expertise, resources and ideas. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Tulane and other universities, building on our collective strengths to accelerate discovery and expand opportunities for its citizens."

For companies, Innovate Louisiana means one trip and one stage, with access to research and graduate talent from multiple Louisiana universities.

"Louisiana's startups and established companies are hungry for new ideas and strong talent, and Innovate Louisiana creates an opportunity to bring research and industry together on a statewide stage," said Josh Fleig, chief innovation officer at LA.IO. "We're confident the connections made at Innovate Louisiana will spark new partnerships, new companies and new economic opportunities across Louisiana."

Across four days, students, faculty and research staff will showcase their work through poster sessions, lightning talks and live pitch competitions. This gives companies and attendees a direct look at research, technology and talent they might otherwise never encounter. Organizers said that anyone curious to learn something new, sponsor research, license technology or recruit graduate talent is welcome. Registration is free.

Innovate Louisiana will open with a keynote from Mary Pinder-Schenck, senior vice president of medical affairs at Revolution Medicines. The publicly traded precision oncology biotechnology company recently received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a pancreatic cancer treatment that targets RAS, a key driver of tumor growth that has historically been difficult to target with drugs. Pinder-Schenck joined the company in July 2024 after leading global medical affairs at Daiichi Sankyo. She previously held senior medical affairs roles at Kite Pharma and Merck and began her career as a physician-scientist and faculty member at Moffitt Cancer Center.

Pinder-Schenck's first experience in the medical profession took place at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, making the timing of her appearance at Innovate Louisiana especially apt. Tulane's investment in the historic building will transform it into a hub for healthcare, research and innovation. Pinder-Schenck will share how she has connected research to clinical development and commercialization throughout her career. More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, April 6, in conjunction with Innovate Louisiana, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center will bring its BioChallenge platform to Innovate Louisiana. BioChallenge Louisiana, the regional edition of NOBIC's national BioChallenge program, will support founders and research teams across the state working in biotechnology and brain health.

On April 7, the day will close with a networking reception and Open Medical Innovation Challenge (MIC) Night. This signature Innovation Institute pitch competition is where students, faculty and staff from across the state's universities will take the stage to pitch health and wellness ideas for real feedback from industry and other experts, as well as a chance for prize money.

Friday, April 9, the School of Science and Engineering Capstone Design Expo will highlight academic achievements and the culminating capstone projects of students across biomedical engineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, engineering physics and computer science.

Innovate Louisiana is the start of an annual tradition and a permanent home for Louisiana's research, innovation and entrepreneurial communities to find and challenge each other, building the state's future together.

Registration for Innovate Louisiana is now open. Beginning on Monday, Nov. 2, researchers can submit abstracts.

Organizations interested in becoming Innovate Louisiana partners can contact Clay Christian at [email protected].