ELFT HÍRADÓ

[Kormányos Andor <andor.kormanyos AT ttk.elte.hu>]

ELTE TTK Fizikai Intézet / ELTE Institute of Physics


ORTVAY KOLLOKVIUM / ORTVAY COLLOQUIUM
(https://physics.elte.hu/ortvayseminar)



Thursday, 25th September  2025, 15:00h.

Pócza Jenő Lecture Hall, Physics Building 1.71

Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, 1117 Budapest



Gábor Forgács

University of Missouri, Fork and Good

Translating academic research into the marketplace
Translating one’s academic activity into the commercial world is challenging 
and how to do it has no written script. The route is typically through the 
formation of a startup company supported by investors (e.g. venture capital 
firms) and involves numerous pitfalls. Academia and startups (as the first 
stop to the marketplace) have a number of commonalities (e.g. importance of 
funding and strong research). However the weight and importance of the shared 
features are different.

This talk describes my journey to commercialization that started with 
academic research in bioprinting and its applications in the life sciences 
and drug development and testing, giving rise to Organovo, the first company 
I co-founded. Importantly, I will stress what role my physicist’s background 
played in this endeavor.

I will then illustrate how the successful bioprinting of human biological 
structures (e.g. tissues) and the subsequent realization that the technology 
has broad applicability beyond drug development resulted in the launching of 
Modern Meadow and Fork & Good, companies with focus on animal derived 
products, such as leather and meat, but without the need for slaughtering 
animals.

I will conclude with some lessons learned along the journey that hopefully 
could be useful for some of you, the most important being ‘thinking outside 
of the box’.


Andor Kormányos

coordinator