A University of Wisconsin professor and entrepreneur’s big idea for a startup came from animal intestines, literally.
With more than 20 patented technologies and now four successful spin-off companies, Mark Cook, UW animal sciences professor, has continued to dive deep into the innovated process of advancing knowledge and technology in the area of animal sciences.
His latest company, Ab E Discovery LLC, was a spin off from his research and development of a new antibiotic-free method that protects animals raised for food against common infections.
Cook stumbled upon the new technology in the lab. It was then developed into a company to commercialize the method as a product, and meet growing consumer demand, he said.
Accident or not, the research behind the new technology Cook and his team conduct sets their lab’s work apart from other scientists’ as it may be the only lab in the world that focuses their work on a certain aspect of the animal body.
Cook’s research centers around the immune system proteins inside of cells in the intestine.
“We focus on proteins that are secreted in the intestines, and we find that we can begin to manipulate these immune proteins in the intestine and find benefits,” Cook said.
Though Cook is the main driver behind the research done in the lab, he said he wouldn’t be able to do it all without the eager minds of graduates and undergraduates who aid him.
As the former interim director of Discovery to Product, or D2P, a UW organization that helps entrepreneurial professionals reach their own startup success, Cook recognizes the importance of students in innovating new technologies.
In what Cook described as an “exciting time for campus” he emphasized the idea that current students are an important part of the technological innovation process behind those startups.
“Undergraduates are especially important in this process,”Cook said. “As more and more are interested in developing technology, they should be in their dorm rooms or apartments trying to figure out new ways to create and develop new technologies.”
This “exciting time” for startups is amplified because Cook said it is these newer, small companies, not large Fortune 500 companies, that expand job growth. He said startups are able to hire many more employees in order to expand their business.
Yet, Cook said in order create a startup, students need to learn the commercial value of their ideas.
“Students who come up with ideas need to move those ideas through campus and see if they have commercial value,” he said.
Each year billions of dollars are spent on research and development of new technologies. But, Cook said not enough is spent on understanding the marketing value of these products. That’s why programs and opportunities like D2P that evaluate the marketability of technologies are beneficial, he said.
Though Cook’s schedule is busy with research and developing new technologies in the lab, he said he doesn’t plan to stop his work any time soon.
Cook is currently working on several projects including developing new vaccines that decrease pollution in animal agriculture, as well as working with natural products in hopes to solve health issues in animals and potentially humans.
“I have been busy for the past 33 years and hope to be busy for the next 10 more years or so,” he said.