UCI startup Syntr Health Technologies has received aInstitutes of Health, specifically the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The funding will help the startup further its research and development of a therapeutic device using stem cells to treat diabetic foot ulcers, enabling it to proceed with animal studies. The company seeks to address a problem that affects over 29 million Americans, or roughly 10% of the population, who are afflicted with diabetes mellitus (DM) which carries an annual sum of $245 billion in health-related costs. Over one quarter of those individuals are undiagnosed and therefore at risk for severe complications. Up to 25% of diabetic patients carry a lifetime risk of developing a diabetic foot ulcer, a condition plagued with poor healing, infections and ultimately, amputation.

Syntr Health Technologies is a UCI alumni-led startup participating in UCI Applied Innovation’s Wayfinder incubator program and located in the Cove’s collaborative workspace. The team was formed by a group of engineering students from the BioENGINE undergraduate senior design class.