SAN FRANCISCO (July 8, 2026) — The UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery congratulates Chelsea Bahney, PhD, who has received the UCSF Catalyst Final Award in Therapeutics to support the next developmental milestones for Nexocura, a university-based start-up developing the #Next Generation Fracture Healing.
Funding of the $75,000 award grant is made possible by generous co-funding contributions from the Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the School of Pharmacy, to complement the Innovation Ventures Catalyst and InVent Funds. The UCSF Catalyst Program supports promising translational innovations through funding, mentorship, and commercialization expertise to help accelerate discoveries toward patient impact and is led by Aenor Sawyer, MD.
Nexocura is developing a protein-coding nanotherapeutic designed to accelerate fracture healing without additional surgery. Delivered directly to the fracture site, the therapy provides a precisely timed boost to the Wnt signaling pathway during a critical stage of repair, helping convert cartilage into bone and supporting faster, more effective healing. By harnessing the body's natural regenerative processes with a localized, next-generation RNA therapy, the team aims to improve outcomes for patients with fractures while reducing the need for additional procedures.
The Nexocura team included Ralph Marcucio, PhD, Theodore Miclau, MD, Catalyst interns Tracy Knight and Olivia Barnhill, and an excellent team of 4 Master of Translational Medicine students (Shiyi Lan, Henry Liu, Jake Matityahu, Haley Mozier).
This award recognizes not only a promising therapeutic technology, but also the collaborative ecosystem that makes innovation possible. Bringing breakthrough discoveries from the bench to the bedside requires visionary researchers, dedicated trainees, clinical partners, and programs like Catalyst and the UCSF-UC Berkeley MTM that support the earliest stages of translation.