Monday, April 8 marked an out-of-this-world occasion – a total solar eclipse crossed over the United States, Canada, and Mexico. To celebrate this cosmic event, we hosted a viewing party for tenants that included space-themed trivia and treats.

For those in academia who were particularly interested in learning more about switching to an industry job in life sciences, we teamed up with some incredibly accomplished women in the workspace to discuss career transitions and aspirations at a Fireside Chat.

As a way to help physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students de-stress during finals week, we focused on a different type of therapy to hopefully give community members a much-deserved break during a demanding time. 

To celebrate Halloween this year, we combined a classic holiday candy with some serious spatial thinking during a Pop-Up in the Bridgeside lobby, enticing even the most frightening of goblins and ghouls to get together and share in the sweet treat of a guessing game. 

To discuss their approach to innovative gene therapies for retinal diseases and the current state of Adeno-associated virus (AAV), Avista Therapeutics hosted a Showcase - Vision for the Future: Creating Next Generation Gene Therapies for Blindness for the Bridgeside community members to attend and learn more!

A study revealed that out of the 6.3 billion smartphone users across the globe, 88 percent of usage time is spent on apps. To get a glimpse into the technology that our Bridgeside researchers are using – and perhaps to make others aware of something they should be taking advantage of – we hosted a Coffee Talk to learn more. 

Navigating the complexities of intellectual property (IP) in the life sciences industry can be challenging on its own, let alone for startups who often need to seek legal counsel in order to develop a comprehensive strategy that aligns with their business goals and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements. To address this, and more, we invited representatives from Jones Day and the Pittsburgh chapter of Women In Bio (WIB) for a one-hour session on IP basics.

To encourage other Bridgeside community members to uncover cutting-edge research on age-related disease therapies, the Aging Institute hosted a Show and Tell: Aging Research, complete with lab tours and light bites to follow. 

With space technology becoming a rapidly growing research field in Pittsburgh, the Steel City is now being referred to as “Space City,” largely in part to local companies receiving millions of dollars in NASA funding and the announcement of the The Keystone Space and Defense Innovation District aimed at boosting the region’s economic development. So, what better time than to host an event for our Bridgeside community regarding such a prevalent topic?

Once again, the Pittsburgh Technology Center (PTC) transformed Technology Drive into a Summer Street Festival filled with food trucks, live music, local vendors, and exciting games in order to celebrate the start of a new season – and of course, community building.

Everyone has that one song that takes them back to a favorite summertime memory. In fact, memory recollection from music is a well-known phenomenon to brain researchers. And with the start of the new season rapidly approaching, we decided to make this summer memorable by curating the ultimate playlist.

Mid-May, as a mid-week mind bender and much-needed break, we hosted a Math + Mimosas: Puzzle Master event to not only put our community members’ skills to the test, but to also celebrate National Mimosa Day (albeit, a day late)!

Meet Elizabeth Skidmore, Associate Dean for Research, SHRS; Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy. When she isn’t busy teaching and managing, you can find her hiking to help clear her head!

Noveome Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company located in Bridgeside, the premier hub for bustling life sciences and research activity in Pittsburgh, is making groundbreaking strides in their efforts to transform the way challenging diseases and conditions are treated. To shed some light onto their recent advancements – which was only made possible by being part of the Bridgeside community, we hosted a Showcase so other tenants could learn more about the pioneering activity happening right in their building. 

According to research published by Willis and Todorov, it only takes 100 milliseconds exposure of a face to make a judgment on attractiveness, likeability, trustworthiness, competence, aggressiveness, and more. With this in mind, we decided to merge the worlds of art and science and host an event, The Science Behind a Good Headshot, to not only educate attendees about the importance of a perfect picture, but also provide them with a fresh one! 

In honor of February being American Heart Month, and with a community filled with individuals in the health and life sciences fields, we decided to put their heads (and their hearts!) to the test. 

Meet Rebecca Green, Assistant Professor of the University of Pittsburgh, Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics. When she isn’t busy teaching and researching how genetics and the environment interact to lead to craniofacial birth defects, you can find her doing some sort of outdoor activity and being a mom to an adorable toddler!

The start of a new year typically goes hand-in-hand with new resolutions as well. To capitalize on this momentum, we hosted a Coffee Talk: Who Will You Be in 2023? centered around defining goals – and actually sticking to them – throughout the year.

Since the holidays are all about bringing people together, we teamed up with the Pittsburgh Technology Center Association’s amenities committee in early December to host a spirited happy hour for all tenants in the area.

In the spirit of connecting local companies with our Bridgeside community members, we hosted an afternoon of food and beverage tastings from neighboring small businesses.