On Monday, May 19, the ATS Drug, Device, Discovery, and Development (DDDD) Committee will award early-stage investigators who submitted innovative, translational, human-focused research proposals with $15,000 in cumulative prizes during the finals of the annual BEAR Cage competition. The competition will be hosted from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. PT in the International Participants Center inside the Moscone Center.

Among numerous applicants, the DDDD Committee selected three impressive research proposals (and an alternate) to present at the ATS 2025 International Conference in San Francisco. Finalists will pitch their submissions to a panel of translational science experts from academia, industry, and government sectors before a live audience.

This year’s finalists are:

Joshua Freedman, MSE and Yi-an Hsieh, MSE
Job Title: Co-Founder & CEO (Freedman), Co-Founder & CTO (Hsieh)
Company: Airalux Medical
Proposal Title: “Digital Incentive Spirometer to Improve Patient Adherence and Clinical Workflows”

The live “Shark Tank”-style pitches from the finalists are a signature aspect of the BEAR Cage competition. After each presentation, the panel of judges and the audience can ask questions of each finalist, providing real-time feedback that mirrors scenarios requiring strategic thinking to transform novel ideas into practical innovations.

After the finalists’ presentations are complete, the panel will announce the grand prize winner of $10,000, along with two runners-up, each receiving $2,500. Since BEAR Cage prize money is not grant funding, winners are free to invest their earnings into projects as they see fit.

Chantal Darquenne, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and Kathryn Hibbert, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, are the new co-chairs of the BEAR Cage competition.

“Helping early-stage investigators move their ideas and research projects forward is very motivating to me,” said Dr. Darquenne. “These investigators represent the future of our field, and I am looking forward to being able to facilitate this process.”

In 2024, Eno-Obong Essien, MD, won the 10^th Annual BEAR Cage and the $10,000 prize with her pitch, “Endothelial-Targeted mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticles: A Novel Therapeutic for Treating Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).”

“I appreciated the BEAR Cage opportunity,” Dr. Essien said. “It gives people doing high-risk, high-reward, nontraditional types of research an opportunity and a stage for them to showcase their innovative ideas. I like that it’s a forum that is welcoming to adventurous projects.”

For any questions about the BEAR Cage competition, please email [email protected].