St. John’s University Joins NY I-Corps Hub
Pharmacy and Health Sciences College is Key Asset for CUNY-Led Consortium
NEW YORK, NY – October, 2026 – St. John’s University, a private Catholic and Vincentian university based in Queens, NY, is joining the NY National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Hub, led by the City University of New York (CUNY), as a new partner institution. St. John’s will help the Hub meet its goal of enabling researchers from diverse backgrounds to bring scientific discoveries to the marketplace.
“We are excited to welcome St. John’s to the Hub,” said Ariella Trotsenko, Tech Scout for the New York NSF I-Corps Hub. “St. John’s brings many assets to the table, particularly the groundbreaking work happening at its College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, which fills a gap in Hub expertise. I’m looking forward to seeing their positive impact on our I-Corps cohorts and broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
St. John’s faculty lead for I-Corps is James Kinsley, Director of the Venture & Innovation Center (VIC), and adjunct professor, Tobin College of Business at St. John’s. Kinsley has also served as an industry mentor for two I-Corps National teams: one in the pharmaceutical/cosmetic space, and another in the electric vehicle sector.
“I’m thrilled to build upon our engagement with I-Corps—as a NY Hub partner, we are now part of an incredible network of colleges and universities that we can work with and learn from,” said Kinsley. “Our partnership also enables St. John’s to centralize and grow our support for entrepreneurial studies and activities, from our tech transfer office to student programs and events. It’s a ready-made, proven pathway, and that resonates with students and faculty alike. I’m also hopeful that we can further engage with other academic institutions in Queens and Long Island.”
“Certainly, one of the reasons we’ve been chosen as a partner is for the incredible work by our students and faculty, particularly in health sciences and technology,” added Simon Geir Møller, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at St. John’s and senior administrator for I-Corps at the university. Indeed, we have very strong research programs across the institution with potential opportunities for would-be entrepreneurs.”
St. John’s has already had five National I-Corps teams—three from The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies, and two from the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The university has also had one Partnerships for Innovation-Technology Translation (PFI-TT) awardee, highlighting opportunities to build on that experience through outreach and technology scouting for NSF’s Translation to Practice (TTP) program.
The NY I-Corps Hub seeks to add new partner institutions as part of its growth strategy. The NSF I-Corps Hubs form the operational backbone of the National Innovation Network, comprising universities, NSF-funded and other researchers, established entrepreneurs, local and regional entrepreneurial communities, and federal agencies. The I-Corps program is designed to support the commercialization of “deep technologies,” such as those based on fundamental discoveries in science and engineering, by addressing the skill and knowledge gap associated with the transformation of promising basic research outcomes into deep technology ventures.
St. John’s University is a private, coeducational, Roman Catholic university founded in 1870 by the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians), with its main campus located in Queens, NY. St. John’s University also has campuses and locations in Manhattan, NY; Rome, Italy; Paris, France; and Limerick, Ireland. St. John’s University comprises six schools and colleges, including the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies; St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; The Peter J. Tobin College of Business (including the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science); The School of Education; and the School of Law.
