WKU News

Dr. Rachel Tinius and her technology, BumptUp^TM, was announced as one of the first-place winners (tied) of the inaugural Kentucky Commercialization Ventures IMPACT competition. IMPACT stands for innovative, mobile, public health, and community-oriented technologies, and Dr. Tinius’ work epitomizes each of these concepts. Her innovation utilizes digital engagement strategies to support and encourage pregnant and postpartum women to become and stay active in order to improve health outcomes. Given the strikingly high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality in the state (and nation), work in this area is timely and important.

Through the IMPACT competition, Kentucky Commercialization Ventures (KCV) challenged innovators from across the state to create solutions relevant to the improvement of the social, health, or economic condition of Kentucky. The goal of the KCV IMPACT Competition is to encourage ideation to meet some of the state’s largest needs and highlight the value of innovators from across the state of Kentucky. As a result of winning this competition, Dr. Tinius will receive $25,000 and additional resources, mentoring, and support from KCV to continue to take her innovation to the next level.

Dex Wood (WKU ITS) and Dr. Maire Blankenship (WKU Nursing) have been involved in the creation of the app and its contents, as well as external collaborators including Dr. Jenny LaCross (PT, DPT, PhDc, WCS, ATC, CLT-LANA), Dr. Nancy Schoenberg (PhD), Catherine Cram (MS), Casey Thomas Hardesty (MS), Ubaha Shipoke (MBA_C), Forerunner, LLC, and Codelab303, LLC.

Dr. Tinius said, “I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to garner support for BumptUp^TM. I have had the pleasure of working with an incredible team, and we are excited about the trajectory that our technology is on. We all believe in what we are doing wholeheartedly; we have identified a need and are developing a timely and novel solution. We know that our work has the potential to make a major impact on the lives of women and infants in Kentucky, across the nation, and all over the world. It is exciting to see others recognizing and substantiating the potential for our line of work. This ‘win’ is one step towards our goal of getting BumptUp^TM into the hands of the women who need it.”

About Kentucky Commercialization Ventures (KCV)

Kentucky Commercialization Ventures (KCV), an initiative of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation and supported by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, is Kentucky’s pioneering engine for connecting and leveraging Kentucky’s public post-secondary institutions to fuel research, commercialization and economic growth and ignite life-changing impact for individuals, businesses and communities.

KCV partners with Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, and the Kentucky Community & Technical College System as well as the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

Photo taken by Clinton Lewis on 5/10/22. Rachel Tinius (left) giving a high-five to 30 week pregnant ShaDonna Yates after completing a series of exercises designed specifically for pregnant women.