Susan Catalano did a lot of shopping around before her laboratory landed in Pittsburgh.

A neurobiologist who grew up in New York City, received a doctorate in California and worked for drug companies on the West Coast, Dr. Catalano has started her own company to find a compound to break up proteins in the brain that cause Alzheimer's disease.

She came to Pittsburgh because she was welcomed. Now she has brought in another $1.2 million in from investors from outside the region.

Her South Side company, Cognition Therapeutics Inc., was one of several scheduled to be highlighted yesterday by Innovation Works during its annual meeting.

Just last year, the Hazelwood nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the state invested $5.4 million in technology startup companies in Pittsburgh. Innovation Works portfolio companies brought in an additional $149 million in venture capital from investors, with 66 percent coming from out of state.

In the previous four years, the organization's companies brought in $328 million in venture capital.

Dr. Catalano said one reason Cognition Therapeutics came to Pittsburgh was money and lab space from the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse. The new company also received abut $400,000 from Innovation Works.

"These companies are having a real impact on our region," said Rich Lunak, chief executive of Innovation Works. The organization specializes in helping technology startups with early stage funding.

The organization is a member of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners and has been supplying seed money to startup companies for 20 years.

Innovation Works' annual report said companies it supported were responsible for providing 437 jobs locally at an average salary of $53,000. It also said 70 percent of all venture capital deals in the region involved companies that Innovation Works had supported in the earliest stages of development.

One way Innovation Works seeds future companies is with its Alpha Lab, a 20-week program that is an incubator for not-yet-started companies that links Internet entrepreneurs with the expertise they need to get a company moving.

Last year more than 100 companies from 10 states applied to take part in AlphaLab. Six were chosen, including one started by women who wanted to create a Web site appropriate for girls 8 to 14 years old. Another AlphaLab company is developing an automated personal assistant that will help in scheduling appointments and meetings.

Cognition Therapeutics is trying to develop a small molecule therapy to breach the blood-brain barrier and then break up proteins that develop in the brain and cause Alzheimer's symptoms.

While current therapies alleviate the symptoms for a time, they also stop working. "What we're trying to do is fundamentally stop the disease in its tracks," said Dr. Catalano.

While Philadelphia and New Jersey are a hub for drug companies, she said Pittsburgh was better for discovering those drugs. In her own field, this region is perfect because "the work force is incredibly educated," she said, and Pittsburgh has a tremendous amount of neuroscience expertise.

Just blocks away from her South Side company, Knopp Neurosciences, which also received money from Innovation Works, is in the process of conducting a clinical study of a drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

It's got personal advantages, too. She said she lived on South Side, a short walk from her laboratory; she has season tickets to the symphony; and the housing prices are low. "This is absolutely a fantastic place."

When entrepreneurs call from other parts of the country -- particularly from the Bay area of California -- to ask Dr. Catalano if they should locate in Pittsburgh, she said, "I tell them I highly recommend it."