Announcing the 2016 Illinois Proof-of-Concept Program Award Recipients

Angela Kent and Andrew Leakey

Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Recurrent Co-selection of Plants and Associated Microbiomes: A Method for Identifying Plant-genetic Markers of Beneficial Microbe Recruitment, enabling the development of new crop varieties to recruit beneficial microbes and improve plant productivity.

Jean-Pierre Leburton and Lav Varshney 

Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology

Machine Learning for Nanopore Bio-Detection, using machine learning to enhance the sensitivity and detecting resolution of bio-­molecule structure and composition by using solid-­state nanopore technology with advanced two-dimensional materials. 

Stephen Long

Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency and Productivity in Plants with Faster Photoprotection, using biotechnology to create plants having improved photosynthetic efficiency and ultimately higher yields. 

Lissette M. Piedra

College of Social Work
Overcoming Language Barriers: Vida Alegre App Development, developing a mobile application that provides a self-guided counseling program in Spanish to help Latinos with limited english proficiency access mental health services. 

Jacob Sosnoff

College of Applied Health Sciences
Smart-Phone Based Fall Risk Assessment and Prevention, developing an app that uses sensors for measuring postural sway and for recording environmental fall-risk factors to prevent falls among older adults. 

Rachel Whitaker and Patrick Degnan

Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
CRISPR-capture: Microbiome Surveillance Method, developing a method to enable discovery and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance.