The LSU Board of Supervisors has awarded $521,202 in innovation and technology transfer grant funding for 12 university research projects, ranging from new treatments for breast cancer to development of biodegradable Mardi Gras beads.
This was the eighth round of funding from the Leverage Innovation for Technology Transfer, or LIFT2, grants. Since 2014, the university has awarded more than $4 million to support 108 research projects across all of LSU’s campuses.
Arthur Cooper, chief executive officer of the LSU Research & Technology Foundation, which administers the grants, said more than 100 inventions have been awarded through the program.
Shengli Dong, a postdoctoral researcher at LSU Heath Sciences Center in New Orleans, was awarded $50,000 for his work on treating a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer. Dong has manipulated a protein in the cancer cell to prevent malignancy from spreading.
Naohiro Kato, an LSU biology professor, was awarded a $49,500 grant to develop Mardi Gras beads made from algae. The hope is to create biodegradable beads that won’t clog up drainage systems or fill up landfills.
Other projects receiving grant funds are: development of smart drilling fluids with nanomaterials by Qinglin Wu of the LSU AgCenter, production of oyster flavor powder by Subramaniam Sathivel of the AgCenter, DNA vaccine testing and delivery by Richard Cooper of the AgCenter, treatment of injured heart tissue with cell based therapy by Traci Goodchild of the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, development of polyphenol coated balloons to treat artery disease by Tammy Dugas of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, and Cristina Sabliov of the LSU Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, dental imaging without ionizing radiation by Jian Xu of the LSU Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, microdissection using a deep ultraviolet laser by Kermit Murray of the LSU Department of Chemistry, a new separator for upgrading methane to higher order carbons and production of hydrogen by Christopher Arges of the LSU Department of Chemical Engineering, recyclable thermoset ink for 3D printing by Ang Li of the LSU Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and stem-cell infused stents by Moheb Boktor of the LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport.
Source: LSU announces more than $521,000 in innovation grant funding | Business | theadvocate.com
