University professors around North Carolina stand to receive around $5 million in new support for their academic research projects, that a group of state leaders believe could have the potential to boost economic development.
The round of grants is the first-ever to be approved by NCInnovation, a public-private partnership approved in last year's state budget, armed with more than $525 million in state and private funding, and led by some of the state's most well-connected business and political insiders.
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The projects they're funding include a new type of skin cancer therapy, new methods to track mosquitoes and honeybees — with implications for public health, agriculture and more — and a new lithium refining process that deals with one of the key rare earth metals needed in the growing clean technology sector.
“North Carolina’s public universities are home to top-notch researchers developing truly amazing technologies, from melanoma treatment to lithium processing to drinking water purification,” Bennet Waters, the NCInnovation chief executive, said in a press release. “NCInnovation helps public university researchers advance their work through the university R&D process toward commercialization, strengthening the university-to-industry pipeline that’s central to American innovation.”
The group has been under fire from some conservatives who oppose the premise of taxpayer funding being used to compete with the private industry in financing research projects with economic potential. One critic also serves on its board of directors: Art Pope, the millionaire businessman who has previously called for an audit into the group and, during Wednesday's board meeting when the grants were approved in a closed-door meeting, also questioned the accuracy of the group's tax filings.
The grants approved Wednesday and announced Thursday are a pilot program. Future rounds of grants are expected, although it's not yet known when it will announce the next round of funding.
NCInnovation dscribed the eight projects approved as follows:
Lithium Refining: UNC Greensboro
Hemali Rathnayake, Ph.D., Professor, Nanoscience, has led the development of a cost-effective and efficient lithium refining process for converting lithium into battery-grade lithium carbonate (LCE). The global demand for lithium is experiencing substantial growth for its primary role in energy storage, electronic bikes, electrification of tools, and other battery-intense applications. Right now, China controls approximately 65% of the world’s lithium refining capacity. North Carolina has a large and growing lithium and battery industry. Dr. Rathnayake’s refining technology has the potential to boost a sustainable domestic supply chain for lithium-based products.
Melanoma Treatment: East Carolina University
Rukiyah T. Van Dross-Anderson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pharmacology, is developing a first-of-its kind cancer immunotherapy for melanoma patients to eliminate the cancer cell and prompt the immune system to seek out and destroy other cancer cells. The immunotherapy is for melanoma patients who do not respond to current treatments. Dr. Van Dross-Anderson hopes her work will increase survivability and reduce melanoma recurrence.
Drinking Water Purification: UNC-Charlotte
UNC Charlotte researcher Jordan Poler, Ph.D., has developed patented materials that remove compounds prohibited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from drinking water more effectively than solutions currently available in the marketplace.
Power Grid Efficiency: UNC-Charlotte
Grid Ancillary services with Uninterruptible Power Supply (“GAUPS”), developed by Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan, Ph.D., provides uninterrupted, pristine power quality to sensitive load customers, such as commercial or industrial companies where prolonged power outages could cause economic, health, environment, or public safety problems. The technology simultaneously delivers reserve capacity and essential ancillary services to utilities to address unexpected faults and improve reliability.
Multi-Year Vaccine Development: UNC Wilmington
UNCW researchers led by Ying Wang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Chemistry, have crafted a groundbreaking vaccine platform they hope will result in a universal and longer-lasting flu vaccine. Right now, flu vaccines do not target every strain, and they must be given every flu season – a reality Dr. Wang hopes to change.
Mosquito-Borne Infectious Disease Identification and Risk Assessment: Western Carolina University
Brian Byrd, Ph.D., Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, is working on a device that utilizes spectroscopy to analyze vibrational signals from mosquitoes. In this way, researchers can draw conclusions in a matter of minutes about species, sex, infection status, and more from a sample of mosquitoes in the wild – work that takes days or weeks right now. Dr. Byrd’s research has applications for tracking mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever and Zika.
Beehive Improvement and Monitoring System: Appalachian State University
The Beemon system, developed by Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, Ph.D., presents a unique and innovative tool for decreasing honeybee hive die-off and increasing hive production. This project aims to produce turnkey products for commercial and amateur beekeepers to monitor hives while providing data that can be used to preserve the health of honeybees more efficiently and accurately. A recent study found honeybee colonies, which are vital to agriculture and the food supply, have been dying at staggering rates.
Neuro Drug Delivery System: N.C. A&T State University
The blood-brain barrier prevents many drugs from effectively treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Kristen Dellinger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Nanoengineering, has led the development of a novel method to carry therapeutic agents across the blood-brain barrier, improving the delivery of therapies.