At NC State, we know discoveries made here can change the world. And this year, six promising projects will receive support from the Chancellor\u2019s Innovation Fund (CIF), helping researchers turn their discoveries into market-ready solutions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNC State continues to show why we are considered among the country\u2019s<\/span> top universities for commercializing research<\/span><\/a>,\u201d says Wade Fulghum, interim executive director of NC State\u2019s<\/span> Office of Research Commercialization<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe CIF is just one of a number of ways we help our innovative faculty commercialize their research for world-changing impacts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

NC State established the CIF in 2010 to help researchers bridge the gap between publicly funded research and the point at which discoveries are developed enough to secure private funding. <\/span>To date, the CIF has granted nearly $3 million to 45 projects \u2014 which have attracted over $53 million in follow-on funding. These projects have generated 24 startup companies, 45 license agreements and more than $1.1 million in licensing revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

The work of this year\u2019s CIF awardees ranges from a novel technique for infusing coffee into foods to groundbreaking developments in disease treatment \u2014 including a potential alternative to chemotherapy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Purifying Therapeutic Antibodies Faster and More Efficiently<\/b><\/p>\n

Chemical engineers Stefano Menegatti and Ruben Carbonell have developed novel adsorbents \u2014 called \u201cPepMix\u201d \u2014 that transform the purification of anticancer and autoimmune therapies. Current purification methods are burdened by high costs and long processing times, causing roadblocks for patients in need of lifesaving drugs at affordable costs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

PepMix fundamentally changes the industrial purification of biotherapeutics \u2014 morphing it from a multistep process to a continuous one-step process, while also filtering out dangerous impurities more effectively. Together, these attributes are poised to have a game-changing effect on productivity. CIF support will be used to scale-up the operation at the <\/span>Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center<\/span><\/a>, demonstrating compatibility with industrial equipment and compliance with FDA-mandated purity and potency standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making Coffee a Direct Ingredient in Foods<\/b><\/p>\n

Dairy processing experts Gary Cartwright and Carl Hollifield have discovered a way to convert coffee beans into a direct food additive, allowing for unprecedented flavor and caffeine potency in coffee-infused products. In today\u2019s fast-paced world, coffee-infused products are everywhere \u2014 from ice cream and beer to <\/span>lotions and cosmetics<\/span><\/a>. Not surprising, given that nearly <\/span>80% of Americans are coffee drinkers<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Making coffee-infused products currently requires brewing coffee, then removing the water to create a concentrate that can be added to the products. But with the ability to convert coffee beans into a direct additive, the brewing step \u2014 which wastes coffee grounds, water and energy \u2014 is bypassed altogether. CIF support will be used to make flavored product samples that will go to potential commercial partners for evaluation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Creating Better Electronic Displays<\/b><\/p>\n

Ph.D. student Pedro Vergara and professor Leda Lunardi, of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, have developed technology that creates sharper, more vibrant screen displays that also use less power. To do this, they\u2019ve combined the best qualities of the two main display types on the market \u2014 emissive and reflective \u2014 while eliminating the drawbacks of each.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emissive displays, used in most smartphones, make indoor reading easy and produce high-quality images, but they eat up considerable power and can\u2019t reflect sunlight. They can also cause eye strain with prolonged use. Meanwhile, reflective displays \u2014 used in reading tablets like Amazon\u2019s Kindle \u2014 consume much less battery and practically eliminate glare. But they lack the image quality and touch-response time of emissive displays.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vergara and Lunardi\u2019s technology reduces glare more effectively than displays like the Kindle while providing video capability, faster response time and longer battery life. CIF support will be used to build a small-scale, fully functional prototype.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Promising New Tool in the Fight Against Cancer<\/b><\/p>\n

Michael Sano, of UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State\u2019s Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, has developed a treatment that could become an alternative to chemotherapy and radiation treatment for inoperable tumors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the American Cancer Society, <\/span>one in three people<\/span><\/a> will have cancer at some point in their lifetime. Surgical removal of tumors can be curative, but many tumors form so close to major blood vessels that surgery becomes challenging or impossible. That means the <\/span>vast majority<\/span><\/a> of cancer patients have to endure chemotherapy. Because chemotherapy can\u2019t distinguish cancerous cells from healthy ones, it can cause a range of <\/span>adverse side effects<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sano\u2019s therapy uses electrical pulses and mild heating to selectively target and kill cancer cells \u2014 leaving underlying blood vessels and nerves undamaged. The therapy is also fast, with the potential to treat most tumors in under seven minutes. And because it spares critical structures, it may also shorten the healing process.<\/span><\/p>\n

CIF support will be used to conduct a large-animal preclinical safety and reproducibility study needed for FDA approval.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accelerating the Path to Clinical Trials for In Vivo Gene Editing<\/b><\/p>\n

Jorge Piedrahita, Randall B. Terry Jr. Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine and director of the Comparative Medicine Institute, and his Ph.D. student Kathryn Polkoff are developing a pig model that promises a path to safer, more cost-effective clinical trials and eventual FDA approval for gene-editing therapies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gene editing is widely regarded as the future of treating and correcting genetic disorders in humans. NC State food science professor Rodolphe Barrangou\u2019s <\/span>2007 discovery of CRISPR-Cas<\/span><\/a> presented a new world of gene editing possibilities. But to become a reality for human healthcare, the delivery methods must be proven to be precise, safe and effective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Piedrahita and Polkoff\u2019s model, using fluorescent proteins found in jellyfish, identifies whether a gene-editing therapy reached the right place in an organism \u2014 and whether the intended result occurred \u2014 at a single-cell level. The precision of this data will make clinical trials considerably safer and more effective, increasing the likelihood of the model becoming the industry standard and helping gene editing reach its potential.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CIF support will be used to create the model using methods that increase the commercialization potential of the model.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using CRISPR to Unlock the Capabilities of Gene Editing for the Forestry Industry<\/b><\/p>\n

Leveraging the combined expertise of the College of Natural Resources\u2019 Forest Biotech Group (FBG) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences\u2019 CRISPR lab, FBG Director Jack Wang and <\/span>CRISPR pioneer<\/span><\/a> Rodolphe Barrangou have discovered how to edit tree stem cells without using added DNA. Forests and forest products are a $700 billion global industry and a critical part of North Carolina\u2019s economy \u2014 contributing <\/span>$32 billion a year<\/span><\/a> and representing the state\u2019s largest employer among manufacturing sectors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to research done by groups like FBG, we\u2019ve known for years which genes could be edited to save the forestry industry potentially hundreds of millions of dollars. But until now, it wasn\u2019t possible to edit genes without creating trees that are classified as genetically modified organisms, which aren\u2019t viable due to serious environmental concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new delivery system uses CRISPR technology to alter the DNA, creating trees that are genetically indistinguishable from those found in nature (and therefore not considered GMOs). However, these trees could be produced in as little as 12 months, as opposed to the 15 years it can take with traditional breeding methods.<\/span><\/p>\n

CIF support will be used to further test the CRISPR-based delivery system and prove the feasibility of whole-tree generation from the edited stem cells.<\/span><\/p>\n

This post was originally published<\/a> in Office of Research and Innovation.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"At NC State, we know discoveries made here can change the world. And this year, six promising projects will receive support from the Chancellor\u2019s Innovation Fund (CIF), helping researchers turn their discoveries into market-ready solutions.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cNC State continues to show why we are considered among the country\u2019s<\/span> top universities for commercializing research<\/span><\/a>,\u201d says Wade Fulghum, interim executive director of NC State\u2019s<\/span> Office of Research Commercialization<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe CIF is just one of a number of ways we help our innovative faculty commercialize their research for world-changing impacts.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nNC State established the CIF in 2010 to help researchers bridge the gap between publicly funded research and the point at which discoveries are developed enough to secure private funding. <\/span>To date, the CIF has granted nearly $3 million to 45 projects \u2014 which have attracted over $53 million in follow-on funding. These projects have generated 24 startup companies, 45 license agreements and more than $1.1 million in licensing revenue.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe work of this year\u2019s CIF awardees ranges from a novel technique for infusing coffee into foods to groundbreaking developments in disease treatment \u2014 including a potential alternative to chemotherapy.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPurifying Therapeutic Antibodies Faster and More Efficiently<\/b>\r\n\r\nChemical engineers Stefano Menegatti and Ruben Carbonell have developed novel adsorbents \u2014 called \u201cPepMix\u201d \u2014 that transform the purification of anticancer and autoimmune therapies. Current purification methods are burdened by high costs and long processing times, causing roadblocks for patients in need of lifesaving drugs at affordable costs.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nPepMix fundamentally changes the industrial purification of biotherapeutics \u2014 morphing it from a multistep process to a continuous one-step process, while also filtering out dangerous impurities more effectively. Together, these attributes are poised to have a game-changing effect on productivity. CIF support will be used to scale-up the operation at the <\/span>Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center<\/span><\/a>, demonstrating compatibility with industrial equipment and compliance with FDA-mandated purity and potency standards.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMaking Coffee a Direct Ingredient in Foods<\/b>\r\n\r\nDairy processing experts Gary Cartwright and Carl Hollifield have discovered a way to convert coffee beans into a direct food additive, allowing for unprecedented flavor and caffeine potency in coffee-infused products. In today\u2019s fast-paced world, coffee-infused products are everywhere \u2014 from ice cream and beer to <\/span>lotions and cosmetics<\/span><\/a>. Not surprising, given that nearly <\/span>80% of Americans are coffee drinkers<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nMaking coffee-infused products currently requires brewing coffee, then removing the water to create a concentrate that can be added to the products. But with the ability to convert coffee beans into a direct additive, the brewing step \u2014 which wastes coffee grounds, water and energy \u2014 is bypassed altogether. CIF support will be used to make flavored product samples that will go to potential commercial partners for evaluation.<\/span>\r\n\r\nCreating Better Electronic Displays<\/b>\r\n\r\nPh.D. student Pedro Vergara and professor Leda Lunardi, of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, have developed technology that creates sharper, more vibrant screen displays that also use less power. To do this, they\u2019ve combined the best qualities of the two main display types on the market \u2014 emissive and reflective \u2014 while eliminating the drawbacks of each.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEmissive displays, used in most smartphones, make indoor reading easy and produce high-quality images, but they eat up considerable power and can\u2019t reflect sunlight. They can also cause eye strain with prolonged use. Meanwhile, reflective displays \u2014 used in reading tablets like Amazon\u2019s Kindle \u2014 consume much less battery and practically eliminate glare. But they lack the image quality and touch-response time of emissive displays.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nVergara and Lunardi\u2019s technology reduces glare more effectively than displays like the Kindle while providing video capability, faster response time and longer battery life. CIF support will be used to build a small-scale, fully functional prototype.<\/span>\r\n\r\nA Promising New Tool in the Fight Against Cancer<\/b>\r\n\r\nMichael Sano, of UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State\u2019s Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, has developed a treatment that could become an alternative to chemotherapy and radiation treatment for inoperable tumors.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAccording to the American Cancer Society, <\/span>one in three people<\/span><\/a> will have cancer at some point in their lifetime. Surgical removal of tumors can be curative, but many tumors form so close to major blood vessels that surgery becomes challenging or impossible. That means the <\/span>vast majority<\/span><\/a> of cancer patients have to endure chemotherapy. Because chemotherapy can\u2019t distinguish cancerous cells from healthy ones, it can cause a range of <\/span>adverse side effects<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSano\u2019s therapy uses electrical pulses and mild heating to selectively target and kill cancer cells \u2014 leaving underlying blood vessels and nerves undamaged. The therapy is also fast, with the potential to treat most tumors in under seven minutes. And because it spares critical structures, it may also shorten the healing process.<\/span>\r\n\r\nCIF support will be used to conduct a large-animal preclinical safety and reproducibility study needed for FDA approval.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAccelerating the Path to Clinical Trials for In Vivo Gene Editing<\/b>\r\n\r\nJorge Piedrahita, Randall B. Terry Jr. Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine and director of the Comparative Medicine Institute, and his Ph.D. student Kathryn Polkoff are developing a pig model that promises a path to safer, more cost-effective clinical trials and eventual FDA approval for gene-editing therapies.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nGene editing is widely regarded as the future of treating and correcting genetic disorders in humans. NC State food science professor Rodolphe Barrangou\u2019s <\/span>2007 discovery of CRISPR-Cas<\/span><\/a> presented a new world of gene editing possibilities. But to become a reality for human healthcare, the delivery methods must be proven to be precise, safe and effective.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nPiedrahita and Polkoff\u2019s model, using fluorescent proteins found in jellyfish, identifies whether a gene-editing therapy reached the right place in an organism \u2014 and whether the intended result occurred \u2014 at a single-cell level. The precision of this data will make clinical trials considerably safer and more effective, increasing the likelihood of the model becoming the industry standard and helping gene editing reach its potential.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nCIF support will be used to create the model using methods that increase the commercialization potential of the model.<\/span>\r\n\r\nUsing CRISPR to Unlock the Capabilities of Gene Editing for the Forestry Industry<\/b>\r\n\r\nLeveraging the combined expertise of the College of Natural Resources\u2019 Forest Biotech Group (FBG) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences\u2019 CRISPR lab, FBG Director Jack Wang and <\/span>CRISPR pioneer<\/span><\/a> Rodolphe Barrangou have discovered how to edit tree stem cells without using added DNA. Forests and forest products are a $700 billion global industry and a critical part of North Carolina\u2019s economy \u2014 contributing <\/span>$32 billion a year<\/span><\/a> and representing the state\u2019s largest employer among manufacturing sectors.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThanks to research done by groups like FBG, we\u2019ve known for years which genes could be edited to save the forestry industry potentially hundreds of millions of dollars. But until now, it wasn\u2019t possible to edit genes without creating trees that are classified as genetically modified organisms, which aren\u2019t viable due to serious environmental concerns.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe new delivery system uses CRISPR technology to alter the DNA, creating trees that are genetically indistinguishable from those found in nature (and therefore not considered GMOs). However, these trees could be produced in as little as 12 months, as opposed to the 15 years it can take with traditional breeding methods.<\/span>\r\n\r\nCIF support will be used to further test the CRISPR-based delivery system and prove the feasibility of whole-tree generation from the edited stem cells.<\/span>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six projects will receive support from the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund this year, a pivotal tool for helping promising NC State research reach its market potential. The work of this year’s CIF awardees ranges from a novel technique for infusing coffee into foods to groundbreaking developments in disease treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":10114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,10,7,233,18,6],"tags":[255,171],"class_list":["post-10238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-awards-and-honors","category-faculty-and-staff","category-faculty-awards","category-homepage","category-strategic-actions","tag-_from-newswire-collection-45","tag-office-of-research-and-innovation"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10238"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19474,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10238\/revisions\/19474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/provost.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}