Thirteen scientists and researchers receive awards from Technology Development Group
Thirteen researchers at UCLA have been named recipients of awards from the 2023 UCLA Innovation Fund.
These awards, up to $150,000 per project, support early-stage research that lead to commercialization activities, which usually aren’t supported by basic research grants. As a result, researchers can develop their technologies to a point where the chances of commercial success are greatly increased. Importantly, all awarded projects receive consultations from an outside industry and investor advisory panel, which provides technical and commercial feedback that is key to technology development.
The UCLA Innovation Fund was established in 2016 by the UCLA Technology Development Group, in conjunction with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, UCLA College’s divisions of physical sciences and life sciences, the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, the School of Dentistry and UCLA Health.
The applicants’ projects were evaluated on their novelty, significance and potential public benefit, as well as the status of the intellectual property and other factors relating to the projects’ technical feasibility and commercial potential.
The two tracks in the 2023 cycle were therapeutics and medical technology.
- Baljit Kakh professor, Neurobiology and Joselyn Soto were recognized for their work developing a small molecule GPCR agonist which restore astrocyte morphology in OCD.
- Song Li, chancellor’s professor, bioengineering; Lili Yang, professor, department of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics received funds for their SynVacs platform to boost CAR-T Cell expansion and
The award recipients for the medical technology track:
- Pirouz Kavehpour, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering, along with. Mitchell Spearin, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, developed SNIFR, which uses volatile organic compounds to detect necrotizing enterocolitis early in infants.
- Paul Weiss, UC Presidential Chair and Distinguished Professor in Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering, and Melina Mastrodimos, MD/PhD student at UCLA DGSOM, were acknowledged for their work on an innovative surgical mesh hernia repair scaffold.
- Liang Gao, Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, Jongchan Park, Research Scientist, and Dr. Linda Liau, Professor and Chair in the Department of Neurosurgery, developed a device for margin and tissue detection using real-time 3D fluorescence lifetime imaging endoscopy
The Innovation Fund will be accepting 2025 applications on April 1st 2025. Click here for more information as it becomes available.