Cornell researchers and New York companies will collaborate to develop a technology that eliminates resistant microorganisms from chronic wounds to promote tissue healing, and a method of cell-free protein synthesis to spur the $120 billion protein-based therapeutics market. These are two of nine projects to receive one-year grants from the Center for Advanced Technology (CAT), based at Cornell’s Institute of Biotechnology.

The awards support Cornell life science faculty and research associates to develop biotechnologies with commercial potential. New York state companies provide matching funds and serve as collaboration partners.

The grants, which started July 1, total $435,778 in direct funds, with an additional $689,760 in matching funds.

This is the first year that researchers in CAT-funded projects will collaborate with two startup companies housed in Cornell’s Kevin M. McGovern Center for Venture Development in the Life Sciences: Jason Spector, professor of plastic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, will work with SteriFreeMed on a wound-healing technology, and Matthew DeLisa, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, is working with Glycobia Inc., to develop a method for cell-free protein synthesis.

“This year’s awards through the CAT program illustrate the broad scope of entrepreneurial research on the various Cornell campuses,” said Jocelyn Rose, director of the Institute of Biotechnology.

“The partnerships with companies currently based in the McGovern Center, some of whom are previous CAT grant awardees, is also a testimony to the infrastructure that now exists at Cornell for nurturing ‘early-stage’ discoveries and inventions in the life sciences, and enabling their maturation into successful commercial enterprises,” he added.

Other projects granted awards are:

• Research to develop tissue-engineered intervertebral discs to treat degenerative disc diseases; led by Larry Bonassar, professor of biomedical engineering, with GE Global Research;
• Creating a decision support system that will help tomato and potato farmers manage blight disease; William Fry, professor of plant pathology and plant-microbe biology, with Green Field CropTech LLC;
• Developing a point-of-care diagnostic test for quick, objective diagnosis of brain injury; Alexander Travis, associate professor of reproductive biology, and Motion Intelligence LLC;
• Testing a synthetic joint lubricant to treat osteoarthritis; Kei Hayashi and Ursula Krotscheck, both associate professors of small animal surgery, David Putnam, associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Ithaca-based Articulate Biomedical LLC;
• Engineering three-dimensional tissue cultures that contain micro blood vessels; In another collaboration between New York City and Ithaca campuses, Abraham Stroock, professor of chemical and biomedical engineering and CorSolutions;
• Expanding a science kit lending library for K-12 biology teachers; Laurel Southard, director of undergraduate research and the Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers; and
• Matching student interns with New York biotech industry partner companies; Zach Shulman, director, and Debra Moesch, program manager and internship director, both at Entrepreneurship at Cornell.

The CAT program, which is supported by NYSTAR, has funded more than 1,000 projects over 30 years and has helped launch, on average, two to three companies per year. Seed funding also has increased the number of viable companies that eventually qualify for the McGovern Family Center for Venture Development in the Life Sciences, the on-campus business incubator that opened in 2011.