CIT announces $3 million in research awards

The Virginia Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced a total of $3 million awards for this year’s Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund.

The CRCF fund received appropriations from the General Assembly of $4.8 million in each of the 2013 and 2014 fiscal years. The awards went to 43 proposals from 27 organizations. The projects awarded were in the targeted areas of of advanced manufacturing, aerospace, communications, cyber security, energy, environment, information technology, life sciences, modeling and simulation and transportation.

CIT received 100 proposals, which were reviewed in a four-step process by the CIT and subject matter experts from industry, academia and government. The Research and Technology Investment Advisory Committee (RTIAC) then recommended proposals to be funded to the Center for Innovative Technology’s Board of Directors, which selected the awards.

The following organizations and principal investigators (PIs) were awarded CRCF funding in FY2013:

Commercialization Program
• CyberSheath Services International LLC (Great Falls), Cyber Security Health Assessment, Eric Noonan, $42,500, Cyber Security
• CyberSheath Services International LLC (Great Falls), Data Breach Cost Quantification Model, Eric Noonan, $42,500, Cyber Security
• IgM Immunotherapy LLC (Charlottesville), Naturally-Occurring Immunoglobulin M (IgM) Antibodies to Prevent Autoimmune Diabetes, Dr. Kenneth Brayman, $50,000, Life Sciences
• Leone Bioventures LLC (Roanoke), Development of an Agricultural Fungicide, Edward Goyette, $49,920, (life sciences)
• Neoantigenics LLC (Charlottesville), Critical Characterization of Candidate Monoclonal Antibodies for Generating Cancer Therapeutics, Dr. Brian Pollock, $50,000, Life Sciences
• Neoantigenics LLC (Charlottesville), Survey of Human Urogenital Tumors Expressing the SAS 1B Oocyte-Associated Cancer Biomarker, Dr. Brian Pollock, $50,000, Life Sciences

Matching Funds Program
• Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (Disputanta), Abrasive Blasting – Understanding and Optimizing the Process, Matt Stremler, $100,000, Advanced Manufacturing
• Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk), Pre-Clinical Development of New Characterized Compounds That Preserve Functional Beta Cell Mass in Diabetes, Dr. David Taylor-Fishwick, $100,000, Life Sciences
• Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk), Proton Therapy Simulation and Treatment Planning Algorithm Development, Dr. Cynthia Keppel, $100,000, Modeling & Simulation
• George Mason University (Fairfax), Sequencing Instrumentation Support for the Commercialization of Diagnostics of Dysbiosis in Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Dr. Patrick Gillevet, $95,564, Life Sciences
• Old Dominion University (Norfolk), Advanced Nano-Architecture for High Efficiency Energy Convergence Systems, Dr. Helmut Baumgart, $100,000, Energy
• Old Dominion University (Norfolk), Efficient Diesel Exhaust Remediation Using a Nonthermal Plasma Reactor, Dr. Richard Heller, $99,471, Environment
• Old Dominion University (Norfolk), Reducing Energy Use and Emissions through Innovative Technologies and Community Designs: Methodology and Application in Virginia, Dr. Asad Khattak, $100,000, Transportation
• Old Dominion University (Norfolk), Smart Combiner for Residential Photovoltaic Systems, Dr. Shirshak Dhali, $75,000, Energy
• Southeastern Universities Research Association (Newport News), Development of Method for Reduced Dose Breast Specific Gamma Imaging, Dr. Andrew Weisenberger, $98,235, Life Sciences
• Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Foundation d/b/a Clean Energy R&D Center (Abingdon), Tazewell County Renewable Natural Gas, Edwin Rogers, $100,000, Energy
• University of Virginia (Charlottesville), Generation of T Regulatory Cells for Type I Diabetes, Dr. Mary Laughlin, $100,000, Life Sciences
• University of Virginia (Charlottesville), Hacker-Proofing the Web, Dr. Jack Davidson, $36,500, Cyber Security
• University of Virginia (Charlottesville), Monoclonal Antibodies to Target Tumor Surface Metalloprotease, Dr. John Herr, $100,000, Life Sciences
• University of Virginia (Charlottesville), System-Aware Cyber Security Sentinel, Dr. Barry Horowitz, $100,000, Cyber Security
• University of Virginia (Charlottesville), Therapeutic Targeting of Glioblastoma Stem Cells with Cav3.2 Blockers, Dr. Roger Abounader, $100,000, Life Sciences
• University of Virginia (Charlottesville), Thermal Transport across GaN Interfaces: Linking Structural Imperfections to Thermal Properties, Dr. Patrick Hopkins, $100,000, Energy
• Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), A Minimally Invasive Treatment for Cerebral Palsy Using Engineered Hydrogels, Dr. Ning Zhang, $100,000, Life Sciences
• Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), Developing New Products to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections, Dr. Xuejun Wen, $100,000, Life Sciences
• Virginia Tech (Blacksburg), High Frequency Irreversible Electroporation for Lung Cancer and Other Endoscopic Ablation Applications, Dr. Rafael Davalos, $100,000, Life Sciences
• Virginia Tech (Blacksburg), Use of Electric Fields for the Isolation of Tumor Initiating Cells and Other Rare Cells, Dr. Rafael Davalos, $100,000, Life Sciences

SBIR Matching Funds Program
• algorithmRx, LLC (North Chesterfield), Computer Assisted Clinical Decision Support Tool for Management of Statins, Steve Hutcherson, $50,000, Life Sciences
• Bear Technologies LLC (Oilville), Design and Modeling of a Revolutionary Commercial High Torque Motor, Tom Myrick, $50,000, Modeling & Simulation
• Ceres Nanosciences, Inc. (Manassas), Nanotrap-Enabled Biofluid Collection and Preservation Toolset, Ben Lepene, $50,000, Life Sciences
• ClearEdge3D, Inc. (Herndon), Novel Algorithms for Automated 3D Building Models and 3D Street Maps, Christopher Scotton, $49,965, Modeling & Simulation
• Designed Material Technologies LLC (Richmond), Modeling Growth of Crystalline Oxides on Silicon for High-K and Ferroelectric Applications, Dr. Christopher Ashman, $49,973, Modeling & Simulation
• HemoShear, LLC (Charlottesville), Development of a Human Hepatocyte Predictive Pharmacology and Toxicology System, Dr. Brian Wamhoff, $49,996, Life Sciences
• HemoShear, LLC (Charlottesville), Creating a Predictive Vascular System for Early Development, Dr. Brian Wamhoff, $50,000, Life Sciences
• iTi Health Inc. (Charlottesville), Development of a Targeted Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer, Dr. Greg Fralish, $50,000, Life Sciences
• Parabon NanoLabs Inc. (Reston), A Nano Pharmaceutical Platform for Creating Artificial Vaccines, Dr. Steven Armentrout, $50,000, Life Sciences
• Power Fingerprinting Inc. (Blacksburg), Active Software Defense to Reduce Threat Capability Effectiveness, Dr. Carlos Aguayo Gonzalez, $50,000, Cyber Security
• RetiVue LLC (Charlottesville), Atlas – A Handheld High Resolution Wide-Field Retinal Imager, Dr. Paul Yates, $50,000, Life Sciences
• Rivanna Medical LLC (Crozet), X-Ray Replacement for Bone Imaging with a Portable Ultrasound Device, Dr. Frank Mauldin, $50,000, Life Sciences
• Rivanna Medical LLC (Crozet), Three-Dimensional Ultrasound for Neuroaxial Anesthesia Guidance, Dr. Frank Mauldin, $50,000, Life Sciences
• S34A Inc. (Arlington), Forensic Analysis of Solid State Drives, Mr. Hank Wallace, $30,000, Cyber Security
• Serpin Pharma LLC (Nokesville), Efficacy Testing of SP16 in NOD Mice, Dr. Soren Mogelsvang, $50,000, Life Sciences
• SphynKx Therapeutics LLC (Charlottesville), Evaluation of Sphingosine Kinase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease, Dr. Kevin Lynch, $50,000, Life Sciences

STTR Matching Funds Program
• Power Fingerprinting, Inc. (Blacksburg), Security for Wireless Devices: Security Monitoring and Intrusion Detection in SDR and CR Using Power Fingerprinting, Dr. Carlos Aguayo Gonzalez, $50,000, Cyber Security