ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×ās Office of Innovation Management Receives NSF Award to Accelerate the Universityās Translational Research Activities
Thu, 12/14/2023 - 08:08am | By: Gabriela Shinskie
The ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× (ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×) in partnership with Jackson State University (JSU) and The University of Arizona (UA), has been awarded from the U.S. National Science Foundationās (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) through its inaugural Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program. Read the NSF announcement .
"NSF endeavors to empower academic institutions to build the pathways and structures needed to speed and scale their research into products and services that benefit the nation," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "The Accelerating Research Translation program in NSFās new Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate identifies, and champions institutions positioned to expand their research translation capacity by investing in activities essential to move results to practice."
Each ART awardee will receive up to $6 million over four years to identify and build upon academic research with the potential for technology transfer and societal and economic impacts, to ensure availability of staff with technology transfer expertise, and to support the education and training of entrepreneurial faculty and students. Each ART awardee institution will benefit from having a partnership with a mentoring institution of higher education that already has a robust ecosystem for translational research. A strong partnership between the awardee institution and a mentoring institution with an established translational research ecosystem is one of the unique features of the ART program.
āAccelerating translational research activities (TRA) is a priority at ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× and this program aligns with the universities strategic plan to grow its research enterprise,ā says Kelly Lucas, Ph.D.; Vice President for Research at ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×.
In support of this program, ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× will use a systematic and data-driven approach to establish a more innovative research culture at ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×. This change will foster greater TRA that prepare ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× students for non-academic careers, accelerate access to university products and services, and strengthen Mississippiās entrepreneurial ecosystem. Achieving these goals supports Mississippiās knowledge-based economy and promotes the comparative advantages of the stateās industries.
āČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× is an active partner in Mississippiās growing knowledge-based economy,ā say, Brian Cuevas, Ph.D.; Director of the Office of Innovation Management at ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×. "This award will not only support the development of innovation programs, but also fund seed translational research projects demonstrating the universityās capabilities to translate its research into technology-based startups.ā
JSU, a fellow member Mississippi Research Consortium member, and of the NSFās Mid-South I-Corps Hub, will assist ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× in establishing inclusive, entrepreneurial training programs that facilitates the transformation of ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× inventions from the lab to market. āJackson State University is pleased to partner with ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ× on this significant project to accelerate research translation. Our efforts to create a strategic partnership around innovation, entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and commercialization bode well for our institutions' research agenda and the growth of emerging technologies.", says Almesha Campbell, Ph.D.; Assistant Vice President for Research at JSU. UA, nationally recognized for its very high TRA, will serve as ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×ās mentor institution.
āA little over 10 years ago, UA had similar TRA to ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×, since then UAās Tech Launch Arizona (TLA) has created over 130 companies, and economic output in the billions,ā says , Tech Launch Arizona Associate Vice President at UA. and āTLA will assist ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×ās Office of Innovation Management in evaluating current gaps in innovation capabilities and assist in the development of an innovation road map to address unique culture and challenges inhibiting ČĖĘŽĀŅĀ×ās TRA.ā
“”²ś“dzܳŁāÆJ²¹³¦°ģ²õ“DzŌāÆS³Ł²¹³Ł±šāÆU²Ō¾±±¹±š°ł²õ¾±³Ł²ā:, founded in 1877, is a historically black, high research activity university located ināÆJackson, the capital city of Mississippi.āÆJacksonāÆStateās nurturing academic environment challenges individuals to change lives through teaching, research and service. Officially designated as Mississippiās Urban University,āÆJacksonāÆStateāÆcontinues to enhance theāÆstate, nation and world through comprehensive economic development, healthcare, technological and educational initiatives. The only public university in metropolitanāÆJackson,āÆJacksonāÆStateāÆis located near downtown, with five satellite locations throughout the area. For more information, call 601-979-2121.
About University of Arizonaās TechLaunch: Formed to drive the commercialization of emerging technology, TechLaunch has served over 200 tech focused companies and mentored over 300 aspiring entrepreneurs. Our focus is to screen, select and nurture early-stage tech ventures to accelerate their growth opportunities via mentoring, coaching, networking, and providing access to resources and capital. Its core objective is to generate Quality Deal Flow for early-stage investors and prepare entrepreneurs for the Investor presentation. To learn more please visit techlaunch.arizona.edu.
About NSF ART: Launched by NSF's TIP Directorate, the ART program directly addresses a long-standing gap between academic research and the products, services and solutions Americans need. While ART seeks to build capacity and infrastructure for translational research at U.S. institutions of higher education, the program also aims to enhance the role of institutions of higher education in regional innovation ecosystems and effectively train graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in translational research, benefiting them across a range of career options. The program is authorized by the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022." For more information, visit the .