Congratulations, IDEA Grant Recipients

The IDEA Program has awarded over $1M to support 18 innovative research projects at UTMB. The Innovation, Discovery & Technology Commercialization (IDEA) grants program is a new collaborative effort between the Sealy Institute for Drug Discovery, UTMB’s Office of Innovation, the Office of Development, the Moody Brain Health Institute, the Galveston National Laboratory, and the Department of Internal Medicine dedicated to advancing scientific discovery and innovation.

IDEA funding supports researchers to generate preliminary data or validate the feasibility of a new technologies and approaches. These projects are designed to advance discovery, translation, and technology commercialization, were selected from nearly 50 applications based on their novelty, stage of development, and alignment with institutional priorities.

The funded projects are led by investigators with diverse expertise from more than a dozen departments across campus. Their research addresses a wide range of priority health issues, such as neuropathic pain, viral infection, impaired mobility, cancer, and dementia. Expected outcomes include therapeutic small molecules and antibodies, diagnostic and assistive devices, and new disease models.

Please join us in congratulating the IDEA awardees as they advance discovery, translation and technology commercialization at UTMB.

Gisela Camacho-Hernandez, PhD
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Structural Design and Development of Therapeutics for the Treatment of Depression 

Aisen Chacin, PhD
Nursing Development Program
Parametric Echolocation Assistive Device for Low Vision Spatial Navigation 

Joseph Gosnell, MD
Department of Pathology
Antimicrobial Turbine Filter for Reducing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia 

Gregory Gray, MD
Department of Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease
A Microarray Assay for Detecting Protective Antibody Against Influenza A (H5N1), Influenza C, and Influenza D Viruses 

Junji Iwahara, PhD
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
 Towards discovery of covalent inhibitors for the extracellular HMGB1 protein 

Younghwan Jung, PhD  
Department of Neurobiology            
Preclinical Development of Histone Deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) Degraders for Neuropathic Pain Treatment 

Ananth Kammala, PhD
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Basic Science and Translational Research
 Targeting Fetal Membranes with Pafolacianine-Conjugated Exosomes for Precision Therapeutics 

Peter Kan, MD 
Department of Neurosurgery
Endocisternal Interfaces for Minimally Invasive Neural Stimulation and Recording of the Brain and Spinal Cord 

Kathryn Cunningham, PhD; Noelle Anastasio, PhD; Jia Zhou, PhD
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
 Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Allosteric Modulators as Neurotherapeutics 

Petr Leiman, PhD   
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology     
Development of a High-Fidelity Transcription System Powered by Jumbophage RNA Polymerase 

Mansoo Ko, PhD
Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science   
Commercialization and Development of a Virtual Reality-Integrated Limb Propulsion Visual Feedback System for End-Effector Robot-Assisted Stroke Rehabilitation 

Mauro Montalbano, PhD 
Department of Neurology 
Revolutionizing Tauopathy Treatment: Anti-Tau Oligomer CAR-Treg Cells for Targeted Immunotherapy 

Daniel O'Reilly, PhD 
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
 Antibody Conjugates for Blood Brain Barrier Delivery 

Rakez Kayed, PhD
Department of Neurology
Humanization and Efficacy Determination of Toxic Tau Conformation–Specific Monoclonal Antibody 

Ramkumar Menon, PhD 
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Basic Science and Translational Research
A Reliable Pregnancy-Associated Disease Model for Drug Discovery and Trials in Reproductive Medicine

Eric Walser, MD
Department of Radiology
 3D Printed Custom Probes for Targeted MRI Biopsy Procedures 

Jun Yang, PhD
Department of Internal Medicine, Endocrinology
 Deciphering the Role of SEPHS1 in Alzheimer’s Disease 

Jia Zhou, PhD; Alexander Bukreyev, PhD; Bing Tian, PhD
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Small Molecules for Epigenetic Targeting of Hyperinflammation Caused by Highly Pathogenic Viral Infections