The Boise State TRANSFORM team is pleased to announce the recipients of the second round of competitive Seed Translational Research Projects (STRP) awards. Funded by the new National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) directive, these subawards are part of the Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program that granted Boise State $6,000,000 over four years to “enable academic institutions to accelerate the pace and scale of translational research that will grow the nation’s economy.”
A total of 15 applications were submitted, and this year’s Track One (market-oriented) awardee is Dr. Daniel Fologea from the Department of Physics, along with Co-PI Dr. Denise Wingett from the Department of Biological Sciences. Their submission, Liposomes for radiation-controlled release of anticancer drugs and immunotherapy agents, aims to develop innovative drug release mechanisms for cancer treatment. For his research, Dr. Fologea is partnering with startup companies RadRelease Pharmaceuticals and GT Medical Technologies.
The 2024 Track Two (community-engaged) recipient is Dr. Sven Buerki, assisted by Co-PI Dr. Ian Roberston, both from the Department of Biological Sciences. The title of their proposal is, From Seed to Seeds – Promoting Novel Bioeconomy to Support Restoration of Threatened Plants, which is committed to contributing to the mitigation of the biodiversity crisis. Dr. Buerki has three community partners on this project: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Idaho Army National Guard.
Congratulations to Dr. Fologea and Dr. Buerki, and thank you to all of the teams who submitted this year. The breadth and depth of the proposals was truly impressive. The application for the next round of funding opens on January 15, 2025, and the TRANSFORM team looks forward to future submissions.
