KYNETIC Seeks Applications for Proof-of-concept Commercialization
The Kentucky Network for Innovation and Commercialization (KYNETIC) has opened its Spring 2022 Cycle 5 round of early-stage commercialization grants.
KYNETIC is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) and part of the national NIH Proof-of-Concept Network.
The grants are awarded to faculty, staff and student innovator teams across Kentucky for new, innovative products that have the potential to impact human health. All types of products (therapeutic, preventative, device, test, software) for any disease/healthcare-related area are eligible.
KYNETIC’s goal is to distribute $650,000 per year into research-based technologies. Cycle 5 will offer $40,000 over a six-month period, with a maximum amount of $200,000 per project.
“Transitioning a technology from idea to market is daunting to most academic researchers. The KYNETIC program provided excellent exposure to the fundamentals of commercialization along with funding for our early-stage, high-risk ideas. These funds allowed us to generate exciting preliminary data to submit phase I SBIR applications for our startup Atterogen LLC,” said Ron Bruntz, KYNETIC Cycle 1 awardee in the University of K College of Medicine Department of Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry.
The KYNETIC program is led by the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, and Kentucky Commercialization Ventures. Linda Dwoskin, Senior Associate Vice President for Research, Special Projects, is principal investigator and Ian McClure, Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Impact, and Executive Director, UK Innovate, is a co-investigator on the KYNETIC grant awarded to UK.
Awardees from the KYNETIC Fall 2021 Cycle 4 included:
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Pediatric NeuroRecovery Posture Control System Awardee: Andrea Behrman, Ph.D. (UofL)
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Development of a Multitenant Mixed/Virtual Reality Platform for Increasing Awareness of Implicit Bias in Child Welfare Decision-Making: A Public Health Crisis Awardees: Daniel Boamah, Ph.D. (WKU), Michael Galloway, Ph.D., April Murphy, Ph.D., Kimberly Green, Ph.D., Austin Griffiths, Ph.D., Mark Simpson
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Novel compounds for diagnosing, treating, and monitoring triple negative breast cancer Awardees: Lindsay Cormier, Ph.D. (EKU), Margaret Ndinguri, Ph.D., Lisa Middleton, Ph.D.
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Flexible Suction Coagulator for Endoscopic Surgeries Awardees: Mark Fritz, M.D. (UK), Moamen Gabr, M.D., Guigen Zhang, Ph.D.
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Development of Novel VMAT2 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Methamphetamine Use Disorder Awardees: R. Kip Guy (UK), Ph.D., Linda Dwoskin, Ph.D., Michael Bardo, Ph.D.
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Vertify Probe: Intraoperative device for measurement of bone quality Awardees: Stuart Williams, Ph.D. (UofL), Michael Voor, Ph.D., Maxwell Boakye, M.D.
All of Kentucky’s public, higher education institutions are eligible to apply. Applications are first evaluated by an internal advisory committee of higher education administrators across Kentucky. Finalists advance to review by an external review board of industry leaders and subject matter experts, which then makes award recommendations to the NIH for final approval.
KYNETIC Project Managers are available for consultation before you submit your pre-application and throughout the application process. Pre-application deadline is Feb 14, 2022, at 5 pm ET. For more information, see the following links:
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U01HL152392. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health
