Sep 22, 2023
Advancing Discovery to Market provides $3.55 million in grants for transforming recent discoveries into new products with commercial potential.
Sixteen teams of Texas A&M University researchers will share awards totaling more than $3.55 million from the university’s Advancing Discovery to Market (ADM) program, the Division of Research announced today.
Launched in February, ADM supports researchers within the Texas A&M research enterprise as they develop innovations into products or demonstrate their market potential.
“I congratulate these outstanding research teams for bringing significant innovations to the cusp of the marketplace,” said Gen. (Ret.) Mark A. Welsh III, interim president. “Their work is foundational to the research mission of our land-grant university: To make discoveries, refine them into products and introduce them into our society for the common good.”
The $5 million program is open to researchers, faculty, staff and students of Texas A&M University and its partners among The Texas A&M University System’s state agencies: the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Texas A&M AgriLife Research.
“Advancing any discovery from workbench to marketplace is a significant challenge for any university researcher,” said Dr. Jack G. Baldauf, vice president for research. “These 16 projects offer great promise for finding commercial success through a patent, a license or a start-up company. We look forward to watching their journey toward that end.”
The program received funding from Texas A&M’s Office of the President and the Texas A&M University System’s Office of the Chancellor. Dr. Henry Fadamiro, associate vice president for research, served as the program lead and administrator. In addition to Baldauf, the program’s management team included Greg Hartman, chief operating officer and senior vice president, Office of the President; Dr. Joe Elabd, vice chancellor for research, the Texas A&M University System; Pete O’Neil, chief innovation officer, Texas A&M Innovation; and Blake Petty, executive director, McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, Mays Business School. An external review committee of investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders evaluated the proposals.
ADM offers two award levels based on a discovery’s maturity.
Type 1 awards present $99,000 or less to research projects that have found an innovation but have yet to identify a specific application.
Type 2 awards of $100,000 to $500,000 provide funding for refining an innovation and advancing it to the marketplace.
Dr. Aaron Morton, School of Education and Human Development, “Effectiveness and toxicology of DystropHix in a large animal model of muscle dystrophy,” $495,972, with co-principal investigators Dr. Mariana Gomes, School of Education and Human Development, and Dr. Peter P. Nghiem, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.