OCAST awards nearly $2.2 million for 12 Applied Research projects

Oklahoma City

Pharmaceuticals

• Danyang Chen, investigator, Charlesson LLC, “A therapeutic antibody for diabetic retinopathy” – This project is seeking therapies for treating diabetic retinopathy. The expectation is the research team will establish the efficacy and safety profiles of a selected drug therapy that will support an investigational new drug application. $299,823 for three years
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• Mariko Kudo, investigator, Siwa Biotech Corporation, “Developing Novel Entry Inhibitors for Treatment of HIV” – HIV/Aids has become manageable due to some 20 antiretroviral drugs approved for treatment of the affliction. New complications occur however, due to the emergence of resistance to current drugs, toxicity and newly identified HIV strains. Siwa Biotech Corporation has identified tyrosylprotein sulfotransferases as novel enzyme targets for development of a new class of HIV-1 therapy. Through research, Siwa plans to optimize the potency and permeability of the compounds and eventually select eight to 10 of them for further development. $300,000 for two years

Nanotechnology

• Muna Naash, investigator, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, “Nanoparticle-mediated gene transfer” – Nanotechnology provides a delivery system for DNA to the ocular tissues. The end result of this research could be a vehicle for delivery of therapeutic genes to treat and prevent different forms of retinal diseases. $90,000 for two years

Perry

Energy

• Kelvin Self, investigator, The Charles Machine Works Inc., “GeoFold, a folded coaxial ground coupled heat exchanger” – The project is designed to determine the commercial potential of the GeoFold system. Parts of the system will be installed in the ground in a randomized pattern using a concept Ditch Witch vertical drill rig and other equipment. The heat exchanger system will be installed at various depths and testing will be done in different seasons. Expected findings include easier installation, less than five percent grout volume and as much as 500 percent greater heat exchange potential between the ground and heat pump. $90,000 for two years

Stillwater

Biotechnology

• Peter Muriana, investigator, Oklahoma State University, “Antimicrobial peptides produced by lactic acid bacteria for inhibition of pathogens” – The proposed research is an extension of work by Stan Gilliland whereby miocrobial cultures were identified that are currently widely fed to feedlot cattle, helping to reduce acidosis and the incidence of E. coli. The bacteriocin-producing cultures, or the bacteriocins themselves, will be used in food applications to control Listeria monocytogenes, salmonella and staphylococcus aureaus. $90,000 for two years

Energy

• Daniel Fisher, investigator, Oklahoma State University, “Optimally controlled air-conditioning equipment for sustainable building systems” – The objective of this project is to develop and deploy optimal supervisory and process control algorithms for modern cooling systems. The effort requires developing control boards that will accommodate new control schemes. $294,063 for three years

Homeland Security

• Evgueni Kadossov, investigator, XploSafe LLC, “Explosive-containing porous materials as non-detonable training and testing aids” – Training dogs to detect explosives is costly and manpower-intensive. Use of actual explosive material also requires humans with special qualifications. XploSafe has developed a way to make certain explosives safer by using mesoporous ceramic materials that eliminate the danger while maintaining realistic materials for training purposes. The investigator proposes to test improvements to develop a comprehensive portfolio of non-detonable, non-hazardous training aids that ensure safety for trainers and the dogs they train. $299,998 for two years

Sensors

• Nick Materer, investigator, XploSafe LLC, “Sensor for hydrogen peroxide and peroxide-based explosives” – The goal of this project is to develop explosive sensors that are highly selective and sensitive for peroxide-based improvised explosives and the hydrogen peroxide used to manufacture them. $90,000 for two years

Tulsa

Advanced Materials

• Jay Hanan, investigator, MetCel LLC, “Design and development of hybrid composite armor” – The research team is credited with designing and testing current ballistic vest standards in development of hybrid composite armor. This research is investigating improvements in current technology to increase standards for the hybrid composite armor with the hope of expanding armor protection beyond current limitations. $44,000 for one year