Science and Enterprise

Month: July 2011

  • University Culture Impacts Research Commercialization

    A Baylor University management professor in Waco, Texas finds research universities with an organizational climate that supports commercialization and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers are more likely to produce invention disclosures and patent applications. The findings by Baylor’s Emily Hunter and colleagues from University of Houston and University of California at Davis appeared in the…

  • NIH Study to Research Health Effects of BP Oil Spill

    A network of researchers funded by NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will evaluate potential harmful effects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on reproduction and birth outcomes, the cardiorespiratory system, and behavior and mental health. University and community participants will study the level of potentially harmful contaminants in air, water, and seafood, and…

  • Medical Center Commercializes Nanotech Cancer Treatment

    Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany now offers for selected patients a nanomedicine method for the treatment of recurrent brain tumors. The science underlying the nanotechnology-based cancer therapy was developed by researchers at Charité, which is being marketed by MagForce Nanotechnologies AG, a Charité spin off company. The principle behind the therapy is the use…

  • University Develops Tiny, Lens-Free Camera

    A postdoc engineer at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York developed a microscopic camera that fits on the head of a pin, contains no lenses or moving parts, and costs pennies to make. The prototype by Patrick Gill and his colleagues is described in the current issue of the journal Optics Letters (paid subscription required).…

  • Global Study Identifies Top Mental Health Challenges

    A large-scale study conducted worldwide has identified the top global challenges in mental health. A report of the study appears in the current issue of the journal Nature (paid subscription required). The Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health Initiative, led by the National Institutes of Health and the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, identified the…

  • Compartmented Gel Capsule Developed for Multi-Drug Delivery

    U.S. and Chinese researchers have designed a multiple-compartment gel capsule that could simultaneously deliver drugs of different types. A description of their research is published online in the journal Macromolecular Rapid Communications (paid subscription required). L. Andrew Lyon, a chemistry professor at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and Xiaobo Hu, a former visiting scholar…

  • Sanofi, Rib-X to Collaborate on New Types of Antibiotics

    The global pharmaceutical firm Sanofi has agreed to jointly develop new antibiotic technology with the biotechnology company Rib-X Pharmaceuticals in New Haven, Connecticut. The agreement includes an option for Sanofi to license the technology from Rib-X that treats resistant pathogens. Rib-X’s RX-04 program is developing new types of antibiotics aimed at drug-resistant pathogens, which the…

  • Lasers, Electric Fields Aid Lab-on-a-Chip Technology

    Researchers from universities in the U.S., U.K., and China are developing new processes that combine a laser and electric fields to manipulate fluids and tiny particles such as bacteria, viruses, and DNA on miniature chip-sized analytic devices. These advances, with applications ranging from drug manufacturing to food safety, are described in the current issue of…

  • Prof. Develops Anti-Microbial Technology for Fabrics

    A University of Georgia researcher has invented an anti-microbial technology that can turn medical linens and clothing germ-free. Jason Locklin (right), a member of the chemistry and engineering faculties at the university’s Athens campus, published results of his and colleagues’ research last month in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces; paid subscription required. Locklin’s discovery…

  • Algorithm Being Developed to Limit Small Airplane Collisions

    A postdoc and colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing an algorithm for a tracking system to predict and prevent collisions between small aircraft. The MIT team will present early results of its research in October at the 30th Digital Avionics Systems Conference in Seattle. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated that by…