Researchers & UT Community
PROOF OF CONCEPT AWARDS
Technology Development
The Texas Proof of Concept Awards provide competitive funding for faculty membersor permanent researchers with principal investigator (PI) status to demonstrate the feasibility of their innovations to accelerate the process towards commercialization. We invite you to learn more about the past awardees and consider applying.
Award recipients
Lisa Griffin
Vibrating Insoles for Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
Synopsis:
Currently, 38% of adults in the United States have diabetes and half of them have diabetic peripheral neuropathy which reduces sensory feedback from the foot, disrupting balance and often causing falls. Drugs do not address non-pain symptoms of this condition and there are currently no devices that can treat this type of neuropathy. A team led by Dr. Lisa Griffin is developing insoles that provide unnoticeable vibrations to increase blood flow and sensation, ideally providing a therapeutic effect for patients.
UT Austin Startup:
Details
Website
Debadyuti (Rana) Ghosh
Pulmonary Delivery of Gene Editing to Cure Cystic Fibrosis
Synopsis:
There are over 100 thousand people with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease with no cure, where the median age of death is 37. UT scientists are developing safer and local delivery of gene therapy using non-virus-based technology to effectively and functionally treat the genetic disease of cystic fibrosis.
UT Austin Startup:
Details
Website
Sanchita Bhadra
PFAS detection using agnostic biosignatures
Synopsis:
The Environmental Protection Agency has recently proposed new regulations for levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which is a large class of thousands of different harmful hard to degrade 'forever' chemicals. The maximum levels of PFAS are currently significantly lower than the detection limit of currently available assays. The Ellington lab is adapting a DNA fingerprint technology they invented for NASA to allow for throughput detection and quantification of PFAS chemicals aided by machine learning algorithms.
UT Austin Startup:
Details
Website
Daniel Stromberg
Endotracheal Tube Securement/Adjustment Device
Synopsis:
Pediatric intensive care patients require ventilation via endotracheal tubes that are secured to the baby’s face with tape, making adjustment difficult, risky, and often ineffective. UT physicians and scientists are developing a novel device for endotracheal tube securement and precise adjustment, resulting in better tube positioning and more effective treatment.
UT Austin Startup:
Tube Tech Medical
Details
Website
Zoya Heidari
Accelerated Fluid Flow Characterization in Organic Shales
Synopsis:
Large volumes of water are produced from organic shales during oil production, leading to high costs for disposal. Among other limitations, current conventional methods for predicting fluid production take a long time, are expensive, and don’t work with irregular shaped samples. UT petroleum engineers are developing a faster and cheaper fluid flow characterization for organic shales that overcomes nearly all limitations of current methods.
UT Austin Startup:
Details
Website
