NCBiotech Awards $2.59M in Quarter

By Jeremy Summers, NCBiotech Writer

Life-science companies, start-ups, event sponsors, researchers and educators received $2.59 million in loans and grants from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center during the past fiscal quarter.

The awards, in seven programs, went to successful applicants across the state to support life-science entrepreneurship, technology commercialization and education.

NCBiotech has been awarding this type of funding since it was established in 1984. It builds the life-science infrastructure enabling North Carolina to become the nation’s third-largest biotech cluster. There are now more than 500 life-science companies in the state, with more than 58,000 employees earning average salaries exceeding $78,000.

The loans and grants from NCBiotech include:

$75,000 for a Regional Development Grant

Bent Creek Institute was awarded an RDG grant to establish contract formulation services at the U.S. Botanical Safety Laboratory. The facility will serve the national and international natural products industry, filling a crucial gap in the burgeoning natural products economy of Western North Carolina.

$250,000 for a Strategic Growth Loan

Clearside Biomedical received this loan to partially fund a clinical study for Clearside’s first retinal disease product. The ophthalmic startup develops and plans to commercialize targeted therapeutics for the treatment of sight threatening diseases using a proprietary microneedle technology.

$50,000 for a Company Inception Loan

Ardeal Pharma, a Brevard-based startup developing treatments for inflammatory skin conditions, was awarded this loan to partially fund development of a topical formulation for its first product. The loan will also allow Ardeal to test the product in preclinical models and position the company for further funding.

$463,046 for Education Enhancement Grants

  • Adah Fitzgerald, of Woodlawn School in Mooresville, was awarded $5,630 for developing biotech labs to complement existing high school biology curricula. Fitzgerald plans to incorporate a forensic DNA fingerprinting activity into a biology course and launch an open-ended project studying evolution in local flowering plants in an advanced biology course.
  • Linda Niedziela received $7,000 for two Elon University faculty members to attend a two-week conference at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to learn about the use of zebrafish as a model organism in genetics.
  • Tim Christensen and Eric Anderson of East Carolina University were awarded $36,322 for the creation of a new course in the school’s biology department to train students in rDNA technology to engineer cells to manufacture proteins.  Students would practice some aspects of Current Good Laboratory Practices (cGLP) during the course, impacting as many as 60 students per year.
  • Whitney Crandall, of Cape Fear High School, received $26,591 for a hand-on learning program in which students will learn how to genetically manipulate and propagate plants using plant tissue culture techniques. The plants will be sold to generate funds to help sustain the program.
  • Anne Byford, of Gaston Day School, was awarded $6,100 to incorporate a gene cloning experiment into a newly revised advanced placement biology course. Some of these students will compete in the International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition.
  • Jorge Vasquez-Kool and Kimberly Metera, of Wake Technical Community College, received $58,081 to enhance an introductory microbiology course taken by science and health occupations majors. The grant will support enhancement of the course to align with American Society for Microbiology standards, introduce inquiry-based teaching modules and develop an extensive student assessment process.
  • Willietta Gibson, of Bennett College, received $87,565 to enhance biotechnology, genetics and cell biology courses with up-to-date equipment for DNA analysis, impacting 85 students per year.
  • Allan Brown, of North Carolina State University, received $82,247 for a genomics project centered on blueberries. The project, which is a collaborative effort of NCSU-Kannapolis, Davidson College and Lenoir-Rhyne University, brings blueberry genomics directly into classrooms at Davidson and Lenoir-Rhyne and allows students to participate in ongoing research.  A potential statewide resource that increases the competitiveness of N.C. undergraduates in genomics and bioinformatics, the project develops a partnership between undergraduate institutions in North Carolina and the blueberry research community.
  • Sergey Zalevskiy and Jennifer Allsbrook, of Polk County High School, were awarded $24,000 to explore biofuels as a focus of learning. The teachers and their collaborators will develop and implement an Introduction to Biofuels course designed to provide an introduction to the chemistry, manufacturing, and product development of biofuels and their byproducts.
  • Marc Deshusses, of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, received $83,038 for the creation of four laboratory modules to teach undergraduate and graduate students in the Triangle area about emerging issues in environmental biotechnology as they relate to bioenergy.
  • Melissa Ockert, of Durham Technical Community College, was awarded $46,472 for the development and implementation of an A.A.S. degree and certificate program in pharmacovigilance/product safety. The program will target allied health professionals, science majors and clinical researchers and admit 40 students per year.  Area companies surveyed project more than 250 open pharmacovigilance/product safety related positions becoming available over the next four years.

$1,686,020 for Industrial Development Grants

  • Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) was awarded $194,002 for heart disease research. Heart failure accounts for most of the cardiovascular mortality in the U.S.  Genetically altered mouse models can identify genes and molecules that are causative in heart failure.  Echocardiography in mouse models is essential in determining how these molecules affect heart function, which may lead to the development of novel therapies.
  • DUMC was also awarded $172,840 to purchase a Fluidigm Biomark HD system, for expression profiling of single cells. The system will enable Duke investigators access to studying single cell gene expression that can advance the understanding of underlying causes of diseases such as progression of individual cancers, differential immune response, and sickle cell disease.
  • DUMC also received $150,000 to purchase a a Dip Pen Nanolithography (DPN) instrument. DPN is an ideal platform for protein and biomolecular patterning, microstructure and biosensor functionalization, and cell biology. The instrument will be the first in North Carolina and serve the needs of researchers in the region.
  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences received $115,113 for a PyroMark Q96 MD pyrosequencer to be installed at its Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research.  The instrument will be used to identify and quantify DNA methylation, measure allelic imbalance in genomic DNA, and genotype DNA polymorphisms.
  • UNC-Chapel Hill was awarded $41,164 for equipment to facilitate structural-biology projects and increase chances for successful completion. The equipment will be used for basic biomedical and biotechnological research by a large number of investigators from academia as well as from industry.
  • UNC-Chapel Hill also received $199,000 for a new state-of-the art imaging technology that will enable investigators to improve their understanding of ocular diseases and to develop new treatments for them.
  • UNC-Chapel Hill was awarded $141,363 for equipment to image the heart and blood vessels using ultrasound. The equipment will be use by researchers to learn more about problems such as high blood pressure, sickle cell disease and AIDS.
  • UNC-Chapel Hill was also awarded $146,228 to purchase a high throughput automated single cell capture and cDNA synthesis instrument. The equipment will facilitate studies on small molecules on normal and cancer stem cells, fibrosis, and development of advanced diagnostics for viral infection.
  • ECU received $199,905 to purchase a new confocal microscope with improved capabilities for high throughput, high resolution, multicolor imaging of fixed specimens and time-lapse imaging for live cell applications.  This improved technology will advance human health and biotechnology research in Eastern North Carolina and increase competitiveness for extramural funding.
  • The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences received $77,659 for an automated pipetting system, which will provide researchers with the ability to identify and analyze thousands of biological samples submitted by Citizen Scientists. The project will bring research scientists and their work into the public eye.
  • Elon University was awarded $35,165 for the acquisition of a flow cytometer. Flow cytometry is a valuable biotechnology tool and use of this analytical tool will broaden the capabilities of four faculty members of the chemistry and biology departments. The equipment will enable both greater research productivity and will provide enhanced learning opportunities about current biotechnology for undergraduate students.
  • North Carolina State University received $93,750 for a new DNA sequencer, which will revolutionize the biotech efforts of NCSU's faculty. Proposed projects, such as using organisms as catalysts to manufacture enzymes, treating waste, or pollution prevention, will receive a big boost in ease of generating the genomic and gene sequences.
  • Winston-Salem State University was awarded $119,840 to purchase a body composition analyzer. The instrument will be used to capture valuable data related to exercise, diet, brain functions regulating eating habits, obesity, diabetes, drug interactions, and to better understand how different genes regulate body composition.

$12,000 for the Industrial Internship Program

The NCBiotech Industrial Internship Program (IIP) provides three months of funding for students or recent graduates from North Carolina-based academic programs in business administration or the life sciences. These internships provide real-world work experience for the interns, critical to helping them transition from academia to careers in biotechnology. Each company was awarded $3,000 to help support its internship.

The following companies participated in this program this quarter:

  • Cell Microsystems (Chapel Hill) hired Jeffrey Harris to assist the company in developing and implementing an online marketing campaign for its IsoRaft technology. The project will drive traffic to the company website and generate orders through the company's online store.
  • Aerial Biopharma (Morrisville) hired Brant Segura to support Aerial's business development efforts by identifying potential in-licensing candidates, managing engagements with prospective development partners and developing presentations around Aerial's assets.
  • KeraNetics (Winston-Salem) hired Dana Upton to support commercialization of KeraNetics' new product line by conducting market research and generating financial projections. These findings will be incorporated into the company's business plan and will be used to develop new sales and marketing strategies.
  • Terraffinity (Research Triangle Park) hired Smita Kataria to help the company implement a marketing strategy for its computational drug discovery services by identifying and contacting potential customers and pursuing qualified leads for further business development.

$50,000 for the Undergraduate Biotechnology Research Fellowship Program

This program is intended for undergraduate science and engineering majors in conjunction with a research mentor in order to encourage interest in and preparation for careers in biotechnology. Undergraduate research funded in this program must have strong relevance to biotechnology science, technology and applications. Fellowships are $5,000 each.

The following universities participated in this program this quarter:

  • Appalachian State University received three fellowships. Over the past several years, fellowship advisors Brooke Hester, Ph.D. and Jennifer Burris, Ph.D., have attracted a number of women and minorities into physics and engineering research, fields in which they are often underrepresented and they continue that progress with this year’s fellows. Jenna Osborn will conduct research on collagen network synthesis. Angela Chang will study raman spectroscopy and nanoparticles used in cancer therapy. Jessica Barrios-Hernandez will and develop and test an apparatus used to study the basic structure and function of collagen.
  • NCSU received two agricultural biotechnology fellowships supported by Cotton Incorporated. The first focuses on cotton fiber development. Through a partnership between the Plant Biology and Crop Science departments, Peter Svizeny will find cotton homologs of the regulatory genes in Arabadopsis to better understand how cotton fiber elongation may share common signaling pathways with those controlling tip growth of the cells producing fibers. 
  • The second NCSU fellowship involves research on a highly destructive and costly fungal disease of banana, which serves as an important subsistence and export crop in developing countries. Morgan Carter will investigate how two genes are involved in pathogenicity by cloning the most promising gene in a silencing vector to transform and recover silenced strains of the fungus and test the pathogenicity of the silenced strains. 
  • ECU was awarded a fellowship for research into nicotine-induced neurological behaviors in C. elegans. Joseph Ryan Rolli will use a multigenerational approach to investigate the effects of chronic nicotine exposure and will gain considerable experience in growing nematodes and molecular biology assays and techniques. 
  • UNC Charlotte received a fellowship for research that is focused on the development of a nanoparticle-based delivery system for a chemotherapeutic drug conjugated to a cancer-specific antibody for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Hoahiep Nguyen will assess efficacy by introducing the nanoparticle to pancreatic cell lines expressing different levels of a transmembrane mucin glycoprotein associated with pancreatic cancer.
  • The University of North Carolina at Asheville was awarded a fellowship for a project focused on conserving western North Carolina’s roadside populations of a native shrub (Spiraea virginiana). The project is part of a larger collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Kristin Emery will collect leaf samples, amplify and sequence DNA, and characterize the genetic diversity of the sampled populations.
  • Western Carolina University received two fellowships. One project is designed to assess the toxicity in human cells of metal-based nanomaterials used for biomedical imaging applications. This is a collaborative project in which Kortney Schumann will synthesize the nanoparticles at WCU and then work in the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s campus in Research Triangle Park. 
  • The other WCU fellowship project focuses on dry preservation methods for biologics products, an area of expertise housed at the UNC-Charlotte Biostability Lab. Elicha Benfield will develop microwave protocols and dry preservation formulations to support ongoing development of dry preserved biological products.
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