Chemistry professor Kenneth Shea will use a POP grant – which provides up to $125,000 to speed commercialization of promising technologies – to advance his research on a therapeutic bandage for treating venom-induced tissue necrosis.

Six UCI professors are recipients of the first proof-of-product grants from Applied Innovation. These POP awards provide up to $125,000 each for innovators to move promising technologies closer to commercialization. More than 20 applications were submitted and reviewed by domain experts and industry advisers. The awardees and their projects are:

  • Jeffrey Krichmar, professor of cognitive sciences; an interactive robotic device used as therapy for children with developmental disorders
  • Kumar Wickramasinghe, professor of electrical engineering & computer science; a smartphone-controlled rapid DNA test
  • Aimee Edinger, associate professor of developmental & cell biology; anti-cancer therapeutics
  • Elliot Botvinick, associate professor of biomedical engineering; an integrated diagnostic device for acute middle-ear infection and a continuous analyte sensor device to improve healthcare (two projects funded)
  • Anand Ganesan, associate professor of dermatology; small-molecule drugs to inhibit growth of early-stage melanomas
  • Kenneth Shea, professor of chemistry; a therapeutic bandage for treating venom-induced tissue necrosis

The POP grants program is part of UCI’s Bridging Innovation Gaps Initiative, which supports faculty and student entrepreneurs at critical stages along the path from research to commercialization.