{"id":383836,"date":"2023-12-15T17:10:32","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T22:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/nsf-awards-6m-to-lehigh-university-to-speed-up-translation-of-research\/"},"modified":"2023-12-16T06:30:22","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T11:30:22","slug":"nsf-awards-6m-to-lehigh-university-to-speed-up-translation-of-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/nsf-awards-6m-to-lehigh-university-to-speed-up-translation-of-research\/","title":{"rendered":"NSF awards $6M to Lehigh University to speed up translation of research","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
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The National Science Foundation\u00a0has awarded Lehigh Unive<\/u>rsity $6 million<\/u>\u00a0to\u00a0increase the translation of scientific discoveries by faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers into prototypes, products and programs that will benefit society.<\/p>\n

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The National Science Foundation\u00a0has awarded Lehigh Unive<\/u>rsity $6 million<\/u>\u00a0to\u00a0increase the translation of scientific discoveries by faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers into prototypes, products and programs that will benefit society.<\/p>\n

The NSF\u2019s Directorate for Technology Innovation and Partnerships (founded in 2022) provided the four-year award to\u00a0an interdisciplinary, university-wide team led by\u00a0John Coulter, senior associate dean for research in the\u00a0P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, as part of the new federal\u00a0Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program<\/u>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The award will support Lehigh\u2019s work to speed up and support its research activities in engineering, science, health, humanities, business, education and myriad other areas that have the potential to lead to products and services for the general good. Lehigh also will train graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in translational research.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it\u2019s essential to make discoveries and do fundamental research, as a university we must also be effective in translating new knowledge to solve important problems in the world. This is how we enhance the impact of the research done by our faculty, staff and students,\u201d said\u00a0Lehigh Provost Nathan Urban. \u201cWe are excited that NSF has recognized and decided to support Lehigh\u2019s efforts to take ideas and discoveries from the lab and develop them into practical solutions to societal and economic challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

A portion of the funding will support seed translational research projects that are on the \u201ccusp\u201d of being applied to practical outcomes, and the rest will support education and training as well as other research translation enhancement activities.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a high-priority initiative,\u201d Coulter said. \u201cLehigh will create and operate a comprehensive, inclusive and accessible research translation ecosystem that will guide researchers and project teams along the paths of venture creation, research translation into existing industry, and societal impact.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The investments are not just important to Lehigh, but to funding agencies as well, Coulter said. \u201cThis is a national and international trend to have research be more use-inspired, more connected to the end users \u2026 and more rapidly translated for positive societal impact.\u00a0 That\u2019s what this is meant to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carnegie Mellon University\u00a0will serve as a peer mentor institution, helping Lehigh leverage its existing strengths to grow its translational research work and transform its culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first-ever awards<\/u>\u00a0address a long-standing gap between academic research and practical solutions for society\u2019s complex problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the faculty side, we all say we want impact,\u201d said\u00a0Dominic Packer, associate vice provost for research at Lehigh and a member of the ART leadership team. \u201cSome of the greatest impact is when you discover something new and it actually creates something that changes how doctors deliver medicine, or is a new invention that people put to use out in the field, or is an intervention for kids in schools.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But translating that research into usable products or services can be challenging, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery university has this problem. It\u2019s sometimes called the Valley of Death between work that happens on a campus and then actually gets into the world.\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s in part because, as researchers, we don\u2019t have those skill sets. We\u2019re not business people. We\u2019ve never thought entrepreneurially for the most part. \u2026This is a program to really help elevate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NSF award advances the goals outlined in Lehigh\u2019s strategic plan,\u00a0Inspiring the Future Makers<\/em>. The 10-year plan outlines a bold vision for the university centered around breaking boundaries to address societal challenges, innovate in academics and research, and cultivate collaborations and partnerships to amplify Lehigh\u2019s global, national and regional impact. The plan aims to allow Lehigh to find pragmatic solutions to the world\u2019s problems through research and scholarship.<\/p>\n

The work will build on Lehigh\u2019s strengths and past successes, such as the innovative\u00a0Pasteur Partners PhD (P3) Fellowship, a launchpad for advanced students who are focused on creating immediate impact in their fields through use-driven research.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In all, 18 academic institutions across the nation were awarded the ART funding, which totaled more than $100 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNSF endeavors to empower academic institutions to build the pathways and structures needed to speed and scale their research into products and services that benefit the nation,\u201d said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. \u201cThe Accelerating Research Translation program in NSF\u2019s new Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Directorate identifies, and champions institutions positioned to expand their research translation capacity by investing in activities essential to move results to practice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its proposal, Lehigh indicated that the funding could prove transformational, especially for Ph.D. education as the university implements its strategic plan and helps students with practical questions: How do you make a business plan? How do you talk to potential investors? How do you ideate and take things from one\u2019s intellectual world into the real world?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLehigh, despite the great research we do, does not have a great track record of startup companies, of patents, of that kind of translational work,\u201d Packer said. \u201cSo we really think this is a chance for us to elevate that and start us, in some ways, on a new pathway. \u2026 We\u2019re aiming to double research activity. We aim to more than double\u2014maybe triple or quadruple\u2014 translational work, because we have so much room to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate Bullard, director of research development at Lehigh, said each institution that received funding will have ambassadors who will regularly gather in Washington, D.C., to share experiences and lessons learned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just the work that\u2019s going to happen here,\u201d Bullard said. \u201cBut we\u2019re going to be part of a national conversation around research translation, and I think that\u2019s massively important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lehigh team intends to build an inclusive capacity and infrastructure for research translation, provide accessible education and training, and drive a culture change toward research translation throughout the university community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To help accomplish these goals, Lehigh will develop one-credit course modules with incentives for participation, a fellows program and a summer research translation bootcamp. Lehigh also plans to add personnel, expand its existing undergraduate and graduate programming in research translation, and mentor students through career options and offerings.<\/p>\n

Research translation will be emphasized at all orientation sessions for new faculty, graduate students and postdocs and research scientists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, Lehigh aims to grow its involvement with Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which provides funding, business and technical expertise and other resources to early-stage and established companies to help with growth. It also hopes to utilize a Lehigh Research Translation External Advisory Council, and form external partner networks, such as a New Ventures Executives Network to lead new startups and an Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at a moment of big, big challenges [in society], and the federal agencies can\u2019t fund enough to solve them,\u201d Bullard said. \u201cThe federal government can\u2019t do everything. So how do we form partnerships that solve these big problems? It\u2019s training graduate students and postdocs to tackle these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ART Leadership Team at Lehigh<\/h2>\n

In addition to Coulter as principal investigator (PI) and Packer as co-PI, other co-PIs are:<\/p>\n

\u2014Lee Kern, professor of special education and director of the Center for Promoting Research to Practice at Lehigh<\/p>\n

\u2014Henry Odi, deputy vice president for equity and community and associate provost for academic diversity<\/p>\n

\u2014Himanshu Jain, the T.L. Diamond Distinguished Chair in engineering and applied science, professor of materials science and engineering, and director of the Institute for Functional Materials and Devices (I-FMD) at Lehigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three faculty members will lead primary research-translation ecosystem components:<\/p>\n

\u2014Mike Lehman, director of Lehigh\u2019s technical entrepreneurship program, professor of practice.<\/p>\n

\u2014Neal Simon, professor of biological sciences<\/p>\n

\u2014Hannah Dailey\u00a0\u201902 \u201906G \u201909 Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics<\/p>\n

Additional members of the Lehigh senior personnel team are:<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Anand Jagota, vice provost for research and founding chair of the bioengineering program
\u2014Lesley Chow, associate professor, bioengineering, materials science and engineering
\u2014Andreea Kiss, the Ferdinand Thun \u201856 Chair in Family Business
\u2014Rick Smith, director of technology transfer<\/p>\n

\u2014Kevin Major, research engagement officer,\u00a0I-FMD
\u2014Lisa Getzler, vice provost for entrepreneurship
\u2014Won Choi, epidemiologist; professor, Department of Community and Population Health in the College of Health; associate dean, research and graduate studies.
\u2014Minyi Dennis, associate professor of special education<\/p>\n

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