Emerging STEM research gets a boost from a new initiative

Five emerging research areas at University of Wisconsin–Madison are getting a boost from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education’s (OVCRGE) $6M STEM Research Initiative.

OVRGE funding in each of these areas, ranging from genomics to community-centered design of fusion energy power plants, will support high priority research projects identified at UW–Madison that also have a high likelihood of receiving additional government or industry funding, and that show potential for IP/patent technologies and products.

“We’ve heard from faculty and their students who are enthusiastic to move these research projects forward, but who need seed funding to jump start the projects or to further develop them so that they are more likely to be successful when applying for external funding,” says Steve Ackerman, vice chancellor for research and graduate education. “STEM and innovation go hand-in-hand and each of the projects funded through this special research initiative advances the Wisconsin Idea by turning great ideas into innovation that supports citizens of the state and beyond.”

The initiative is supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. (WARF)

“WARF is pleased to support these STEM projects that are certain to advance research that has the potential to positively impact our world,” says Erik Iverson, CEO of WARF.  “From projects advancing human health to energy sources, each of the five projects addresses research priorities that have the potential of attracting additional funding, making them even more attractive as patent and commercialization candidates.”

The STEM Initiative will support establishing the Wisconsin Institute for Theranostics and Particle Therapy. Theranostics is an approach to diagnosing cancer cells that are found anywhere in the body and delivering targeted radiation to kill those cells. Funding will stimulate discovery, advance translationally oriented development of technologies, and foster innovations and applications of theranostics and particle therapies for the treatment of cancer patients.

The second STEM project will support establishing the Genomics Core facility in the Waisman Center. This center will house interdisciplinary research around functional genetics and genomics of intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as genomics research in general across campus.

A third project will further the capability to measure exchanges of methane across the atmosphere and water/bog surface. Methane is very strong greenhouse gas and this aspect of the methane budget-cycle is unknown. The award will support a range of interdisciplinary projects.

Over the past few years, the OVCRGE has supported fusion research. To date, that support has focused on achieving energy gain, but to facilitate the development of fusion as an electric power source to be widely deployed, the OVCRGE will support a fourth STEM project that focuses on environmental and economic considerations for the full life cycle of fusion energy systems in the communities where they will be hosted.

The fifth STEM project will help move research in the microbiome and human health area forward by supporting a germ-free mice facility that enables researchers to transfer microbiome configurations from humans suffering from a particular disease into mice that don’t harbor their own microbiome.

“We are grateful for WARF’s continued support for research innovation at UW–Madison with this special STEM Research Initiative, and are looking forward to the advancements these projects will make in bettering human health, supporting economic growth by instigating new products and services, and creating positive  transformation in society,” says Ackerman.

By Natasha Kassulke, natasha.kassulke@wisc.edu

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