Award Data

SUMMARY One in 10 Americans aged 65 and older have Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Since AD begins with a prolonged, over 10 year-long, asymptomatic stage, a growing number of companies are developing new therapies that aim to intervene early in the progression of AD and related forms of dementia. There is thus a great need for minimally invasive diagnostic tools for primary screening of individuals w ...

Project SummaryPolyK Technologies, LLCSBIR Phase IAn estimated 314 million people live with vision impairment. Nowadays, much information and knowledge are obtained by reading from computers, tablets, and smartphones. Refreshable Braille display is becoming the mainstream tool for the blind to access digital information. In the refreshable Braille display, the up-and-down of Braille dots is indepe ...

PROJECT SUMMARY We have developed an antibody-like HIV-1 entry inhibitor, eCD4-Ig, composed of the first two domains of CD4 fused to an antibody Fc domain and a short tyrosine-sulfated CCR5-mimetic peptide. eCD4-Ig has properties that make it an exceptionally promising tool in the fight against the HIV-1 pandemic. Specifically, it is broader than any broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb), at least ...

PROJECT SUMMARY The goal of the current Phase I proposal is to further develop (to pivotal trial readiness) and evaluate a community-based Brain Health Program to address dementia risk (C-BBHP) that includes multiple intervention modalities affecting diet, exercise and cognitive health designed to extend older adults’ functional independence and improve cognitive performance. This intervention m ...

Combined in vivo and ex vivo three-dimensional (3D) whole-brain imaging of non-transgenic and transgenic animal models holds the promise of novel insights into neural network connectivity patterns. With regard to ex vivo light microscopic imaging of 3D whole-brain datasets, the best approach is brain clearing followed by whole-brain light sheet microscopy (LSM) because of its unique combination of ...

Project Summary. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the need for enhanced ability to accurately anticipate future outbreaks due to novel and endemic viral pathogens. Without systematic surveillance, the ability to head off outbreaks before they occur is challenging: the data from positive human test results is often too late to prevent a major outbreak from occurring, despite substantial lockdown ...

ABSTRACT As rates of adolescent depression and suicidality continue to trend upwards, the healthcare system struggles to address the need for and lack of mental health service use. The pediatric patient-centered medical home model may improve adolescent depression outcomes by enhancing access to and coordinating care, as well as providing ongoing monitoring. Unfortunately, despite guideline recomm ...

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project addresses the high cost and poor safety of Lithium-ion batteries in new energy applications. Low-cost and safe batteries will improve economic viability for solar energy storage, which is critical to increasing renewables penetration to above 30% of total power generation. This project advances a batt ...

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to develop smart, robust healthcare infrastructure in the U.S. by leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to streamline clinical decision support. Voice biomarkers detect a variety of health conditions, emotions, and diseases and provide a unique, seamless feedback for real-time triage. Transfo ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Alcoholic Hepatitis (AH) is a severe and acute form of alcohol-mediated liver disease, affecting ~34% of heavy alcohol drinkers, and presents a healthcare burden of ~$2.2 billion/yearly. AH sufferers have a short life expectancy, with about ~70% dying in the first six months after presentation. Re-hospitalization occurs in nearly 40% of the patients within 90 days of their first ho ...