4th Annual INNOVATE AWARDSand

Induction into Patent Wall of Fame

2012 2013

2014

AGENDA

• Welcome & Introduction of Guests: Dr. Helena S. Wisniewski, Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies, Dean Graduate School, Executive Director, DHS National COE CMR.

• Opening remarks: Chancellor Tom Case

• Select Accomplishments & Special Announcement

• Induction into Patent Wall of Fame – Chancellor Case & Dr. Wisniewski

• Presentation of Awards – Vice Chancellor Spindle & Dr. Wisniewski

• Wrap- up

AGENDA

• For those of you who do not know me I am the Vice Provost for Research and Graduate studies, and I would like to extend a

warm WELCOME to:

• Chancellor Case; Honorable Arlis Sturgulewski; Special Agent Kajetan Grochier; Incoming Interim Provost Gingrich; Vice

Chancellor Spindle; Deans, Directors, Associate Deans and Department Chairs, Faculty, Friends and

• Very importantly - Award Recipients!

• Thank you everyone for coming the 4th Annual Innovate Awards Ceremony and Patent Wall of Fame Induction.

• I am really excited about this evening, and when I started these awards 3 year ago I hoped that they would realize great achievements and it has exceeded my expectations – and you will see examples of these achievements this evening.

• I am also glad to share that, through the years, the projects have been inclusive of all the UAA colleges, and campuses, and celebrate research and creative works.

•  It takes many people to make an endeavor successful. But I would like to give a special heartfelt thanks to Chancellor Case and Provost Baker, and our previous Provost Driscoll for their exceptional support of these awards over the years. Also to my Vice Provost Research Council for Research and Creative Works for their dedication to review the proposals and uphold high competitive standards. And of course, thanks to my staff

• Now I would like to ask Chancellor Case to provide Opening Remarks - Chancellor Case

SelectAccomplishments

• Dr. Aaron Dotson – Advanced Water Treatment Research

• Dr. Tim Smith – Eye Tracking Technology Research

• Dr. Colin McGill and Dr. Eric Murphy – Malate Supplementation Improves Memory

• Special Announcement

Special Announcement

• In 2013, together with the faculty inventors, I formed UAA’s first two startup companies.

• Tonight, I am please to announce the formation of our third startup company –

COGNICEUTIC SOLUTIONS, LLC

• The Company Purpose: Research and development of nutritional therapies/interventions to improve memory and cognition, and to increase levels of ATP and decrease redox stress.

• Support for the research that led to this incorporation was in part supported by the Innovate Awards – and hence appropriate to announce this evening.

• I have enjoyed witnessing the progression from isolating the compounds to achieving statistically significant results from testing in aged rats.

• So, I am proud to present the Certificate and the Articles of Organization to:

• Inventors/co- founders – Dr. Colin McGill and Dr. Eric Murphy.

• Congratulations!

Induction into Patent Wall of Fame

• This year a special induction into the patent wall of fame - our FIRST Student will be inducted –

• Alexandra West – she now has graduated and works for PND Engineers, But filed the patent as a student.

• Her Patent –Fish Carcass Disposal System

• Presentation by: Chancellor Case and Dr. Wisniewski

• Alexandra West - acceptance

2015 AWARD PRESENTATIONS

• Dr. Spindle, Vice Chancellor, Administrative Services and Dr. Wisniewski - will present the awards.

Instructions:

• As your name is called please proceed to the front of the room and stand next to Dr. Spindle.

• Remain until the description of your work is completed, to pose for a picture with Dr. Wisniewski and Dr. Spindle.

TEAM: Dr. Max Kullberg (WWAMI School of Medical Education) and Ms. Hui-Ching Kuo (Biological Sciences)

• IMPACT: The goal of this work is to overcome barriers in drug delivery for immunotherapy cancer treatments that fail to reduce tumor growth and metastasis.

• The team has an innovative approach to liposomal delivery systems that will improve T-cell activation leading to tumor regression. Under this award this system will be tested using primary cell culture to prepare for treatment of a tumor animal model.

• Given the current excitement about immunotherapies and this innovative technique, the results generated under this award will put the team in a strong position to pursue a high end publication (Nature Nano Technology), and extramural funding from NIH.

Reprogramming Immunosuppressive Cells in Tumors by Targeted Delivery of All-Trans Retinoic Acid

Microbiogeochemical Cycling of Mercury in Subglacial Environments

TEAM: Dr. Birgit Hagedorn (Environmental and Natural Resources Institute) and Collaborator Dr. Fred Rainey (Biological Sciences).

• IMPACT: Recent studies show that total oxidized mercury (THg) and monomethylmercury (MMHg) are increasing in Arctic and Subarctic marine fish and mammals despite the fact that atmospheric mercury levels are constant.

• This suggests the production and/or release of stored MMHg may be related to the increase of glacial melting, which will be the focus of this project.

• This interdisciplinary approach will be the first study combining microbial and biogeochemical analyses to develop fundamental insights on the production of MMHg in subglacial environments.

• Considering the high melting rates of glaciers in Alaska, documenting the production of MMHg will improve understanding of mercury cycling locally and globally. The data set of this project will be submitted to NSF for external funding.

Sowing Seeds and Harvesting Community: Increasing Food Security in Anchorage by Expanding

Community Gardens

• TEAM: Dr. Shannon Donovan (Geography and Environmental Studies)

• IMPACT: Food Security is an important issue for Alaska. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to form a partnership between the Municipality of Anchorage and UAA to understand the needs and opportunities for improving food security and increasing community capacity in the greater region.

• The long-term goal is to develop a range of programs and projects that can serve as a model to for increasing community capacity and improving food security in urban and/or weather-challenged areas.

Language Revitalization and Culturally Sustaining Practices in Education through Writers’ Workshop.

TEAM: Dr. Cathy Coulter (Elementary Education) and Co-PI, Dr. Irasema Ortega (Elementary Education)

• IMPACT: As Alaska Native Elders pass away and western contact continues to encroach on Alaska Native villages, the preservation of language and ancestral knowledge is an important matter.

• Therefore, the goal of this project is to catalyze linguistic revitalization will be published in a book and a peer reviewed article.

• The outcomes of the project will be used in a grant proposal to the Department of Education Office of Indian Education Professional Development.

A Biomimetic Alternative to High-End Fabricated Polymeric Foams: Feasilibity Study of Native White-Rot Fungi-Based

Insulation Material for Geoengineering Applications

TEAM: Dr. Philippe Amstislavski (Department of Health Sciences) with Co-PI Dr. Joey Yang, Civil Engineering

• IMPACT: Currently, factory-produced foamed polystyrene, is used extensively for thermal insulation in the cold regions.

• The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to develop a methodology to produce a fungi-based composite that meets the key requirements for thermal insulation in the cold regions.

• This will lead to environmentally-friendly thermal insulation for infrastructure construction.

• The PI was invited, by the Program Director of the NSF Environmental Engineering Program to submit a NSF EAGER proposal following the bench-top testing of the concept, which is the focus of the current award.

Dissociating the roles of intestinal bacteria and learned anticipatory

responses to sweet tastes in producing harmful effects of artificial sweeteners.

 TEAM:PI Dr. Gwen Lupfer (Psychology) and Co-PI Dr. Khrys Duddleston (Biological Sciences)

• Impact: Obesity is one of the most serious health. As a result, artificial non-caloric sweeteners have permeated our food supply. Research now reveals the following problems: instead of preventing obesity, these additives can increase weight gain by altering resident intestinal bacterial composition and/or by disrupting normal anticipatory hormonal responses to sweet tastes; and that the abnormal weight gain is retained even after artificial sweeteners are removed from the diet.

• The following question is important to understanding these problems: Can artificial sweetener-induced alteration in weight control physiology be reversed by (1) relearning normal conditioned responses to sweet tastes and/or by (2) re-establishing the normal flora of the gut?

• This project will address this question by separating learning of how sweet tastes predict caloric content from gut bacterial composition. Only by understanding the independent and interactive influences of learned anticipatory responses and gut microbes on weight regulation can appropriate treatments for overweight humans who consume artificial sweeteners be developed.

Talking Anchorage: An Investigation of Local Identity in Urban Alaska

TEAM: Dr. Clare Dannenberg (English/Anthropology) and Dr. David Bowie (English).

• IMPACT: Sociolinguistic researchers accounts of language variation assume urban areas are linguistically monolithic. However, a recent pilot study of certain neighborhoods in Anchorage indicates that local identity is a factor for language variation in urban environments.

• Therefore, this project will investigate whether (1) urban areas are linguistically uniform; or (2) urban areas are linguistically differentiated based on neighborhood or occur in unexpected spaces.

• The results of the project will be used for a National Science Foundation proposal in the 2016 mid-year cycle.

 

Tables of Istanbul

TEAM: Dr. Zeynep Kilic (Sociology)

• IMPACT: This project will produce a documentary film of how globalization, ethnic/religious identities, migration, and social class reveal themselves through food.

• This study is significant since it examines food, using rigorous social science research methods within a cultural studies frame.

• The film will be submitted to film festivals, and results will be presented in a Conference paper and journal article.

UAA Winter Design Know How Book

TEAM: Dr. Herminia Din (Art)

(Dr. Din is a Keynote speaker at the Nordic Digital Excellence in Museums Conference, in Warsaw, Poland so accepting on her behalf is her Department Chair Dr Steve Godfrey).

• IMPACT: This project aligns with the current interest in the Arctic and in collaboration with the University of the Arctic (UA) Thematic Network on Arctic Sustainable Arts & Design (ASAD).

• The book will strengthen UAA participation in the U-Arctic Thematic Network and will inspire further artistic creation and/or creative solution with a truly sustainable medium.

 

Consumer Preference and Market Potentials for Alaska Salmon in China

 TEAM: Dr. Angie Zheng (Economics and Public Policy), Dr. Yonggang Lu (Information Systems and Decision Sciences), and Dr. Holly Wang (Agricultural Economics, Purdue University)

• IMPACT: In 2011, China was a top export market for Alaska, with salmon accounting for its primary seafood export. China can provide Alaska with significant economic growth potential through expanded trade.

• This project will assess the emerging demand for Alaska salmon in the Chinese market by evaluating Chinese consumers’ preferences for various product attributes using a well-established choice experiment methodology.

• This assessment can benefit local seafood producers in Alaska on how to achieve maximum penetration into the Chinese market and to increase the competitiveness of the Alaska seafood industry in the international market.