2012 KIEC Program Book

8t hKent uc k yI nnov at i on& Ent r epr eneur s hi pConf er enc e J une1, 2012-L oui s v i l l e , KY

Ce l e br a ng10Y e a r sofNe wI nia v e s

Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education Steven L. Beshear Governor

1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 320 Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Phone: 502-573-1555 Fax: 502-573-1535 http://www.cpe.ky.gov

Robert L. King President

June 1, 2012 Dear KIEC Attendees:

It is with pleasure that I welcome you to the 2012 Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference, a conference open to everyone interested in R&D driven innovation. This year we commemorate the tenth year of awards made under the Kentucky Innovation Act (KIA). Largely because of the new KIA initiatives, Kentucky’s entrepreneurial activity has risen, and the past decade has shown a significant increase in Kentucky’s entrepreneurial index over other states. In times of crisis, it is important to focus and support the local research and business initiatives. Nationwide new job creation is attributed to the small and start‐up companies and towards this we recognize the contributions made by Kentucky’s small technology businesses

The Council on Postsecondary Education celebrates the achievements made in the laboratories of and by conference participants past the imaginary walls of Kentucky’s postsecondary institutions. This includes scientific and technological development, training the next generation of innovators, and the creation of start‐ up companies. Taking what we learn from our laboratories to those with entrepreneurial talents, and from there to the people of the world is central to Kentucky’s Strategic Plan for student success, research and economic growth, and innovation.

Congratulations to you all in benefitting from Kentucky’s KIA initiatives in the last ten years. I wish you all a great success in contributing to Kentucky’s bright future.

Sincerely,

Robert L. King President

KentuckyUnbridledSpirit.com

An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D

Technology Based Economic Development

KENTUCKY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

K S E F F u n d i n g P r o g r a m s a n d T h e i r S o c i o ‐ E c o n o m i c I m p a c t IMPACT:

PROGRAMS:

Follow On Funding: $13 in Federal and Indus‐ trial Funds for Each $1 KSEF Invested

Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF) builds science and engineering capacity by proactively investing in advanced and application oriented R&D, to strengthen innovative ideas and shape them in to emerging technologies for commercialization.

Young Investigator Awards: 13 KSEF Awardees Received NSF CAREER; 1 DoD Young Investigator Award Technological Innovations (KSEF & KCF): • • • •

123 Invention Disclosures 110 Patent Applications 68 Provisional Patents 49 Issued Patents

Technology Development & Commercializa‐ tion: 8 KSEF funded developments also re‐ ceived KCF funding for commercialization Economic Development: • KSEF & KCF awardees formed 12 and 28 New Businesses, respectively.

SBIR/STTR Assistance Grants: • ROI: 23:1

Kentucky Commercialization Fund (KCF) enables university faculty in commercializing the tech‐ nologies developed through R&D. Kentucky Phase Zero and Phase Double Zero (Ph Z and Ph DZ) SBIR‐STTR Proposal Assistance Program is designed to aid for‐profit Kentucky based companies to write competitive proposal to receive funds from the SBIR or STTR funds from participating federal agencies.

Kentucky SBIR‐STTR Matching Fund (KY SBIR/STTR Matching) program is designed to invest in for‐profit KY based companies that have been granted SBIR or STTR from any federal agency.

Program Data Since Inception

KSEF

KCF

PhZ / PhDZ

KY SBIR Matching

Number of Awards

288

57

204

117

$16,604,708

$6,498,274

$680,848

$28,043,640

$ 211,047,516

Not Applicable

$15,551,476

$47,696,515

13 : 1

New Business Creation

23 : 1

3.4 : 2

Funds Awarded Federal Leverage Funds Return on Invest‐ ment

Source Follow on Funding from R&D Investments

Sources of Federal SBIR‐STTR G r a n t s t o K e n t u c k y C o m p a n i e s

TABLE OF CONTENTS

KY CPE President Robert King Welcome Letter ………………………………………………………………………….…

i

KSTC/KSEF Welcome and Overview …………………………………………….……………………………………………..

ii

KSTC Funding Programs and Their Socio-Economic Impact ………………………….…...…………………………

iii

Table of Contents ………………………………...…………………………….…………………………………………………….…

1

Hotel Floor Plan …………….…………………………………………………………………….………………………………………

2

Schedule/Agenda ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3

Company Display Tables……………………………………………………………………….……………………………………..

4

Session Summaries……………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………….

5

Speaker and Moderator Bios….…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

10

Poster Presenters………..…………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………

18

Poster Abstracts ……………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………..

21

The Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference (KIEC) is organized by the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF) at the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC). For funding opportunities and more information, please see our websites. http://ksef.kstc.com – Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation: advancing R&D, new product development, and commercialization through four funding programs. http://www.kstc.com – Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation: an entrepreneurial nonprofit company dedicated to enhancing the capacity of people, companies, and organizations to develop and apply science and technology and compete responsibly in the global marketplace.

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

http://kiec.kstc.com – Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference: information about this year’s KIEC speakers, presentations, abstracts/posters, and KIEC publications from previous years. http://kysbir.com – Kentucky SBIR Resource Center: helping small technology-oriented Kentucky businesses with 500 or fewer employees take an innovative concept to commercialization through SBIR/STTR.

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HOTEL FLOOR PLAN

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Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

CONFERENCE AGENDA/SCHEDULE KIEC 2012 General Sessions  7AM - 2PM

KIEC 2012 Concurrent Sessions  2PM - 5PM

7:00-8:15 AM

2:00-2:45 PM

Kentucky Ballroom F-G

Registration and Continental Breakfast

7:30-8:00 AM Kentucky Ballroom A-E

Poster/Composition Board Setup

8:15-8:25 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

“Opening Welcome” – Kris Kimel

Session 6A: KY Ballroom F Session 6B: KY Ballroom G Session 6C: Ballroom VII Session 6D: Ballroom X

8:25-8:45 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

"From the Morril Act to Bayh-Dole" – Bob King

8:45-9:15 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

"Ten Years of Funding" – Mahendra Jain

9:15-10:00 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

Session 1: “Innovation and Entrepreneurs: A Network-Centric Approach” – Rohit Shukla

10:00-10:45 AM Kentucky Ballroom A-E

Poster Session: ODD Numbers

10:45-11:00 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

Session 2: "Pharmaceutical AntiCounterfeiting Technologies” – Daniel Lau

11:00-11:15 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

Session 3: "Animal Model for Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease”– Eugenia Wang

11:15-11:30 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

Session 4: "Folding and Following: Applications of Micro- and Nanostructures in Biotechnology” – Cindy Harnett

11:30-11:45 AM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

Session 5: "Self-Delivering Green Biopesticide Against Invasive Mosquitoes" – Stephen Dobson

Noon-1:00 PM Kentucky Ballroom F-G

Lunch and More

1:00-1:45 PM Kentucky Ballroom A-E

Poster Session: EVEN Numbers

1:00-3:00 PM Kentucky Ballroom A-E

Interactive Discussions on Common Problems Faced by Small Businesses and Start-Ups – Rick Johnson and Jon-Michael Cain

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

“The DHS SBIR Program and Other Funding Opportunities” – Lisa Sobolewski “NCATS Translational Research Programs” – John McKew “Interview Like a Talk Show Host: Land the Job” – Jason Levin “NSF Innovation Programs: Partnerships with a Focus on Translation & Transfer of Basic Research Discoveries”–Karlene Hoo

2:45 – 3:30 PM Session 7A: KY Ballroom F Session 7B: KY Ballroom G Session 7C: Ballroom VII

“Current and Future Solicitations Issued by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)” – Larry Pollack “NIH Peer Review Process at the Center of Scientific Review: What Happens After Submission?” – Joseph Rudolph “Speed Career Coaching” – Jason Levin

3:30-3:45 PM KY Ballroom A-E

Coffee Break and "Best Poster Awards"

3:45-4:15 PM Session 8A: KY Ballroom F Session 8B: KY Ballroom G Session 8C: Ballroom VII

“Uncovering Market Opportunities” – Sudeep Basu “Navigating Conflicts of Interests in Research” – Allison Griffin Ratterman “Brand Management as a Career Development Concept” – Jason Levin

4:15-5:00 PM Session 9A: KY Ballroom A-E Session 9B: KY Ballroom F

One-on-one sessions – Sudeep Basu “Intellectual Property and Market Strategy” – Mandy Wilson Decker

5:00 PM Kentucky Ballroom A-E

Poster Removal

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COMPANY DISPLAYS Client Company

www.neuronetrix.com

Cincinnati Tri‐State Chapter

www.pdma.org

http://conncenter.org

Company Brief Neuronetrix will revolutionize the treatment of patients with neurologic disorders by providing meaningful diagnostic information to health care

practitioners early in the disease process.

We will do this by becoming the world’s innovator and leader in point‐of‐care neurological diagnostic services.

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals. Our mission is to improve the effectiveness of individuals and organizations in product development and management. This is accomplished by providing resources for professional development, information, collaboration and promotion of new product development and management.

The University of Louisville Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research provides leadership, research, support and policy development in renewable energy; advances the goal of renewable energy; and promotes technologies, practices, and programs that increase efficiency for energy utilization in homes, businesses and public buildings.

Conference Contact Rich Voss, Director of Business Development rvoss@neuronetrix.com

1044 East Chestnut Street Louisville, KY 40204 502.561.9040

Larry Spiers, President larry@atsnow.com

P.O. Box 141 Milford, OH 45150 513.685.0540

Andrew Marsh, Assistant Director andrew.marsh@louisville.edu

Ernst Hall Room 102A Louisville, KY 40292 502.852.8597

The Lexington ICC, a unit of the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship at UK, works with the UK Office for Commercialization and Economic Development, the Bluegrass Small Business Development Center, the Commerce Lexington economic development team, and representatives from LFUCG to create a

unique, one‐stop center for regional entrepreneurs and businesses.

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Warren Nash, Director Lexington ICC warren.nash@uky.edu

300 East Main Street Suite 210 Lexington, KY 40383 859.257.6871

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

SESSION SUMMARIES GENERAL SESSIONS Session 1: “Innovation and Entrepreneurs: A Network-Centric Approach” – Rohit K. Shukla Our current age is marked by great prospect and great challenge. Global dispersion of talent, capital, ideas, technology and markets has made the game of innovation more complex and more exciting. In order to build value, entrepreneurs must find partnerships across geographical boundaries, thus building scale and serving new markets by combining or creating alliances with other companies. Innovative new concepts, however ordinary they may seem, can prove to be extraordinary when “married” to other concepts for which they were not designed in the first place.

Non-linear thinking must replace curricular business mindsets among entrepreneurs. Efforts to build complete ecosystems are being replaced by network-centric approaches that enable regions, states, countries to focus on their core strengths and push them out to a network of others that will ‘complete’ their offering. Such an approach will enable today’s S&T entrepreneur to innovate fast, know what works and doesn’t in the shortest period, obtain live feedback from customers and users and expand their reach and their promise beyond the narrow confines of their intended marketplace.

Session 2: “Pharmaceutical Anti-Counterfeiting Technologies” – Daniel Lau Global counterfeiting is an increasingly serious threat to high-profile brand owning companies. The financial damage caused to these companies by cheap imitations is immense, currently estimated at 5–7% of world trade, with a value of $280 billion.

This percentage has doubled in a period of five years and is growing at a rate of 30-50% per year.

As a result, the markets for anti-counterfeiting and brand protection technologies are also expanding.

The extent of pharmaceutical counterfeiting varies from country to country; global estimates start at 2% according to the IFPMA, rising to 80% in some countries. In Russia, a report suggests that 12% of

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

pharmaceuticals in the country are counterfeit. In South America meanwhile, the rate of counterfeiting in Peru is estimated to be in the region of 80%, according to Fabiana Lacerca of Merck, Sharp and Dohme. Counterfeiters use existing narcotics routes and black market cartels to divert, tamper, alter, manufacture and distribute counterfeit medicines, to the detriment of the enduser, the patient, who is either not cured, suffers from severe side-effects or dies. Counterfeiting has also had a dramatic impact on the pharmaceutical manufacturers – with loss of market share and confidence in their products, as well as the substantial costs of product recall in the event of counterfeits being detected. Finally with economies unstable, patients tend to turn towards the cheapest available medications, little knowing that these may be lethal. For combating pharmaceutical counterfeiting, it is widely agreed that the most effective means include a collaboration between the many people and organizations involved in healthcare delivery; by public education and information campaigns to alert consumers to the dangers of purchasing and taking counterfeit medications; by strengthened healthcare systems, customs and excise, stringent laws and strong law enforcement. Fighting pharmaceutical counterfeiting will better safeguard public health with important anti-counterfeiting technologies including color-shifting inks, holograms, and chemical markers incorporated into a drug or its label. To this end, research at the University of Kentucky has been focused on developing means of placing integral lens arrays directly onto pharmaceutical tablets. Like holography, integral imaging is a true auto-stereo method where stereo imagery is viewable to a human observer without the requirement of special glasses. An integral image consists of a tremendous number of closely packed, distinct, micro-images that are viewed by an observer through an array of spherical convex lenses with one lens for every micro-image. Using integral lens arrays, our final goal is to create the illusion of floating imagery hovering above the medicinal tablet and to encode each individual tablet with serial data such that no two tablets are identical. Such serial data will make it much easier to track the flow of legal and authentic

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SESSION SUMMARIES pharmaceuticals in markets otherwise saturated with counterfeit medications.

Session 3: “Animal Model for Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease” – Eugenia Wang At present, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the fourth leading cause of adult deaths in the US, at an annual health care cost exceeding $188 billion. Despite the increasing patient load, and market opportunities projected to billions in the near future, pipeline AD drugs under development are remarkably few. This disparity is largely due to the fact that most, if not all, popular animal models used for preclinical drug tests are transgenic mice carrying human mutations of amyloid precursors (APP) for Abeta plaques and the hyperphosphorylated Tau protein of neurofibrillary tangles; these mutants are based on familial genetic variants, representing only 5% of AD victims, while the other 95% of the disease cohort suffers the sporadic type, with “AGE” as the most prevalent risk factor. Thus, an animal model of sporadic AD is a prudent long-term investment for increasing pipe-line drugs during preclinical trials.

Advanced Genomic Technology (AGT) is investigating the parallels between transgenic mice models carrying the APP and Tau mutations, i.e.

APPswe, hyperphosphorylated Tau (T), and a double transgenic carrying both mutations, and senescence accelerated mouse models (SAM), focusing on identifying similar biomarkers present in circulating blood plasma as ‘footprints’ for presymptomatic biomarkers of AD-like disorders in brain. Towards this end, we have adopted a protocol of survival bleeding in both AD transgenic mutants and SAM mice, supporting repeated bleeding of the same mouse, and allowing us to simulate blood sample acquisition and assays like clinical drug efficacy tests in human populations. Our results show that in both AD transgenic mice and SAM mice, aberrant gene expressions occur at 4 months of age, two months prior to the earliest detectable brain changes, amyloid-like plaques and Tau hyperphosphorylation. The methodology developed and results obtained open up unprecedented products for animal testing for AD preclinical drug efficacy evaluation, i.e. blood-based biomarkers in mice,

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specifically pre-symptomatic early detection of disease onset and progression, as diagnostic and prognostic leads. In addition, survival bleeding allows cost savings in animal budgets, along with its advantage as a model simulating blood-based detection in human subjects. Thus, the presymptomatic blood-based biomarkers identified and survival bleeding offer an expedient approach to preclinical drug development, with the ultimate goal of shortening the path for novel AD therapies.

Session 4: “Folding and Following: Applications of Micro- and Nanostructures in Biotechnology” – Cindy Harnett This presentation will cover two ongoing KSEFsupported research projects. One project, with two collaborators in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Louisville, is on optimizing a microfluidic device for counting cells. The main research product is a fluid dynamics simulation that includes diffusion and electric fields, and also includes the moving boundary of the cell within the system. The project supports one graduate student to do the simulation work, and numerous Masters and undergraduate researchers in both simulation and experiments with microfluidic chips. The other project, with a collaborator in Bioengineering at the University of Louisville, started more recently. We are developing a light-driven microelectromechanical (MEMS) device for biomedical applications. Infrared-absorbing materials are applied to folded MEMS actuators. We have developed several methods for applying nanomaterials to microdevices, and have simulated the folding of MEMS actuators that can rapidly switch between bistable states for fast actuation.

Session 5: “Self-delivering Green Biopesticide Against Invasive Mosquitoes” – Stephen Dobson The Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) being developed differs from existing mosquito control measures in that it consists of self-delivering, species specific, biological control with a novel mode of action, with no known resistance and

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

SESSION SUMMARIES without genetic modification. In brief, IIT consists of breeding mosquitoes with naturally occurring strains of Wolbachia bacteria. Inundative releases of incompatible males (which do not blood feed or transmit disease) that mate with indigenous females and produce embryos unable to hatch, thereby dramatically reducing the mosquito population. Male mosquitoes are relatively inexpensive to produce, and the released males are efficient at finding females, which addresses existing problems of finding and treating cryptic and inaccessible breeding sites. The approach being developed is compatible with, and can be used simultaneously with, existing insecticidal tools.

Moreover, the approach will be broadly applicable to additional mosquito vector species beyond Ae. albopictus (e.g., Ae. aegypti, Culex pipiens, etc.).

Commercial applications could include the release for IIT male mosquitoes for local (e.g. homeowners), corporate (e.g. hotels, theme parks), governmental (e.g. DoD warfighter protection), or area wide control (e.g. county, state or international government abatement programs). In May 2012, this microbial biopesticide technology was described in the Federal Register, under consideration by the Environmental Protection Agency as the regulatory authority.

Session 6C: “Interview Like a Talk Show Host: Land the Job” – Jason Levin

BEGIN CONCURRENT SESSIONS Session 6A: “The DHS SBIR Program and Other Funding Opportunities” – Elissa (Lisa) Sobolewski This talk will discuss funding opportunities within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) available to industry and academia. In addition to the SBIR Program, information will be presented about the Science and Technology Directorate’s Broad Agency Announcements, the SAFETY Act, and the SECURE Program. Other opportunities afforded to small businesses will also be addressed.

Session 6B: “NCATS Translational Programs” – John C. McKew

Research

The National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) is a newly formed center within the

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

National Institutes of Health. It was created by merging existing programs and several new initiatives into a new center. This new center now has two main divisions: the Division of Preclinical Innovation and the Division of Clinical Innovation.

The Division of Preclinical Innovation encompasses the former NIH Center for Translational Therapeutics and provides a unique range of programs addressing many aspects of therapeutics development. The programs include the NIH Center for Chemical Genomics (NCGC) which is one of the Molecular Libraries screening centers; the Tox 21 programs; a multiagency collective in vitro toxicology screening program, Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected diseases program; a collaborative drug discovery and development program focused on preclinical to early clinical development of candidate therapeutics for rare and neglected tropical diseases, and Bridging Interventional Development Gaps (the former NIH-RAID program); a collaborative late preclinical development resource program. The division of clinical innovation is currently comprised of the clinical translational science awards. This talk will give an overview of the new center and highlight the translational research programs contained within.

You have finally reached the final frontier in your job search. Background music, maestro: the job interview! If it goes well, a potential job awaits.

How is it that some candidates "stand out" and create a unique connection with their potential employer? Great candidates approach their interview no differently than famous talk show hosts approach their upcoming interviews. There is a short period of time to tell their unique stories, and to elicit key stories and experiences from the person in front of them. Hear from Jason Levin, career and outplacement coach at Ready, Set, Launch, as he outlines interviewing best practices and answers these questions:

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SESSION SUMMARIES 

   

How should you ask for and properly use an informational interview with a potential employer?

What should you really do to prepare for an interview?

How do you correctly balance both answering and asking questions during an interview?

What are the nuances of a phone screen or Skype interview?

How can I channel my "inner Oprah" or "inner Larry King" to stand out with my interviewer?

Jason’s presentation will continue in the afternoon with follow-up sessions on “Speed Career Coaching” and a presentation on “Brand Management as a Career Development Concept” (sessions 7C and 8C).

Session 6D: “NSF Innovation Programs: Partnerships with a Focus on Translation and Transfer of Basic Research Discoveries” – Karlene Hoo National prosperity today is more dependent on research and technology advances and since the product development cycle in all industrial sectors is more rapid than before, NSF's role of supporting discovery research across all fields of science and engineering is closer and more relevant to economic development at this time than at any time in our past. By establishing and expanding partnerships, research from institutions of higher education can be translated into innovation. Thus, the impact of research can be increased by moving it to realistic deployment, linking new knowledge to economic growth and other societal benefits. This session will present a set of cohesive programs offered by the NSF’s Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) of the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) that contribute to the goal of innovation. These include: Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity (PFI: BIC), Partnerships for Innovation: Accelerating Innovation Research (PFI: AIR), Innovation Corps (I-Corps), the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Research (SBIR/STTR), the Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI), and Industry/University

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Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC). Taken together, these programs provide serial momentum that promotes the common goal of innovation.

Session 7A: “Current and Future Solicitations Issued by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)” – Larry Pollack Hear about current and future solicitations issued by the Defense Threat Reduction agency (DTRA) acquisition community to address Basic Research, Applied Research, and Advanced Technology Development opportunities in the Chemical and Biological Defense sciences. Learn how your organization can participate in these competitive solicitations, how to be notified of opportunities, where to find the solicitations, and how to apply.

The information presented will expand beyond the SBIR program to address other funding opportunities to include Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs).

Session 7B: “The NIH Peer Review Process at the Center of Scientific Review: What Happens After Submission?” – Joseph G. Rudolph What happens after I submit my application? This presentation will give an overview of the NIH grant application review process at the Center for Scientific Review at NIH. Dr. Rudolph will describe the path an application takes, from its arrival at the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), through the entire peer review process, resulting in the summary statement which is sent to the Principal Investigator. Some of the topics covered will include: an overview of the CSR organization, the process of assigning an application to a study section, the study section meeting itself, and contact information for questions before and after the review. Overall, this session will provide applicants with a better understanding of the details of the NIH peer review process.

Session 7C: Speed Career Coaching – Jason Levin See session 6C.

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

SESSION SUMMARIES Session 8A: “Uncovering Market Opportunities” – Sudeep Basu You have developed an innovative technology for solving a practical problem. You now have a technology in your hands that may have several other applications. Ask yourself these questions: what other problems can this technology solve and how do I define its uniqueness to make it market attractive? In this session you will learn about strategies that can be applied to determine applications in different areas, ways to estimate the probability of acceptance in the market by capturing the market segment of an existing technology. Sudeep will help uncover your technologies’ potential market opportunities, how to plan in the context of your intellectual property and your business strategy.

Session 8B: “Navigating Conflicts of Interests in Research: Balancing Faculty and Entrepreneur Roles” – Allison Griffin Ratterman News reports and headlines abound related to conflicts of interest: Dollars for Docs, political lobbying groups, etc. For decades academia and industry have been forging partnerships for each side’s mutual benefit, but, to the untrained public eye may seem riddled with bias and problems. With a mission that includes a focus on research and economic development, a university does carry out research projects that could lead to financial benefits for the institution or for institutional officials. Projects can be internally funded or funded through agreements that may be mutually beneficial to the university and a corporate entity.

Such agreements can include, but not be limited to, receiving royalties from or holding an equity interest in a company. Determining what situations are manageable frequently falls to the institution, but the faculty-entrepreneur can learn to navigate these turbulent waters. In this session, we will explore some of the conflicts of interest that arise, discuss common pitfalls and investigate approaches to mitigate conflicts in research/entrepreneurial situations.

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

Session 8C: “Brand Management as a Career Development Concept” – Jason Levin See session 6C. Session 9A: “One-on-one Sessions” – Sudeep Basu Meet with Sudeep Basu for one-on-one sessions and small group discussions.

Session 9B: “Intellectual Property and Market Strategy” – Mandy Wilson Decker New innovations need to be protected. This requires having a good understanding of how to capture and protect intellectual property. In this session, you will learn some basics of Intellectual Property protection, with an emphasis on using a business plan to guide developing a strategy to have IP protection in the U.S. and overseas, including a brief overview of approaches and options for building a domestic and international portfolio. Mandy’s discussion will also include some key changes in U.S. Patent Law, including statutory changes under the AIA and patent eligibility under recent U.S. Federal Court opinions.

Interactive Discussions on Common Problems Faced by Small Businesses and Start-Ups – Rick Johnson and Jon-Michael Cain Rick is KSTC’s Technology Commercialization Executive in Residence and he is the mastermind behind the “Make It Kentucky” (if you don’t believe me, check out his license plate). The program provides executive level management and advisory services for high potential technology and manufacturing companies. Rick and Jon-Michael Cain, KEF’s Fund Manager, will be providing assistance to research entrepreneurs on issues most commonly faced with their new start-ups. They will entertain questions on technology transfer, provide executive level coaching on technology commercialization, implementation of product design, development, and marketing processes, assist in accessing R&D funding, creating strategic supplier relationships, and/or basic infrastructure processes in IT, HR, and Accounting.

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SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS SUDEEP BASU Global Practice Leader, Frost & Sullivan Dr. Basu leads the global innovation services consulting practice in the technology research and consulting division at Frost & Sullivan. In his three years at Frost & Sullivan he has partnered with global clients across key technology verticals including: Energy, Pharma-Biotech, Medical products, and Chemicals amongst other industries, providing solutions on Strategic, Technological, and Intellectual Property issues in the areas of R&D, Growth Strategy, Licensing Strategy, Technology Transfer, New Product Development, Innovation Policy, and Technology Commercialization. Sudeep's clients include leading corporate R&D divisions, governments, research institutions, funding agencies, universities, and start-ups in the U.S, EU, Asia, and ANZ regions.

JON-MICHAEL CAIN Fund Manager, Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation Jon-Michael joined the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC) in May 2007 as an Investment Analyst for the Kentucky Enterprise Fund. JonMichael worked for the Kentucky Enterprise Fund as a Business Research Intern for a year before becoming an Investment Analyst. Prior to joining KSTC, Jon-Michael studied at the University of Kentucky where he obtained a BS degree in Finance.

MANDY WILSON DECKER Member Stites & Harbison, PLLC Mandy Wilson Decker is an intellectual property attorney with the law firm of Stites and Harbison.

Her practice focuses on protecting and evaluating intellectual property, including patent drafting, patent prosecution, developing intellectual property strategies, and counseling clients on

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infringement, validity, and patentability.

Contributing to her practice is a scientific background in chemistry and experience with academic and commercial research in the areas of biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical sciences. Before Joining Stites & Harbison, Ms. Decker worked as a scientific research associate at the University of Kentucky in laboratories housed in the Advanced Science Technology and Commercialization Center (ASTeCC). She also worked with a biotechnology start-up company that commercialized intellectual property including licensed university-developed technology. Ms. Decker earned her J.D., magna cum laude, graduating third in her class from the University of Kentucky College of Law. While at the College of Law, she was a member of the Kentucky Law Journal staff, and was made a member of the Order of the Coif. Ms. Decker is an active volunteer in the Louisville community, serving as a board of directors member, committee member, or volunteer for organizations such as the Kentucky BioAlliance, Crane House (The Asia Institute, Inc.), and Legal Aid Society of Louisville. She is also involved in local, regional, and national organizations, including the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the American Bar Association Intellectual Property Section, the Kentucky Bar Association, and the Louisville Bar Association Intellectual Property Section.

STEPHEN DOBSON Professor Medical and Veterinary Entomology, University of Kentucky Dr. Dobson received his B.Sc. degree in Entomology from Clemson University, Clemson, SC and his Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. He then worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University, New Haven, CT. Today he is a Professor of Entomology in the College of Agriculture,

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS Department of Entomology at the University of Kentucky. His research focuses on Livestock and Medical Entomology, which includes insects that affect animal and human health.

CINDY HARNETT Assistant Professor, University of Louisville Dr. Cindy Harnett, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering. Her research interests focus on chemical vapour deposition in microscale environments, interaction of electrical fields with fluid flows, use of microfluidic systems to produce new electronic materials, and ultra low-power environmental sensors.

KARLENE HOO Program Director, PFI-NSF / Texas Tech University Karlene A. Hoo is a tenured full professor of chemical engineering at Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX) and the codirector of the Texas Tech Process Control and Optimization consortium. The consortium is composed of petroleum, petro-chemical, and chemical industries in Texas. Karlene has a B.S. degree from the Univ. Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Univ. of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN). All her degrees are in chemical engineering. Prior to joining academia she was an employee of ExxonMobil and the DuPont chemical company. Her expertises are in the areas of system identification, dynamic modeling and process design, process control and automation, optimization and multivariate statistics. Karlene also has experience in research administration at Texas Tech as an Associate Dean of Research in the Whitacre College of Engineering, Associate Vice President for Research, and Acting Vice President for Research. Karlene is currently a Program Director at the National Science Foundation in the Industrial Innovations and Partnership division, which is in the Directorate for Engineering. The

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

program she oversees is the Partnerships for Innovation: Accelerating Innovation Research (AIR) program. The AIR program promotes collaborative efforts between NSF-funded research alliances and other entities to accelerate existing innovations into commercial reality, including spawning startup businesses.

MAHENDRA K. JAIN Senior Vice President Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation / Executive Director Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation Mahendra K. Jain is the founding Executive Director of the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF) and Senior Vice President of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC) in Lexington, Kentucky. In his present position, Dr. Jain is fostering partnerships between academic, industrial and state institutions in building and expanding Kentucky’s scientific and engineering capacity to attract external research funds from all sources, to help advance research ideas and to build a pipeline of technologies. In addition, Mahendra has proactively pursued the growth of the Federal SBIR and STTR Programs in the state through outreach and state-funded assistance programs, was the recipient of the Tibbetts Award in 2006, and currently also serves as the Science Director for Kentucky Space. Before joining KSTC, Mahendra worked at several universities in the USA, Europe and India. He also worked at MBI International, a biotechnology R&D company in Lansing, Michigan where he was involved in technology development and transfer.

After receiving his Ph.D. in microbiology in 1972, Dr. Jain received and managed research grants and contracts in several million dollars from federal, state and industrial sources. He is the author of 11 United States patents, one Canadian patent and over 120 research papers, articles and book chapters.

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SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS RICHARD A. (RICK) JOHNSON Director, Technology and Commercialization Executive in Residence, KSTC Rick joined KSTC in February 2011 as Technology Commercialization in Residence.

Previously Rick ran two closely held electronic manufacturing companies and divisions of two publicly traded electronic manufacturing companies. Rick started his career as a design engineer and progressed into engineering management, sales management, and then general sales management. Rick has experience in the telecommunications, petrochemical, security, transportation, components, electronic sensing, and capital equipment markets. Rick holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from UCLA. Rick has been awarded four U.S. patents.

KRIS W. KIMEL President, Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation Kris Kimel is President and a founder of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC), a non-profit company with an international reputation for designing and implementing a range of innovative initiatives. KSTC was founded in 1987, with headquarters located in Lexington, Kentucky. Over the life of KSTC dozens of projects have been funded by diverse supporters involving corporations, private foundations, state and federal governments. KSTC funds important R&D and technology commercialization projects at Kentucky universities. It also designed and manages the Kentucky Enterprise Fund (KEF)…an early-stage venture fund which currently holds over 60 equity positions in innovation-driven Kentucky companies.

Kimel is the founder and leader behind the vision and implementation of Kentucky Space LLC, a new nonprofit enterprise focused on R&D, education and entrepreneurial space solutions and chairman of the Exomedicine Institute, an affiliate of

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Kentucky Space. The Exomedicine Institute pursues the research, development and application of medical solutions in the microgravity environment of space. He is also the founder of the international IdeaFestival® (IF)…a world-class event that attracts leading and highly diverse thinkers from across the nation and around the globe to explore and celebrate innovation, imagination and game-changing ideas.

ROBERT L. KING President, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education Robert King became the third president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) on January 16, 2009. He previously served as President and CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation, a statewide charitable foundation with a strong focus on education, economic development, and scientific research. Mr. King is the former chancellor of the State University of New York, one of the largest comprehensive systems of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the world. Mr. King is very active in community service and has volunteered and served on numerous boards and organizations. He also has served on the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars; the Education Committee of the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); an advisor to the Middle State Commission on Higher Education regarding reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in Congress; the board of directors of the National Soccer Hall of Fame; and the board of trustees of A.T. Still University, a specialized university dedicated to training people for the health care professions, in Kirksville, Missouri, and Mesa, Arizona. Mr. King received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut (1968) and Juris Doctor from the Vanderbilt University School of Law (1971). He is married to Karen, his wife of 32 years, and they have four grown children.

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS MARIA LABREVEUX Program Director R&D and Commercialization, Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation Maria Labreveux, Ph.D. joined the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC) in February 2007 and is the Program Director for the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF) in Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Labreveux manages the KSEF R&D and the Kentucky Commercialization Fund (KCF) programs, for which KSTC receives funding from the Commonwealth of Kentucky through a contract with the Council on Post-Secondary Education. Maria brings research and grants management experiences from the Delaware State University where she worked as an Assistant Professor before moving to Kentucky.

Maria secured over $2 million in two and half year period at DSU for her research and teaching from federal and state agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture, National Recourses Conservation Services, the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services, the National Science Foundation, and University of Delaware. Dr. Labreveux is an active member of the Early Career Professional Division of the Agronomy and Crop Science Societies of America and a contributor to the society's monthly newsletter.

Maria received her Ph.D. in Agronomy-Plant Science from The Pennsylvania State University, and her M.S. and Ag. Engineering degrees in Argentina.

DANIEL LAU Associate Professor, University of Kentucky Dr. Lau received his B.Sc. degree (with highest distinction) in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, in 1995 and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Delaware, Newark, in 1999. Today he is an Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. Prior, he was a DSP Engineer at Aware, Inc., and an Image and Signal Processing Engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His research interests include 3-D

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

imaging sensors, 3-D Fingerprint identification, and multispectral color acquisition and display. His published works in halftoning include the introduction of the green-noise halftoning model as well as stochastic moire.

JASON LEVIN Career Coach and Outplacement Consultant, Ready, Set Launch In the summer of 1990, I was a rising sophomore in a Northern NJ high school. 1990 was economically challenging, and the beginning of this recession was not kind to my family. My father lost his job (the only one he ever had since graduating college), and it was a tough time for the household. At that time, I made a promise to myself: I would love everything about my career and the job seeking process. As a teenager, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Yet, here we are 20+ years later and the subject of careers is something that I put in the same category as time with my wife and son, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and a relaxing day at the beach. Outside of career coaching and outplacement, my professional background includes being a District Manager with Vault.com, where I sold recruiting and employer branding solutions to recruiters and hiring managers at AmLaw 100 law firms, Fortune 100 corporations, consultancies, accountancies, and federal agency employers to raise engagement and interaction of their online employer brand to Vault.com's audience. Prior to joining Vault.com, I worked in brand management for Unilever on the Dove Global team (see my article in BusinessWeek) developing cross-regional innovations in the anti-aging category. I also was a business development manager for QS World Grad School promoting LLM and international relations programs globally, a management consultant for RSM Salustro Reydel Management, and an analyst with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). My MBA is from the Georgetown McDonough School of Business. While studying at Georgetown, I worked overseas on brand management projects for Unilever Sri Lanka and Pepsi Vietnam. Additionally, I was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and received

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SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS an international business degree (DEUF) from Universite Jean Moulin Lyon 3. While living in Paris France, I was the President of the Rotary Foundation Alumni Association (the first non-French national to hold the position). I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a minor in French from Rowan University. Community engagement is important to me. I sit on the Board of Directors of the United Way of the National Capital Area (United Way NCA) and am the Chair of the Emerging Leaders Society of the United Way NCA. Most importantly, I am married to a lovely red-head and we have an adorable red-headed baby boy who is just learning to talk.

JOHN C. MCKEW Chief, Therapeutics Development Branch, National Center for Advancing Translational Science, NIH Dr. McKew has been Branch Chief of the Therapeutic Development Branch at the NIH Center for Translational Therapeutics (NCTT) and the Director of Chemistry for the NCTT. His responsibilities include developing the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Disease (TRND) Program and the Bridging Interventional Development Gaps Program (BrlDGs; former NIH-RAID Program). Both of these programs focus on novel public/private partnerships to advance collaborative drug discovery projects through pre-clinical development into early clinical development. Prior to joining the NIH, Dr. McKew held a Director level position at Wyeth Research and began his career at Genetics Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where between the two he spent a total of 17 years. At Wyeth he led a hit-to lead chemistry group supporting cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and metabolic disease therapeutic areas. Prior to that, Dr. McKew spent ten years working in the inflammation therapeutic area resulting in multiple compounds entering clinical evaluation. His research interests include rare and neglected disease research, medicinal chemistry, synthetic methodology, and tool compounds to probe biology. These interests have resulted in greater

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than 20 publications, 10 Granted U.S. Patents, and multiple podium presentations. John also enjoys sharing his passion for science with others. This has prompted him to become Course Director and Lecturer in GMS PM 881 "Drug Discovery and Development", a graduate level course in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics which resulted in his appointment as an Adjunct Associate Professor, Boston University School of Medicine. He has also taken an active role in the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society and has served as the Chair-Elect, Chair, and the Immediate Past Chair. Dr. McKew graduated from State University of New York at Stony Brook with B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry. He completed his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of California, Davis and held post-doctoral research positions at the University of Geneva and Firmenich, SA. LARRY POLLACK Program Manager, US DoD / R&D Enterprise, DTRA Mr. Larry Pollack is the Program Manager for the Chemical and Biological Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program at the Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JSTO-CBD) in the Chemical/Biological Technologies Directorate at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). His technical expertise encompasses field and laboratory chemical analysis (detection and identification) and environmental sample collection. Mr. Pollack received his Master of Science Degree in 1985 from the Florida Institute of Technology. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1980 from the University of Maryland at College Park.

ALLISON GRIFFIN RATTERMAN Director, Research Integrity Program, University of Louisville Allison G Ratterman, Ph.D., joined the Research Integrity Program at the University of

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS Louisville in November 2001, after completing doctoral studies in Biological Engineering at the University of Georgia. Dr. Ratterman’s primary focus is the development of training and resources in the area of the Responsible Conduct of Research and she coordinates the implementation of this effort with departments and units within the University, with the objective of ensuring that the responsible conduct of research is maintained at a high priority level in all aspects of research activities. As part of this endeavor, Dr. Ratterman coordinates the university’s program for conflicts of interest in research and the administrative processes associated with allegations of research misconduct. Dr. Ratterman has special interest in identifying opportunities to make research training and research compliance processes more efficient and relevant. Dr. Ratterman is a member of SRA, PRIMR, APPE (RCREC Organizational Rep), FOCIAcademe, and NCURA. JOSEPH G. RUDOLPH Scientific Review Officer CSR Dr. Joseph Rudolph is currently Chief of Emerging Technologies and Training in the Neurosciences (ETTN) Integrated Review Group at the NIH Center for Scientific Review. This Review Group is responsible for the scientific review of all neuroscience-related Small Business and Fellowship applications within the Center for Scientific Review.

In addition, ETTN has three standing study sections which review academic grant applications in the areas of neuroscience-related technologies and molecular neurogenetics. Previously, Dr. Rudolph served as the Scientific Review Officer for CSR's Neurotoxicology and Alcohol Study Section. In this position he was responsible for organizing the review of a wide range of applications including basic science research, bioengineering research partnership applications, and NIH Roadmap reviews. Dr. Rudolph earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Florida, where he studied the effects of chronic ethanol exposure on NMDA receptor pharmacology and physiology.

He first came to the NIH Intramural Program as an

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

IRTA Fellow, studying the genetics of alcoholism and other mental disorders in the NIAAA Laboratory of Neurogenetics. Before coming to CSR, Dr. Rudolph was the Group Leader of the Applied Genomics and Molecular Genetics Core Facility at Transgenomic Inc in Gaithersburg, MD. ROHIT K. SHUKLA CEO, LARTA Institute Mr. Shukla is founder and CEO of Larta Institute www.larta.org. Apart from being an entrepreneur in his own right (he founded and ran two small technology-based companies early in his career), he also has been a guide and advisor to hundreds of businesses worldwide, and under his direction, Larta Institute has developed a solid reputation and expertise in commercialization of innovations emerging from the lab or spinning out from universities and larger companies. Under his leadership, Larta Institute, which he founded in 1993, currently manages one of the nation's largest innovation pipelines of companies emerging from research funded by the U.S. Federal government.

These include such large agencies as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of the Army’s Telemedicine Advanced Research Technology Research Center (TATRC). This pipeline includes 18 top research universities and a network of global partner nations. He has designed and has led dozens of well-regarded innovation programs and national commercialization assistance programs (under the “CAP” name) for many years. He has also designed collaborative technology transfer programs, and education and training programs (including the well-regarded Larta University, which he started in 1997). Larta under his leadership has also developed and conducted programs for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Energy (DOE) and a number of countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Italy and Malaysia. He developed

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SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS and designed a program for entrepreneurs for the Young Arab Leaders (YAL) based in Dubai, UAE. Shukla has been an advisor to the OECD, the State of California (co-created innovation program, CalTIP in the 1990’s) and federal agencies on issues around innovation, commercialization, federally-funded research and entrepreneurship. He also has consulted with the World Bank on issues relating to technology transfer, technology development and deployment and in-country programs for advanced and emerging economies and has just conducted a World Bank training module on Partnerships and Networking in Astana, Kazakhstan. He has written scores of articles on venture capital, wireless and telecom industry, the life sciences industry, entrepreneurship (notably, for Nature Biotech, and for his own blog in Larta’s ezine, VOX), global innovation and technology transfer and has been featured in several more. He has also taught entrepreneurship to managers and startup companies, and developed and taught the first course on Startup Management for Pepperdine University’s MBA program at the Graziadio School of Business and Management in Malibu, CA. Shukla has a Master’s in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University, England, and a Master’s in Communications Arts and Sciences from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. He speaks to audiences around the world on subjects ranging from commercialization, innovation to globalization and entrepreneurship.

ELISA (LISA) SOBOLEWSKI SBIR Program Director, Department for Homeland Security Elissa (Lisa) Sobolewski is the SBIR Program Director for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She has over 25 years of experience managing high risk, high payoff R&D initiatives funded by the Departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, and Defense. Ms. Sobolewski joined the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate's Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) in January 2006 and became the DHS SBIR Program Manager in June 2006, then the DHS SBIR

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Program Director in January 2009. Prior to joining DHS, Lisa held numerous management and technical positions at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. She was a Program Manager at DARPA for nine years, responsible for managing the RF and microwave/millimeter wave programs. Lisa also held positions at the David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center, and at the Department of Defense Technology Analysis Office.

She worked for McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company (Engineering Services) on various government contracts supporting the USMC. Lisa is an IEEE member, and a member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. She holds a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Duquesne University and an MBA from George Mason University.

EUGENIA WANG Gheens Foundation Inc Chair in Aging Research, University of Louisville / Chief Executive Officer, Advanced Genomic Technology LLC Eugenia Wang, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

An internationally known specialist in how genetics affects aging, Dr. Wang is also Director of the Gheens Center on Aging. She is also the CEO of Advanced Genomic Technology, a start-up biotechnology company in Louisville, KY. Dr. Wang's research focuses on identifying biomarkers for normal aging and age-dependent diseases, using genomic technology in well-characterized clinical populations and animal models bearing genes involved in the etiology of old age degenerative processes in brain, liver, etc. Her recent productdriven research has yielded promising leads for diagnosis and prognosis of diseases including Alzheimer's disease, ovarian cancer, etc. Among her awards are the National Institute on Aging's Merit Award, the MRC Scientist Award from the Medical Research Council of Canada, and the American Aging Association's Research Award. She is also the Principal Investigator of an NIH SBIR grant and two KSTC grants to Advanced Genomic Technology. Dr.

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

SPEAKER AND MODERATOR BIOS Wang received her Bachelor's degree from National Taiwan University, her Master's from Northern Michigan University, and her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve. She did Postdoctoral training at Rockefeller University, led the Bloomfield for Research and Aging, and taught at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

Page 17

POSTER PRESENTERS – ALPHABETICAL LIST PRESENTER TITLE

POSTER NUMBER

PRESENTER

TITLE

POSTER NUMBER

Aardra Kachroo

Towards Understanding the Mechanisms of Plant Extreme Resistance to Viruses

19

Targeted Delivery of Medication to Cancer Cells

22 60

Paula Bates

A Novel Anticancer Agent with a Companion Predictive Biomarker

46

Chuanxi Cai

MG53 Mediated Myocardial Repair for Ischemic Heart Disease

43

Thomas Chambers

Role of the Horse in Interspecies Transmission of Influenza Viruses

37

Sham Kakar

Ching‐Kai Chuang

Virus‐Host Interaction Based on High Throughput Screening: Effect of Lipin Gene on Virus Replication

23

Henry Kaplan

Anatomical Evidence of Photoreceptor Degeneration in P23H Mutant Rhodopsin Transgenic Hybrid Swine

Rolf Craven

Sigma‐2 Receptor: A Key Target in EGFR Signaling for Lung Cancer

33

Haluk Karaca

Shape Memory Behavior of Highly Nickel Rich NiTi Alloys

3

Trevor Creamer

Thermodynamics of Binding by Calmodulin Correlates With Target Peptide a‐Helical Propensity

30

Haluk Karaca

Novel Near‐Field Radiative Heat Flux Measurement Device

4

29

Peaklet Analysis: A Summary of Commercialization Efforts and Analysis Capabilities

52

Development of a Surrogate Bruising Detection System to Describe Bruising Patterns Associated With Common Childhood Falls

Bruce Kessler Jon Klein

48

Ayman El‐Baz

Early Assessment of Malignant Lung Nodules Based on the Spatial Analysis of Detected Lung Nodules

20

Commercialization of a Decision Support System for Individualized Drug Dosing

Folami Ladipo

8

Ayman El‐Baz

3D Shape Analysis for Early Diagnosis of Malignant Lung Nodules

21

Ruthenium‐Catalyzed Hydrogenolysis of Carbon‐Oxygen Bonds of Biomass‐Derived Furan Derivatives

Hichem Frigui

Landmine Detection Using An Ensemble Of Continuous HMMS With Multiple Features And Different Fusion Methods

10

James L.

A Self‐Feeding Roller Bottle for Continuous Cell Culture

44

Lee Ji‐Tzuoh (George)

Energy Harvesting For Low Vibration Wireless Sensing

55

James Gantt

ResponderLink

54

Lin

Patrick Garrity

Closed System Container Wireless Monitoring

50

Thomas Lucas

Design and Simulation of Optically Actuated Bistable MEMS

34

Matthew Gentry

Discovery of a Glucan Phosphatases and Their Roles in Energy Metabolism

41

Robert Lundy

Viral Based Gene Delivery for Targeted Ablation of Brain Peptidergic Neurons

39

Issam Harik

Strengthening of Concrete Bridges Using CatStrong

58

Guangxiang Luo

Viral and Cellular Proteins Important for HCV Infection and Replication

13

James Harwood

Conservation Biological Control Promotes Natural Enemies and Reduces Viral Proliferation

31

Liuyin Ma

The Role of Polyadenylation in Seed Germination: Defining the Trans(crypto)me

38

Jeffrey

45

Stephanie Mattingly

Dual‐purpose Cancer Therapy Using Functionalized Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

32

Hay

A Non‐Contact Low‐Cost Respiration Monitor

Jeffrey Hieb

Security Pre‐Processor for Industrial Control Systems

51

Luke Moe

35

Satrio Husodo

Structural and Functional Studies of Plant Glucan Phosphatases

16

Antibiotic Resistance Among Cultured Bacterial Isolates From Bioethanol Fermentation Facilities Across the United States

Raymond Dsouza

Page 18

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER PRESENTERS – ALPHABETICAL LIST PRESENTER TITLE

POSTER NUMBER

PRESENTER

TITLE

POSTER NUMBER

Stuart Williams

Trapping of Nanoparticles with Dielectrophoretic Nanoneedles

42

Monica Moreno

Selective Isomerization of Allyl Alcohols to Carbonyl Compounds by Pd and PdAg Nanoparticles

5

Impact of Lyophilization Conditions on the Solid Forms of Gabapentin

24

Stacy Wilson & Ron Rizzo

Remotely Operated Submersible Vehicle

56

Matthew Nethercott Ngoc

Parameter Estimations of Sigmodial Models of Cancer

40

Randall

Aerial Radio Repeater

53

Jonathan Quiton

Stochastic Modeling for Automated Response Technology (SMART) with Applications to Climate and Energy

59

Stephen Rankin

Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study of Trichoderma Reesei Cellulase Interactions with Model Cellulosic Biomass Component Films

Srinivasa Rao

Nguyen

Winchester Lu Wu

High‐Resolution Pulsed‐Field‐ Ionization Ion Spectroscopy of Transition‐Metal‐Oxide Clusters

2

7

John Young

A Discontinuous‐Galerkin Finite‐ Element Time‐Domain Analysis of Terahertz‐Band Photoconductive Antennas

9

Over‐Expression of SCaM4 Enhances Pathogen Resistance and Salt Tolerance in Soybean

28

Linliang Yu

Stability of AcrB Trimer and Function of AcrAB‐TolC Pump

27

Determining the Function of Autophagy During Murine Folliculogenesis and Corpus Luteal Development.

15

Justin Zhang

Numerical Simulation for Detecting Particles in Micro Coulter counter

14

Edmund Rucker

Baiqing (Cynthia) Zhang

A Boolean Explanation of the Myths and Realities in the Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry

1

Nihar Shah

Novel Degradable Antioxidant Polymers to Combat Oxidative Stress

49

Fang Zhu

26

Mahendra Sunkara

Nickel Supported on Zinc Oxide Nanowires as Advanced Hydrodesulfurization Catalysts

57

Ingested RNA Interference for Managing the Populations of the Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata

Molecules Involved in Fibrotic Scarring of The Retina

17

Fang Zhu

Douglas Taylor

Early Diagnosis Differentiation of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Based on Exosomal Non‐Coding RNA Profiles

47

Feeding RNA Interference of NADPH‐ Cytochrome P450 Reductase Reveals a Critical Target to Control Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata

25

Shigeo Tamiya

Minqi Zhu

6

Thomas Tobin

Synthesis and Characterization of Myo‐Inositol TrisPyroPhosphate (ITPP) for Use as a Certified Reference Standard

11

Zeolitic Imidazolate Farmework ‐8: Novel catalysts for the conversion of CO2 to carbonates

Steven Truscott

Sensitive LC‐MS/MS Detection of Digoxin as an Analogue for Endogenous RORγt Ligands

12

Michael Voor

Implantable Device to Strengthen Osteoporotic Hips

18

Jennifer White

Variation in Bacterial Symbionts Between Introduced and Native Aphids

36

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

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Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ADVANCED MANUFACTURING 1. A Boolean Explanation of the Myths and Realities in the Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry Cynthia Baiqing Zhang* Sociology Department, University of Kentucky By comparing the American Big Three automobile companies and the Japanese big three firms using Boolean analysis, this paper tries to answer the question of why U.S. firms lose ground to Japanese competitors in their home market the United States in the past three decades. The research addresses the question from the perspective of features of automobile products in their development and production and put forth various hypotheses. The results show that unions are not the pivotal factor that led to product failure. Innovation and organizational integrity are important for the product integrity and eventually decide the success or failure of automobile products. __________________________________________ 2. High-Resolution Pulsed-Field-Ionization Ion Spectroscopy of Transition-Metal-Oxide Clusters L. Wu*, Lydia Liu, M. Roudjane, J. Lee, C. Zhang, S. Krasnokutski, B. Dangi, and D. S. Yang Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky Transition metal oxides are widely used as both catalysts and catalyst supports in petroleum refining and other industrial processes. A catalyst is a substance that initiates a desirable chemical reaction or speeds up a reaction that would otherwise be too slow to be economical. However, catalyst development is still carried out by try and error, and the rational design of new catalysts with predictable properties is a long-term goal requiring both basic and applied research. This KSEFsponsored project focuses on the fundamental aspects of the catalyst development. We use laserassisted synthesis to prepare metal oxide clusters in gaseous supersonic jets, mass spectrometry to measure the oxide abundance and distribution, and high-resolution pulsed-field-ionization ion spectroscopy to search for electronic-vibrational

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

spectra. The outputs of this research include accurate ionization and vibrational energies, electronic states, and geometric structures. The project expands our research program in a new direction, stimulates additional research in cluster science, and increases the basic knowledge about the size-dependent properties of the transition metal oxide clusters. This work opens up new area for high-resolution ion spectroscopic applications to transition metal clusters and enhances Kentucky’s emerging international reputation in this field. With the preliminary results from this grant, we have already been awarded a research grant of $445,560 from the National Science Foundation and a grant of $100,000 from the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society. So far, we have published 16 peer-reviewed articles in well-read chemistry journals and given 6 invited presentations and 20 contributed talks at national and international conferences. With this grant, we are training several graduate and postdoctoral students in modern physical chemistry and chemical physics. __________________________________________ 3. Shape Memory Behavior of Highly Nickel Rich NiTi Alloys Irfan Kaya, and Haluk Karaca* University of Kentucky NiTi alloys are the most commonly used shape memory alloys and they have been widely employed in biomedical, electrical and mechanical applications. The Ni55Ti45 (at%) shape memory alloy shows many unique properties such as good corrosion resistance, smooth surface finish and high toughness. It should be noted that their properties are highly sensitive to the heat treatments. This study investigates the effects of aging on the phase transformation behavior and mechanical properties of Ni55Ti45 alloys. DSC, X-ray diffraction, hardness and compression tests were carried out to investigate the effect of aging on the transformation behavior and microstructure. It has been found that Ni55Ti45 shows multiple step transformations with 1-3% transformation strain and low irrecoverable strain under stress levels as high as 1000 MPa. __________________________________________

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA 4. Novel Near-Field Radiative Heat Flux Measurement Device Senthil Sankaralingam(1), Peizhen Li(1), Burak Basaran(1), Haluk Karaca*(1), and Pinar Menguc(2) (1)University of Kentucky, (2)Ozyegin University When the distance between the surfaces exchanging energy becomes comparable or less than the dominant emission wavelength, the energy exchange takes place dominantly due to the nonpropagating mode of electromagnetic waves where the energy exchange in near-field is a few orders of magnitude larger than the energy exchange between blackbodies. Near-field thermal radiation has a lot of potential applications in thermophotovoltaics technologies, radiative cooling, near-field imaging, micro electromechanical devices, heat assisted data storage. A novel shape memory alloy based test setup is designed to measure the the enhanced near-field radiative heat flux between two parallel plane surfaces. __________________________________________ 5. Selective Isomerization of Allyl Alcohols to Carbonyl Compounds by Pd and PdAg Nanoparticles Monica Moreno* and Francis P. Zamborini Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville We successfully synthesized Pd monolayerprotected clusters (MPCs) coated with alkylamines (CnNH2, n = 8, 12, and 16-18), alkanethiolates (C6S), and PdAg (10:1) stabilized with C8NH2, C12NH2, and C16-18NH2. These nanoparticles exhibit significantly different reactivities with hydrogen gas and different stabilities against H2-induced aggregation depending on the ligand and metal composition of the MPCs as determined by UV-vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. The isomerization reaction is an important and useful synthetic process because it leads to the formation of carbonyl compounds in a one-pot catalytic transformation, which are valuable key compounds in organic and pharmaceutical synthesis. Although Pd catalysts have been widely used in many organic reactions, only a few reports regarding the utilization of Pd for the isomerization of allyl alcohols have been

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reported. In this study we evaluated the catalytic activity of the synthesized Pd and PdAg MPCs using various substituted allyl alcohols.

Gas chromatography (GC) results show that the catalytic activity and selectivity towards the formation of the saturated carbonyl compounds strongly depend on the catalyst used. In general, C8NH2-PdAg MPCs are more efficient catalysts for the hydrogenation of allyl alcohols while CnNH2-Pd MPCs are 50% and C6S Pd MPCs favor the formation of the corresponding saturated carbonyl compounds. We observed that changing the flow rate of H2 gas bubbling through the catalytic solution, the selectivity towards the isomerization product could be controlled in the presence of CnNH2-Pd and PdAg MPCs. __________________________________________ 6. Zeolitic Imidazolate Farmework -8: Novel Catalysts for the Conversion of CO2 to Carbonates Minqi Zhu*, and Moises A.Carreon Chemical Engineering Department. University of Louisville The catalytic activity of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) catalysts in the synthesis of chloropropene carbonate and styrene carbonate from CO2 and epichlorohydrin and styrene oxide respectively is demonstrated. In contrast to hitherto known catalysts, ZIF-8 catalysts displayed high epoxide conversions, and moderate to high selectivities to the corresponding carbonate at reaction temperatures as low as 50°C. No cocatalysts or solvents were required during the reaction. __________________________________________ ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 7. Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study of Trichoderma Reesei Cellulase Interactions with Model Cellulosic Biomass Component Films Stephen E. Rankin*(1), Ravinder K. Garlapalli(1), Hsin-Fen Li(1), Barbara L. Knutson(1), and Sue E. Nokes(2) (1)Chemical and Materials Engineering Department and (2)Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA Department, University of Kentucky Soluble sugars produced from the hydrolysis of cellulose are promising feedstocks for production of fuels and commodity chemicals from renewable plant-based resources. The recalcitrance of cellulose to degradation is well documented and attributed to multiple sources, including high cellulose crystallinity and the heterogeneity of biomass. Cellulase is a cellulytic enzyme that possesses a catalytic domain capable of hydrolyzing the beta-1,4-glycosidic bonds in cellulose. However, during biomass conversion to soluble sugars, its hydrolytic efficiency is limited by nonproductive binding to hydrophobic components or inhibition by hydrolysis products. To study these factors, the changes in mass and surface properties of model cellulose and lignin thin films are measured using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCMD). The cellulose and lignin thin films are synthesized by (thermo)chemical dissolution followed by coating onto a quartz crystal resonator, with a polymeric adhesion layer as needed. The mass of the spin-coated cellulose film is determined by the change in the resonance frequency, and the cellulose surface coverage is observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Cellulase adsorption, activity, and inhibition on model cellulose thin films as are measured directly as changes to the piezoelectric properties of the cellulose thin films by QCM-D. Here, we will report observations of (1)the effects of cellulase concentration in bulk solution on binding and activity towards crystalline cellulose films, (2)the effects of cellulose film crystallinity on binding and activity, and (3)the effects of surfactant Tween-80 on cellulase binding and activity on cellulose and lignin model films. __________________________________________ 8. Ruthenium-Catalyzed Hydrogenolysis of CarbonOxygen Bonds of Biomass-Derived Furan Derivatives Anitha Gowda, Sean Parkin, Folami T. Ladipo* Chemistry Department, University of Kentucky Molecules derived from cellulosic biomass resources are generally characterized by an abundance of reactive oxygen functional groups,

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

including ether, alkoxy, carbonyl, and/or hydroxyl groups. Efficient technologies are therefore required for selectively reducing the oxygen content of cellulosic biomass-derived compounds. and thereby control their reactivity, such that they can be integrated into the existing energy and chem. production streams. Given that the cleavage of a CO bond is a clear requirement of any process used for deoxygenating cellulosic biomass-derived molecules., C-O bond hydrogenolysis, whereby a CO bond is cleaved by reaction with hydrogen gas, represents a highly attractive deoxygenation pathway since the reaction would result in replacement of a reactive oxygen functional group (e.g. C-OH) with a less reactive C-H bond. We will discuss the efficacy of ruthenium(II) bis(diimine) complexes as catalysts for the hydrogenation and/or hydrogenolysis of C-O bonds of furan derivatives, such as furfural and 5hydroxymethylfuran (5-HMF). Mechanistic insights into the mode of action of the catalysts will also be presented. __________________________________________ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS 9. A Discontinuous-Galerkin Finite-Element TimeDomain Analysis of Terahertz-Band Photoconductive Antennas John C. Young*, Darren Boyd, Stephen D. Gedney (1)Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Kentucky Terahertz-band photoconductive antennas are increasingly used in systems for material spectroscopy, backscatter and forward-scatter imaging, and biomedical sensing. A typical photoconductive antenna comprises a voltagebiased microstrip antenna structure fabricated on a photoconductive semiconductor substrate which is excited by a pulsed laser excitation. A Discontinuous-Galerkin Finite-Element TimeDomain (DGFETD) method is presented for the analysis of terahertz-band photoconductive antennas. Two DGFETD models are presented: a simplified model and a full-wave model. The simplified model uses an approximation of the

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA induced photocurrent as a source and replaces the photoconductive substrate with a free-space equivalent. The full-wave model couples Maxwell’s equations, the semiconductor carrier-continuity equations, and the semiconductor drift-diffusion equations. Both the photoconductive substrate configuration and the pulsed-laser excitation are modeled directly in the full-wave simulation. The DGFETD discretization of the full-wave model is also presented. Advantages and disadvantages of the two models are investigated. Several photoconductive dipole antennas are analyzed using the simplified model and simulated emission intensity spectra are compared with measured data presented in the literature. Good agreement is obtained between the measured and computed results. Computed results for several non-dipole antenna structures are presented as well and compared with the dipole antenna results. The approximate model is seen to be sufficient to model simple photoconductive antennas and to perform initial designs for more complicated ones. The presented simulation tools will be used to design high-performance photoconductive antennas to improve system performance of terahertz-band systems. __________________________________________ 10. Landmine Detection Using An Ensemble Of Continuous HMMS With Multiple Features And Different Fusion Methods Hichem Frigui* and Anis Hamdi Computer Engineering and Computer Science, University of Louisville Hidden Markov Models (HMM) have proved to be effective for detecting buried land mines using data collected by a vehicle mounted ground penetrating radar (GPR). The general framework for a HMMbased landmine detector consists of building one HMM model for mine signatures and one HMM model for clutter signatures. The HMM models are built based on features extracted from GPR training signatures. These features are expected to capture the salient properties of the 3-dimensional alarms in a compact representation. Recently, we showed that an ensemble of HMMs (eHMM) can model the data more effectively and can result in a better

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detector. In this research, we propose a generalization and an evaluation of the eHMM approach. First, instead of using a single set of features, we generalize the eHMM to use multiple sets of features that can capture different salient features. Second, instead of using a simple hierarchical algorithm to cluster the training data into multiple models, we adopt more efficient relational clustering algorithms that can handle the multiple similarity matrices simultaneously. Third, we investigate and compare three algorithms to fuse the results of the multiple models and assign a final confidence value, namely Neural Networks, Hierarchical Mixture of Experts, and Random Forest.

We evaluate the performance of the generalized eHMM using a large and diverse GPR data collection. We identify the strengths and weaknesses of the different features, the best algorithm to cluster the likelihood matrices and identify the multiple models, and the best fusion method. __________________________________________ HUMAN HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT 11. Synthesis and Characterization of Myo-Inositol TrisPyroPhosphate (ITPP) for Use as a Certified Reference Standard Julio Gutierrez(1)Rod Eisenberg(2), Elizabeth Marie Ferguson(3), Sucheta Kudrimoti(1), Charlie Hughes(1), and Thomas Tobin*(1) (1)Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, (2)Frontier BioPharm, (3)Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky Horseracing has recently become aware of the potential for improper use of myo-Inositol TrisPyroPhosphate (ITPP) to affect racing performance. Myo-inositol trispyrophosphate, usually as the hexasodium salt, is an inositol derivative, molecular formula C6H6Na6O21P6, formula weight 737.88. Work in 2009 with ITPP demonstrated its ability to bind to hemoglobin and allosterically reduce the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen, thereby enhancing the release of oxygen to muscles during exercise and potentially improving racing performance. Currently, numerous web sites

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA suggest or promote the use of ITPP in horse, dog, and camel racing. To assist in the control of abuse of this substance in racing horses we have synthesized ITPP and rigorously characterized it for use as an analytical certified reference standard in racing chemistry laboratories and, if necessary, for equine administrations or other experimental work.

ITPP was prepared according to our in-house synthetic procedure and characterized and validated by a number of analytical techniques.

Availability of an ITPP certified reference standard to racing laboratories has made possible the development of a forensic test for ITPP in racing samples and will also allow equine administrations of ITPP and related experiments to assess its actual potential for racing performance enhancement. __________________________________________ 12. Sensitive LC-MS/MS Detection of Digoxin as an Analogue for Endogenous RORt Ligands Steven M. Truscott*(1), Eleanora L. Fridell(1), Daniel W. Wilkey(2), Michael L. Merchant(2), Roland Valdes Jr. (1) (1)Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine; (2)Renal Division, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine Recent notable publications demonstrate that digoxin and digoxin analogues bind and antagonize RORt, a transcription factor which drives the development of interleukin-17-producing T helper (Th17) cells, a pathogenic T cell subset known to cause autoimmune disease. Sensitive and specific quantification of endogenous ligands regulating RORt will likely be clinically important. Digoxin-like immunoreactive factor (DLIF), which we and others have previously described, may in fact represent a physiological ligand for RORt that could bind RORt and regulate Th17-induced disease activity. DLIF may be influencing disease processes, yet still be found in extremely low concentrations in circulation. While the clinical utility of measuring DLIF serum levels is yet to be determined, monitoring or modulating this molecule could be a potentially powerful tool in treating autoimmune disease. Until standard preparations of DLIF are Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

available, digoxin is an excellent surrogate for mammalian DLIF as it has remarkably similar physical properties. Here we report an LC-MS/MS method to quantify digoxin with increased sensitivity (LLOQ 0.03 ng/mL digoxin in methanol) relative to our current clinical immunoassay (LLOQ 0.3 ng/mL digoxin in serum/plasma). We also report a purification method for DLIF from bovine adrenal glands. With improved reverse-phase column technology and immunoassay detection of endogenous DLIF, we have generated highly enriched DLIF material. UV/visible spectrophotometry indicates that only low levels of residual adrenal hormones remain. These studies lay the groundwork for quantification of DLIF as a diagnostic marker.

Supported by NIEHS P30ES014443 (RV) and KSEF Foundation Grant #148-502-10-263 (RV). __________________________________________ BIOSCIENCES 13. Viral and Cellular Proteins Important for HCV Infection and Replication Jieyun Jiang, Wei Cun, and Guangxiang Luo* Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine We have isolated a cell culture adapted hepatitis C virus (HCV) which grows to 1,000-folds higher titer than wild type virus. Sequence analyses has identified a total of 16 amino acid mutations.

Reverse genetics analysis of these mutations individually or in different combinations demonstrated that the amino acid mutations enhanced protein-protein interactions among viral proteins and therefore promoted HCV production.

In addition to viral proteins, cellular proteins are important for HCV infection and virion assembly.

We have discovered that human apolipoprotein E (apoE) is required for infectivity and assembly of HCV. Mutagenesis analysis of apoE demonstrated that the C-terminal ?-helical domain of apoE is important for interaction with NS5A. Deletion mutations disrupting the specific apoE-NS5A interaction resulted in the blockade of HCV production. We have also examined the role of

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA different apoE isoforms in the formation of infectious HCV particles. Our results show that three common apoE isoforms (E2, E3, and E4) are equally compatible with the production of infectious HCV, suggesting that apoE isoforms do not determine the infectivity and/or assembly of HCV particles. Additionally, we have determined the effects of mutations in the receptor-binding pocket of apoE on HCV infectivity. Some mutations had dominant negative effects on HCV infection when expressed ectopically in Huh-7.5 cells. These findings demonstrate that the N-terminal receptorbinding domain of apoE is required for HCV infection. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that apoE has dual functions in the HCV life cycle through distinct interaction with cell surface receptor and HCV NS5A, respectively. __________________________________________ 14. Numerical Simulation for Detecting Particles in Micro Coulter Counter Justin Zhang*, Yongsheng Lian, Cindy Harnett Department of Mechanical Enginering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Louisville A Micro Coulter counter is an electrical currentbased device for counting and sizing particles and cells. The main work presented here is building a reliable model to simulate the current signal variation ratio. In this work a numerical iteration method named SOR (Successive Over-Relaxation) is used to solve the Laplace equation to get the electrical potential field. The result shows that the existence of the particles which is treated as a relative low conductivity object can leads the current variation. The signal variation ratio has the correlation of many factors such as particle size, particle conductivity, particle position, the electrodes position and the gap between the electrodes. Those factors are studied in our research and the results can show the influence of those factors. __________________________________________

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15. Determining the Function of Autophagy During Murine Folliculogenesis and Corpus Luteal Development.

Thomas R. Gawriluk(1), Jodi A. Flaws(2), Chemyong (Jay) Ko(2)and Edmund B. Rucker III*(1) (1)Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, (2)Department of Veterinary Biosciences, University of Illinois, Urbana Autophagy is an evolutionarily-conserved process that involves trafficking proteins and to the lysosome where they are degraded into essential constituents.

Autophagy maintains energy homeostasis and is known to occur in granulosa cells and oocytes of the mammalian ovary throughout folliculogenesis; however, its function is poorly understood. The follicle must nurture the oocyte and synthesize hormones for both folliculogenesis and for the maintenance of pregnancy during times when autophagy is active.

We previously reported that autophagy is important for germ cell survival due to ovaries from mice haplo-insufficient for Beclin-1, a gene essential for autophagy, containing 40% fewer germ cells at birth. We are using a genetic approach to determine the function of autophagy during folliculogenesis and in the development and degradation of the corpus luteum. Working under the hypothesis that autophagy in granulosa and luteal cells is needed for energy homeostasis and thus survival of the follicle and persistence of the corpus luteum, a Beclin-1 conditional knockout (CKO) mouse is being used to ablate autophagy in the granulosa cells of the growing follicle.

Autophagy-defective granulosa cells in these CKO mice fail to complete normal pregnancy and have spontaneous birth between 16.5 to 18.5 days post coitus at which point the pups die. Corpus lutea from CKO ovaries contain many more eosin-staining cells and are persisting at least one estrus cycle longer than CLs from wild-type mice. We believe that Beclin-1 is involved in progesterone synthesis and have begun IHC for progesterone synthesis, serum analysis and expression experiments to address this. __________________________________________

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA 16. Structural and Functional Studies of Plant Glucan Phosphatases Satrio Husodo*, and Matthew Gentry Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Kentucky Glucan phosphatases (GPs) regulate starch degradation by dephosphorylating the starch granule. Historically, GPs have been defined as proteins containing a dual specificity phosphatase (DSP) domain and a carbohydrate binding module (CBM). To date there are three published GPs from Arabidopsis thaliana: Starch-Excess-4 (SEX4), LikeSEX4-1 (LSF1), and Like-SEX4-2 (LSF2). We are using the findings from the Arabidopsis GPs to study the homologues in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Green algae have the ability to produce molecular hydrogen, which can be used as biofuel.

Starch degradation is involved in the H2 production pathway by the feeding electrons to the hydrogenase enzyme, which catalyzes the production of H2. Since GPs regulate starch degradation, they can be targets for engineering in algae to produce H2 more efficiently. We use homology modeling of the algae GPs using the crystal structures of the Arabidopsis GPs. Structural alignment of C. reinhardtii GPs with the higher plant homologues show similarities as well as differences that could account for distinct functions in the algae enzymes. We are in the initial stages of the functional characterization of the algae GPs, and crystallization trials are ongoing. In vitro assays have shown that purified C. reinhardtii GPs have the ability to bind and dephosphorylate starch.

Characterization of algae GPs will further elucidate the molecular mechanisms in starch degradation and open a new pathway to engineer for biofuel production. __________________________________________ 17. Molecules Involved in Fibrotic Scarring of The Retina LanHsin Liu, Kazuhiko Umazume, Shigeo Tamiya* Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Louisville Fibrosis impedes physiological function of variety of

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

organs. One of the key changes involved in fibrosis is aberrant and persistent induction of myofibroblasts. Production and contraction of abnormal extracellular matrix by myofibroblasts lead to scar tissue formation, which results in tissue/organ malfunction observed during fibrotic diseases. Within the eye, fibrotic scar tissue formation on the surface of the retina can lead to retinal detachment and loss of visual acuity. Similar to other fibrotic diseases, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß) has been implicated to play an important role during retinal surface scar formation. We have previously shown that transformation of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells to myofibroblasts can be induced by TGF-ß, but myofibroblast transformation occur only after RPE cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In this project, we have examined the time course of myofibroblast transformation, and the molecules involved in this process. __________________________________________ 18. Implantable Device to Strengthen Osteoporotic Hips Michael J. Voor* Orthopaedic Bioengineering Laboratory, University of Louisville Problem: In the elderly, the vast majority of hip fractures occur as a result of a fall to the side. The one-year mortality rate following hip fracture ranges from 22% to 40%. Solution: This project demonstrates the feasibility of a novel, permanently-implantable device designed to strengthen osteoporotic proximal femurs to protect them from fracture due to a fall to the side. Testing: Mechanical tests of the new prototype device using a well-established fall-to-the-side model have shown increases in strength of the proximal femur of from 50% to 100%. Modeling: Finite element models of the proximal femur loaded similarly to the mechanical tests have shown critical bone stress to be reduced by approximately one half. Market Potential: The initial annual market for such a device will comprise the 1.6 million (Worldwide) hip fracture patients that would be treated for strengthening of the opposite hip while the initial fracture was being fixed. This patient population

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA would be expected to suffer 192,000 additional hip fractures if left untreated. The potential product revenue for a $1000 device would be $1.6B annually. Assuming an $81,000 cost per hip fracture patient and a mortality rate of 30 to 40% for patients suffering a second hip fracture, the savings could be $15.5B plus 77,000 lives annually.

Eventually, the Vivorte device could be used on an entirely prophylactic basis, being implanted in “atrisk� patients before they have any hip fractures. In this case the potential market size would increase by more than an order of magnitude. __________________________________________ 19. Towards Understanding the Mechanisms of Plant Extreme Resistance to Viruses Jung-wook Yang, Guillaume Robin, Aardra Kachroo* Department of Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky Plant viruses are a major threat to the agricultural economy and our food supply. Although the use of genetically resistant crop varieties can limit diseaserelated damage, viruses are often able to evolve into resistance-breaking strains. This project aims to understand a mode of resistance, termed extreme resistance, which greatly reduces the virus ability to evolve into new virulent strains. Extreme resistance is highly efficient because it can restrict the virus to the initial infected cells, such that the virus is unable to adapt to a resistant host. The mechanisms underlying soybean extreme resistance to soybean mosaic virus (SMV) are being studied, because soybean is one of only two plants known to exhibit naturally occurring extreme resistance. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen we identified several soybean proteins that interact with the SMV effector protein P3. Our data indicates that at least two of the identified proteins are important for viral replication and spread in the plant. Altering the expression of genes encoding the P3-interacting arabinogalactan (AGP)-like protein or aquaporin (PIP) enhance soybean resistance to SMV. Systemic movement of SMV is delayed in plants silenced for PIP. On the other hand overexpression of AGP in soybean results in reduced accumulation of the virus in both inoculated and systemic tissues. Ongoing studies are aimed at examining how these

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proteins contribute to the restriction of SMV spread in soybean. __________________________________________ 20. Early Assessment of Malignant Lung Nodules Based on the Spatial Analysis of Detected Lung Nodules Ayman El-Baz* Bioimaging Laboratory, Bioengineering Department, University of Louisville We propose a novel approach for diagnosing malignant lung nodules based on analyzing the spatial distribution of Hounsfield values for the detected lung nodules. Spatial distribution of image intensities (or Hounsfield values) comprising the malignant nodule appearance is accurately modeled with a new rotationally invariant second-order Markov-Gibbs Random Field (MGRF). In this paper, we introduce a new maximum likelihood estimation approach to estimate the neighborhood system of the proposed rotation invariant MGRF and its potentials from a training set of nodule images with normalized intensity ranges.

Preliminary experiments on 327 lung nodules (153 malignant and 174 benign) resulted in the 91.1% correct classification (for the 95% confidence interval), showing the proposed method is a promising supplement to current technologies (biopsy-based diagnostic systems) for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. __________________________________________ 21. 3D Shape Analysis for Early Diagnosis of Malignant Lung Nodules Ayman El-Baz* Bioimaging Laboratory, Bioengineering Department, University of Louisville An alternative method for diagnosing malignant lung nodules by their shape rather than conventional growth rate is proposed. The 3D surfaces of the detected lung nodules are delineated by spherical harmonic analysis, which represents a 3D surface of the lung nodule supported by the unit sphere with a linear combination of special basis functions, called spherical harmonics (SHs). The proposed 3D shape

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA analysis is carried out in five steps: (i) 3D lung nodule segmentation with a deformable 3D boundary controlled by two probabilistic visual appearance models (the learned prior and the estimated current appearance one); (ii) 3D Delaunay triangulation to construct a 3D mesh model of the segmented lung nodule surface; (iii) mapping this model to the unit sphere; (iv) computing the SHs for the surface, and (v) determining the number of the SHs to delineate the lung nodule. We describe the lung nodule shape complexity with a new shape index, the estimated number of the SHs, and use it for the K-nearest classification to distinguish malignant and benign lung nodules. Preliminary experiments on 327 lung nodules (153 malignant and 174 benign) resulted in the 93.6% correct classification (for the 95% confidence interval), showing that the proposed method is a promising supplement to current technologies for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. __________________________________________ 22. Targeted Delivery of Medication to Cancer Cells Sham S. Kakar* Department of Physiology and Biophysics, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville Application of doxorubicin (Dox) for the treatment of cancer is restricted due to its severe side effects.

To overcome this problem, we have developed a therapy which utilizes gold nanoparticles as a vehicle for the targeted delivery of cancer medication. These particles bind to unique receptors (LHRH receptors) expressed exclusively on cancer cells. Treatment of three ovarian epithelial tumor cell lines A2780, CaOV3 and A2780/CP70 with conjugated particles showed a dose-and time dependent cell death. In contrast, no change in cell proliferation or cell viability was observed when treated with equal amounts of unconjugated gold NPs, LHRH-NPs, free doxorubicin (DOX). DOX conjugated to NPs (DOX-NP) showed some antiproliferative effects, however such effects were 2to 3-folds lower compared to DOX-NP-LHRH. Using conjugated particles of 204 nm in size to treat animals bearing intra peritoneal or subcutaneous ovarian tumor xenografts showed a significant

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

suppression or complete elimination of tumor. In comparison, animals treated with PBS, LHRH-NP, gold particles, DOX-NPs, or free DOX did not show any significant suppression of tumors.

Measurement of DOX in tumors and normal tissues showed high accumulation of DOX in tumors and no or very low amount in normal tissues. Based on this information, we hypothesize that targeting the LHRH receptor, using LHRH- and doxorubicinconjugated gold NPs; will significantly increase the payload of drug into the cancer cells, leading to selective tumor cell death while sparing normal healthy cells, thus, minimizing/eliminating the side effects including myocardial toxicity associated with high doses of doxorubicin. __________________________________________ 23. Virus-host Interaction Based on High Throughput Screening: Effect of Lipin Gene on Virus Replication Ching-Kai Chuang*, Prasanth Reddy, Peter D. Nagy Plant Pathology Department, University of Kentucky Plants are continuously challenged by pathogens including viruses. Plant viruses take advantage of the host cell and reprogram several cellular pathways to enhance their replication.

Understanding the roles/functions of the subverted host factors in virus replication is a major frontier in virology. Viruses rely on the host to provide cellular proteins, metabolites and lipids for their replication.

To identify all the host factors needed to support virus replication, multiple approaches and superior model systems will be needed. Based on this vision, our lab has developed and applied an arsenal of approaches, including yeast as a simple eukaryotic model host for plant tombusviruses, powerful cellfree methods that can fully replicate a plant tombusvirus and produce viral recombinants in vitro, in combination with systems biology approaches, as well as genetic and biochemical methods. Accordingly, our lab has performed several high-throughput genomics and global proteomics screens to identify most of the host factors inhibiting or facilitating plant virus replication. These works have made tombusviruses among the best-characterized for pathogen-host interactions. The data obtained also unraveled

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA unexpected complexity among viral, host and environmental factors not only in virus replication, but also in viral recombination, which is important for plant virus evolution and the emergence of new virus strains. By utilizing the large, unique datasets obtained by the PI on host factors, it will be possible to gain unprecedented insights into virus-plant interactions and this will open new approaches for antiviral control. __________________________________________ 24. Impact of Lyophilization Conditions on the Solid Forms of Gabapentin Donia Arthur, Matthew J. Nethercott*, Eric Munson (1)University of Kentucky Pharmaceutical Sciences University Purpose: To study the effects of changing freezing times, drying times and temperature in a lyophilization cycle on the solid forms of gabapentin. Method: Solutions of 2mg/mL, 4mg/mL, and 8mg/mL of gabapentin were prepared in high purity water and were then freeze-dried using three different lyophilization cycles. Going from Cycle 1 to Cycle 2, freezing and drying times were reduced from 2 hours to 1 hour and from 44 hours to 38 hours. Further reductions in drying time and increased freezing temperature from 38 hours to 34 hours and -45°C to -20°C were used for Cycle 3. DSC and SSNMR were used to identify the forms present in the freeze-dried products. Results: 13C SSNMR spectra of the lyophilized product of gabapentin showed that an isomorphous desolvate was the primary form generated under the conditions used. Small amounts of Forms I and III were also present. With increasing concentration, the amounts of Forms I and III decreased. At 2mg/mL and 4mg/mL, peaks were observed in the 13C SSNMR spectra that did not correspond to known forms. Altering the freezing and drying times and freezing temperature resulted in changing amounts of Forms I and III. It was also determined that lyophilization stabilized the previously unstable isomorphous desolvate, as no form conversion occurred over ten days. Conclusions: Lyophilization affected the crystalline forms of the lyophilized product of gabapentin. Concentration of the starting solution was found to be a large contributor

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to which forms were generated by lyophilization along with drying time and temperature. __________________________________________ 25. Feeding RNA Interference of NADPHCytochrome P450 Reductase Reveals a Critical Target to Control Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Fang Zhu*(1), Tim Moural(2), Megha Kalsi(1), and Subba R Palli(1) (1) Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, (2)Division of Natural Sciences, Bluegrass Community & Technical College The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) is a notorious pest and causes serious defoliation of potatoes as well as tomato and eggplant all over the world, however, the management of CPB is a challenging task. We have successfully developed a bacteriaexpressed dsRNA-mediated feeding RNA interference (RNAi) approach. A critical step towards field management of CPB is to identify an effective target gene for discovering novel RNAibased insecticides. NADPH-Cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) plays a central role in Cytochrome P450 action. The full length Leptinotarsa decemlineata CPR (LdCPR) cDNA was isolated from an imidacloprid resistant population using a combined PCR strategy. Phylogenetic analysis showed that LdCPR is closer to the CPR the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, than to CPRs from the other insects species studied. The LdCPR gene was ubiquitously expressed in all stages tested but showed an increase in expression in the early stage of embryonic development. Also, in both male and female adults, LdCPR was specifically expressed in the antenna suggesting the functional importance of P450s within the antenna. The bacteriaexpressed dsRNA-mediated feeding RNAi of LdCPR in adults caused systemic knock down to the expression of gene coding for LdCPR in both adults and their eggs. Suppression of the LdCPR expression increased susceptibility of imidacloprid in resistant adults as well as caused significant decrease of fecundity (29% less eggs/day) and the hatching rate (47%). These data suggest that LdCPR may serve as an essential target to control CPB. __________________________________________

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA 26. Ingested RNA Interference for Managing the Populations of the Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Fang Zhu*, Jingjing Xu, Roshan Palli, Joseph Ferguson and Subba R Palli Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky RNA interference (RNAi) is a breakthrough technology for conducting functional genomics studies as well as a potential tool for crop protection against insect pests. The major challenge for efficient pest control using RNAi in the field is the development of efficient and reliable methods for production and delivery of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). In current study, the potential of feeding dsRNA expressed in bacteria and synthesized in vitro to manage populations of Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), was investigated. Feeding RNAi successfully triggered the silencing of all five target genes tested and caused significant mortality and reduced body weight gain in the treated beetles. This study provides the first example of an effective RNAi response in insects after feeding dsRNA produced in bacteria. These data suggest that the efficient induction of RNAi using bacteria to deliver dsRNA is a possible method for management of CPB. It could be a promising bioassay approach for genome-wide screens to identify effective target genes for using as novel RNAi-based insecticides. __________________________________________ 27. Stability of AcrB Trimer and Function of AcrABTolC Pump Linliang Yu*, Wei Lu, Yinan Wei Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky AcrAB-TolC and its homologues, members of the resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) transporter family, are major efflux systems that make Gram-negative bacteria resistant against a wide range of cytotoxic compounds. AcrB of Escherichia coli is located in the inner membrane of the cell. We previously reported that the protruding loop of AcrB (residues 211-240) played a pivotal role for the assembly of the protein into trimers. The deletion of the protruding loop resulted in the complete loss

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

of AcrB activity. Further characterization of the protein structure revealed that the loop deletion mutant existed as a monomer in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we used site-directed mutagenesis to identify residues in the loop that are critical for the structure and function of AcrB. We found that when one residue, Pro223, was replaced with a Gly, the resultant mutant was functionless. However, the secondary and tertiary structures of AcrBP223G were similar to the structure of individual subunits in an AcrB trimer. Once purified, AcrBP223G existed as a monomer. This function of this mutant can be restored via two additional mutations, one strengthened the binding to TolC, and the other stabilized the protein trimer. Our result indicates that disruption of the loop sequence destabilizes the AcrB trimer, which affects the interaction between AcrB and TolC and thus reduces the drug efflux activity of the AcrAB-TolC complex. __________________________________________ 28. Over-Expression of SCaM4 Enhances Pathogen Resistance and Salt Tolerance in Soybean Suryadevara Rao*, Mohamed El-Habbak and Said Ghabrial Department of Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky Developing better soybean varieties through application of biotechnology is desirable as it is cost effective and environmentally safe. Stable transformation of soybean through genetic engineering, on the other hand, is a time consuming process. In our lab we developed a plant virusbased vector that is useful in the quick evaluation of different genes in their roles against various biotic and abiotic factors. Using our bean pod mottle virus (BPMV)-based vector for protein expression and gene silencing applications, we have tested the functions of several gene constructs against different soybean pathogens. One of the most promising constructs was one for overexpression of soybean calmodulin-4 (SCaM4). When overexpressed SCaM4 provided enhanced resistance to different pathogens including Phytophthora sojae, Alternaria tenuissima and Phomopsis longicolla.

Silencing of SCaM4, on the other hand, had an opposing effect. The SCaM4 overexpressing plants

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA also showed increased tolerance to higher salt concentrations. To understand the mechanisms involved in SCaM4-mediated pathogen resistance we examined the levels of defense related hormone jasmonic acid (JA) and pathogen responsive genes (PR). Our studies confirmed the increase in JA as well as PR gene expression levels. To understand the SCaM4-mediated high salt tolerance we studied protein-protein interactions using the yeast two hybrid system. Yeast two hybrid studies confirmed the interaction between SCaM4 and the stress responsive gene regulating transcription factor protein Myb2. We also studied the subcellular localization pattern of SCaM4 using GFP-SCaM4 fusion constructs. Confocal microscopic observation suggested that SCaM4 is localized in the nucleus, cytoplasm and chloroplasts. __________________________________________

pressure sensors integrated into a conformable skin/suit. The sensors were coupled to a data acquisition system capable of displaying recorded force data on a computerized body mapping image system. This modified dummy will allow for the prediction of potential bruising patterns in children during common household fall events, often stated as false scenarios in child abuse. __________________________________________

29. Development of a Surrogate Bruising Detection System to Describe Bruising Patterns Associated With Common Childhood Falls Raymond D'Souza*, and Gina Bertocci Injury Risk Assessment and Prevention (iRAP) Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Louisville

An extremely important system that employs coupled folding and binding is calmodulin (CaM) and its binding targets (CaMBTs). CaM is a calciumsensing protein that regulates the activities of many enzymes in response to changes in calcium concentration. CaM has around 300 known ligands including important enzymes such as calcineurin, CaM kinase I and smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase. When CaM binds it induces, in most cases, a-helical structure in the CaMBT. Brokx et al. (J. Biol.

Chem. 276, 14083, 2001) have studied the detailed thermodynamics of CaM binding to a series of CaMBT’s. They have hypothesized that the thermodynamics of CaM binding a CaMBT will be correlated in part with the propensity for the CaMBT to adopt an a-helical conformation. In this work we set out to test this hypothesis. 2,2,2Trifluoroethanol (TFE) is well known to induce ahelical structure in peptides with a propensity to be helical. Using the ability of TFE to induce a-helicity in the CaMBT’s as a proxy for helical propensity, we present evidence in support of the hypothesis that the energetics of CaM binding to CaMBT’s is in part correlated with the helical propensities of the CaMBT’s. __________________________________________

Child abuse is a leading cause of fatality in children aged 0-4 years, with an estimated 1,760 annual deaths resulting from child abuse, of which infants (younger than 1 year) had the highest rate of fatalities. When children presented to the hospital with abusive injuries, as many as 71% of these cases were not evaluated for abuse. Many serious injuries and fatalities could have potentially been prevented if clinicians, child protective services and law enforcement personnel were able to better distinguish between injuries associated with abuse versus those caused by accidents. Bruising is an early sign of abuse, and can be an effective indicator of child abuse. Although not life threatening, bruising characteristics and bruising patterns provide a “roadmap” documenting a child’s exposure to impact. However, the ability to predict bruising patterns associated with falsely reported events (e.g. bed falls, stair falls) in child abuse does not exist. Our study adapted an existing pediatric test dummy with custom developed

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30. Thermodynamics of Binding by Calmodulin Correlates With Target Peptide a-Helical Propensity Trevor P. Creamer*, Tori B. Dunlap, Emily A. Pena, Jessime Kirk, and Meghan S. Hamilton Center for Structural Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Kentucky

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA 31. Conservation Biological Control Promotes Natural Enemies and Reduces Viral Proliferation Jason M. Schmidt, Katelyn A. Kowles, Eric G. Chapman, and James D. Harwood* Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky In Kentucky winter wheat, grain aphids cause substantial yield loss as vectors of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV). Current control efforts require expensive routine insecticide applications. Here we study the potential benefits of using conservation biological control to reduce the environmental and economic costs of insecticide application. We assessed the capacity for improved habitat quality around wheat fields to promote natural enemies and reduce the spread of virus. Wheat plots were planted with and without natural weed strip borders. Plots were sampled weekly using a grid system to monitor natural enemy and pest distributions, and the presence of virus at increasing distances from the field margin. To monitor predation across the season and in relation to distance from weed strips, we developed a PCRbased molecular framework to screen predator gut contents for the presence of DNA from aphids and common alternative prey. To monitor spread of infection, aphids and wheat plants were screened for BYDV using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. We found that Collembola help sustain epigeal spider populations in winter wheat, and these predators actively foraged on aphids. Fields with weed strips had significantly reduced virus levels, with lower proportions of infected aphids and plants. Future analysis will help determine the impact of weed strips on natural enemy density and diversity, and link these results to predator-preydisease interactions. Combined, our results show promise for implementing low-cost, low-input conservation biological control strategies to mediate the prevalence of pest-disease complexes in winter wheat agroecosystems. __________________________________________ 32. Dual-purpose Cancer Therapy Using Functionalized Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Stephanie Mattingly*, Souvik Biswas, Xuan Huang, Clayton J. Peace, Kelly A. Beglin, Michael H. Nantz Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

In recent years, iron oxide nanoparticles have been adapted for use as drug delivery platforms because of their ease of surface functionalization, biocompatibility, and low cytotoxicity. Additionally, their intrinsic magnetic properties enable magnetic localization to target sites, magnetic resonance imaging, and inductive heating through alternating magnetic field (AMF) exposure. Their heating potential, in particular, has been utilized for hyperthermia therapy, wherein cancer tissues are targeted and heated to induce apoptosis. We have recently synthesized and surface-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles and demonstrated their use for in vitro drug delivery. Specifically, we attached an analog of the anticancer drug Doxorubicin to iron oxide nanoparticles using a cationic linker. After incubation with MCF-7 cells, AMF induction resulted in the release of the drug analog and consequent cell death. Further modifications of the linker are providing insight into the nature of the binding interactions between the drug conjugate and the surface of the nanoparticles. We present here our optimization of this nanoparticle based drug delivery system for use in concert with hyperthermia treatment as a dual-purpose cancer therapy. __________________________________________ 33. Sigma-2 Receptor: A Key Target in EGFR Signaling for Lung Cancer Shakeel Mir(1), Ling Jin(1), Matthew Thacker(1), Steve Schwarze(1), Edith Glazer(2), and Rolf Craven*(1) (1)Departments of Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology and Chemistry, (2)Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky Cancers of the airways are among the most commonly diagnosed, and have the highest mortality rate of any malignancy in the United States. Kentucky has both the highest incidence and mortality rate from lung cancer (in addition to the highest smoking rate among teenagers), and effective therapeutic approaches for airway cancers are an unmet challenge. EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) is elevated in a majority of airway cancers, where it drives tumor growth, and EGFR is a major therapeutic target. However, there is a gap

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA in our understanding of how EGFR acts and which proteins sustain it in an activated state in tumors.

EGFR binds to S2R (sigma-2 receptor, also called Pgrmc1 for progesterone receptor membrane component 1), an intracellular receptor that is related b5 cytochrome. We have found that S2R is elevated in tumors, is required for lung tumor growth and efficiently targeted by small molecule inhibitors, including FDA-approved drugs. We show here that S2R functions through EGFR to increase the activity of metalloproteinases, which drive tumor invasion, at least in part by inducing Ngal (neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin), a secreted iron-binding protein that causes lung tumor cells to grow invade surrounding tissues. To target S2R, we have dissected a novel class of inhibitors and identified a refined region of the molecule required for suppressing tumor growth.

Furthermore, the new derivative, called EG-08, increases the activity of standard cancer chemotherapy. Thus, we have developed new mechanisms and therapeutic strategies for S2R, a promising target for lung cancer. __________________________________________ 34. Design and Simulation of Optically Actuated Bistable MEMS Thomas Lucas*, Evgeniya Moiseeva, Cindy Harnett Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Louisville In this project, bistable three-dimensional MEMS actuators are designed to be optically switched between stable states for biological research applications. The structure is a strained rectangular frame created with stress-mismatched metal-oxide bilayers. The devices curl into an arc in one of two directions tangent to the substrate, and can switch orientation when regions are selectively heated.

The heating is powered by infrared laser, and localized with patterned infrared-resonant gold nanoparticles on critical regions. The enhanced energy absorption on selected areas provides switching control and heightened response to narrow-band infrared light. Coventorware has been used for finite element analysis of the system. The numerical simulations indicate that it has two local minimum states with extremely rapid transition

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time (<<0.1 s) when the structure is thermally deformed. Actuation at laser power and thermal limits compatible with physiological applications will enable microfluidic pumping elements and fundamental studies of tissue response to threedimensional mechanical stimuli, artificial-muscle based pumps and other biomedical devices triggered by tissue-permeant infrared light. __________________________________________ 35. Antibiotic Resistance Among Cultured Bacterial Isolates From Bioethanol Fermentation Facilities Across the United States Colin A. Murphree(1), E. Patrick Heist (2), and Luke A. Moe (1)* (1)Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, (2)Ferm Solutions, Inc. The nascent bioethanol industry in the US is on track to triple production capacity in the next decade, owing to a federal mandate that stipulates biofuels added to gasoline must reach 36 billion gallons by the year 2022. Rapid growth in the industry has led to a collection of unforeseen issues with productionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;chief among these is the issue of bacterial contamination of the yeast-based fermentation (bacterial bloom). Bioethanol producers combat this through prophylactic addition of antibiotics to fermentations. Our interests are two-fold: we aim to explore bacterial community structure in bioethanol fermentations, and we aim to characterize acquired antibiotic resistance among cultured bacterial isolates. Here we describe work on 32 antibiotic resistant bacterial isolates from 8 different plants across the US. We have phylogenetically typed isolates and we have determined their resistance to the antibiotics of note using minimal inhibitory concentration assays.

We have used degenerate PCR and sequencing to identify genes responsible for the resistance phenotypes, and we have determined whether each instance of resistance is due to inactivation of the antibiotic. To assess their ability to persist in bioethanol tanks, we have characterized biofilm formation in the presence of antibiotics as well as their persistence at elevated ethanol concentrations. Each of the isolates displays resistance to at least one of the classes of

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA antibiotics; the majority show resistance to more than one class. While several isolates appear to resist the activity of the antibiotics through biofilm formation, most have acquired genes known to act as resistance elements. __________________________________________ 36. Variation in Bacterial Symbionts Between Introduced and Native Aphids Jennifer A. White*, and Alisondra Maldonado Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky What makes an exotic species invasive in a novel habitat? Despite the major economic and ecological costs associated with invasive insect species, we cannot yet successfully predict characteristics that predispose a species toward invasion, nor do we understand the evolutionary changes that occur following establishment in the new habitat. One aspect of introduced species biology that has been neglected almost entirely is the role of bacterial endosymbionts. Symbionts influence many aspects of the life history and ecology of their arthropod hosts (e.g., reproduction, dispersal, defense); these factors, in turn, can affect establishment and spread of introduced species. We are testing the novel hypothesis that introduced species have fewer endosymbionts in their exotic than native ranges by comparing the microbial symbiont communities of introduced versus native aphids. Using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) and diagnostic PCR, we have compared symbionts in paired native and introduced populations of 16 aphid species, plus an additional 12 invasive and 15 native aphids for which paired populations were not available.

We found high prevalence of symbionts in both native and introduced populations, but did not find a pattern of decreased symbiont prevalence in introduced populations, as originally hypothesized.

Instead, we have found substantial intra and interpopulation variation in symbiont prevalence and identity, which often differ between native and introduced populations. Our results suggest that variation in symbionts, and the phenotypic properties they confer, may play an ongoing role in the ecological interactions and evolutionary trajectories of these species. __________________________________________

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

37. Role of the Horse in Interspecies Transmission of Influenza Viruses Thomas M. Chambers*, Stephanie E. Reedy, Udeni B. R. Balasuriya Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky The H5N1 ‘bird flu’ outbreak and the H1N1 ‘swine flu’ pandemic confirm that humans can be infected with influenza viruses of lower animal species.

Horses may be one such species: horses are established hosts for influenza, come into close contact with humans, and were unquestionably the source for the canine influenza virus now affecting dogs in the USA. Historical accounts suggest a horse ? human pathway of influenza virus transmission was once important. Our hypothesis is that horses can be intermediate hosts for interspecies transmission of influenza viruses between birds and humans. Over the past year we have examined the ability of avian influenza A viruses of different subtypes to grow in explants of horse tracheal tissue. Our test viruses included 10 of the 17 HA subtypes all paired with N2, and H3 paired with all 9 NA subtypes. Our results to date indicate that alongside the established equine influenza virus subtypes of H7N7 and H3N8, other subtypes found in birds can replicate in horse trachea including primarily H1N2 and H3N1, and to a lesser extent H2N2, H4N2, H6N2 and H7N2. We will follow up these results by testing these viruses for replication directly in horses. Also we will test replication of equine influenza viruses with human influenza-like properties in swine as a substitute for humans. __________________________________________ 38. The Role of Polyadenylation in Seed Germination: Defining the Trans(crypto)me Liuyin Ma*(1), Pratap Kumar Pati(2,3), Allan Bruce Downie(2)and Arthur G. Hunt(1) (1)Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, (2)Department of Horticulture, University of Kentucky, (3)Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India Many groups have reported that seeds contain a

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA sizeable and diverse population of stored mRNAs, and that this pool of stored mRNAs can be the “source” of de novo protein production before the onset of transcription early in germination. Most importantly, Harris and Dure suggested that some proportion of the stored mRNA present in cotton seed was polyadenylated shortly after the initiation of germination. In addition, it has been reported that germination is insensitive to more general inhibitors of RNA polymerase II but sensitive to poly (A) polymerase inhibitors. Together, these considerations suggest that unadenylated, stored RNA may have a function in seed germination that is manifest by polyadenylation. To test this hypothesis, unadenylated RNAs have been identified in Arabidopsis seeds using a microarraybased approach. In addition, mRNA polyadenylation has been studied through the course of germination using a modified RNA-seq strategy. The results indicate that Arabidopsis dry seeds possess a distinctive population of unadenylated RNAs, some of which may become polyadenylated early in the germination process. This study is being extended by examining the polyadenylation of mRNAs in seeds treated with different inhibitors. The goal of the work is to identify stored mRNAs whose polyadenylation status is altered during germination in the presence of general inhibitors of transcription. Progress along these lines will be discussed. __________________________________________ 39. Viral Based Gene Delivery for Targeted Ablation of Brain Peptidergic Neurons Ali Al-Magableh and Robert Lundy* Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville School of Medicine Learning plays a crucial role in the establishment and strengthening of food preference and we hypothesize that specific limbic system neuropeptide pathways play an important role.

Identifying neural mechanisms that mediate learning-dependent alteration of taste preference will further our understanding of how the brain controls eating and overeating. We have identified two neuropeptides, corticotrophin releasing factor

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(CRF) and somatostatin (SS), which are expressed in limbic system neurons that project to a hindbrain neural substrate critical for establishment of taste preference; the pontine parabrachial nucleus. Our goal is to develop an adenoviral system capable of directing expression of nitroreductase gene (NTR) to specific cell populations in the limbic system using Cre recombinase expression driven by CRF and SS promoters in rats. Thus, these specific peptide producing neurons in isolation can be rapidly ablated following treatment with the prodrug CB1954 allowing assessment of their role in central taste processing and learned taste preference. We have recently finished cloning these genes and received the CRF-Cre and lox-STOP-lox/NTRmCherry constructs packaged into Adenovirus5 (Ad5). The results from in vivo and in vitro tests will be presented. __________________________________________ 40. Parameter Estimations of Sigmodial Models of Cancer Ferhan Atici, Mustafa Atici, Ngoc Nguyen*, Nihan Acar, Varun Palli Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Western Kentucky University We give brief introduction to discrete fractional calculus. By using nabla fractional sum and difference operators and N-transform of discrete calculus, we obtain discrete fractional Gompertz and Logistic curves which are known as sigmoidal curves in continuous time. We compare continuous and continuous fractional, discrete and discrete fractional forms of these sigmoidal curves by using the tumor growth data for twenty-eight mice. These control mice were inoculated tumors but did not receive any succeeding treatment. We claim that the discrete fractional and the continuous fractional forms of sigmoidal curves have the best data fitting results when it is compared to the previously used continuous time models. In addition, we use crossvalidation method to show that our parameters serve for the best prediction of the tumor growth. __________________________________________

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BY FOCUS AREA 41. Discovery of a Glucan Phosphatases and Their Roles in Energy Metabolism Matthew S. Gentry*, David A. Meekins, Craig W. Vander Kooi, Satrio Husodo, and Adam O. Taylor Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry and Center for Structural Biology, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky The importance of starch in everyday life cannot be underestimated. It is consumed by humans directly from wheat, corn, potatoes, and rice, and indirectly as feed for livestock. Additionally, starch is converted to ethanol for biofuel production and is a component of multiple industrial products. Many of these industries manipulate starch phosphate content to modify starch viscosity with harsh chemicals during the manufacturing process. In addition, reversible phosphorylation of starch is key to its metabolism. Thus, the genetic manipulation of starch phosphatase impacts both its yield and biophysical properties. Glucan phosphatases (GPs) dephosphorylate glycogen in animals and starch in land plants. Mutations in the gene encoding the human GP laforin results in abnormal, hyperphosphorylated, water-insoluble glucans called Lafora bodies that trigger a fatal neurodegenerative disease. Laforin contains a phosphatase domain and carbohydrate-binding module (CBM). Land plants encode a protein with similar domains, but in the opposite orientation called Starch EXcess4 (SEX4). Loss of SEX4 activity results in increased size of starch granules. Our lab recently determined the crystal structure of SEX4 the mechanism of glucan dephosphorylation. The SEX4 crystal structure identified a previously unknown domain in its carboxy-terminus. The discovery of this domain allowed us to identify an additional member of the GP family called Like Sex Four 2 (LSF2) that contains only a phosphatase domain and the carboxy-terminal domain, lacking a CBM. Although LSF2 lacks a CBM, our data demonstrate that LSF2 binds and dephosphorylates starch. In addition, we show that SEX4 preferentially releases phosphate from the C3 position of glucose, while LSF2 only dephosphorylates the C6 position.

We have identified the orthologs of SEX4 and LSF2 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, cloned the genes, generated amiRNA constructs against the GPs, and

Louisville, Kentucky â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Friday June 1, 2012

purified recombinant Cr-SEX4 and Cr-LSF2. These tools will uncover the role of glucan phosphorylation in green algae. __________________________________________ 42.

Trapping of Nanoparticles with Dielectrophoretic Nanoneedles Nicholas R. Wood, Amanda I. Wolsiefer, Kurtis E. Heacox, Robert W. Cohn, and Stuart J. Williams* University of Louisville Dielectrophoresis is the translation of neutrallycharged particles through an imbalance of induced charge forces in a non-uniform electric field.

Dielectrophoresis can either attract or repel particles, depending on their composition and their surrounding environment.

Positive dielectrophoresis captures particles in the region of the highest electric field gradient whereas negative dielectrophoresis repels particles from these regions. The dielectrophoretic force is directly proportional to the square of the electric field gradient, as well as volume of the particle. As particles decrease in size, the gradient of the electric field must increase rapidly in order to capture or repel the particles. This is especially true for nanoparticles, where Brownian motion dominates. An AC signal was applied to silver gallium (Ag2Ga) nano-probes generating sharp electric field gradients; these were used in conjunction with a planar indium tin oxide (ITO) coated coverslip. The Ag2Ga nano-probes ranged from approximately from 100-500 nm in diameter and were typically positioned less than 40 ?m above the ITO coverslip. Using these electrodes, positive and negative dielectrophoretic forces were able to dominate the other electrokinetic forces acting on sub-micron particles, which were suspended in solutions of various conductivity levels. Positive DEP successfully captured gold colloidal quantum dots as small as 5 nm in diameter, as well as 200 nm polystyrene fluorescent particles. Negative DEP was demonstrated in low conductivity solutions with sub-micron polystyrene fluorescent particles. __________________________________________

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POSTER ABSTRACTS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BY FOCUS AREA 43. MG53 Mediated Myocardial Repair for Ischemic Heart Disease Chuanxi Cai*, Lei Teng, Hiroshi Takeshima, and Jianjie Ma Department of Medicine, Institute of Molecular Cardiology, University of Louisville Ischemic heart disease remains No.1 cause of mortality in the world. Developing novel therapeutic approaches that can directly target the causes of cardiomyocyte death during Ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury will have broad translational potential. We previously found that MG53 is a novel, muscle-specific member of the tripartite motif (TRIM) family of proteins (TRIM72) that contributes to vesicle trafficking in the course of normal cellular physiology. We recently found that MG53 also has the ability to reseal the cardiomyocytes following the acute injury. Our results showed that MG53-mediated membrane resealing plays important role in cardiac pathophysiology. Cardiomyocytes isolated from mg53-/- hearts are more susceptible to hypoxia induced cell death than those from wild type mice as indicated by the more LDH release. While overexpression of MG53 can reduce the amount of cardiomyocyte cell death produced by hypoxia.

When subjected to the oxidative stress induced by H2O2, the increase of LDH release was observed in mg53-/- cells compared to wild type cells, indicating the decrease of membrane repair ability in mg53-/neonatal cardiomyocytes. These studies presented a unique opportunity to rapidly advance the field of regenerative medicine and to make significant progress in translating MG53 into a therapeutic agent for ischemic heart disease. __________________________________________ COMMFUND TECHNOLOGIES: BIOSCIENCES 44. A Self-Feeding Roller Bottle for Continuous Cell Culture James J. Lee* and Eric Berson Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Louisville A self-feeding roller bottle that delivers a

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continuous supply of fresh media to cells in culture, which is mechanically simplistic and works with existing roller apparatuses, has been developed.

The modified bottle proved capable of maintaining steady-state cell densities of a hybridoma cell line over the 10-day period tested. Due to the continuous feed, specific antibody production rate during preliminary testing was 3.7 times the rate in conventional roller bottles. High oxygen levels in the perfused fresh media, a result of the spiroidal pumping liquid delivery system, offers the potential for higher operating volumes and cell mass than in conventional roller bottles. The high antibody production rate can reduce the cost of expensive culture media. The continuous operation can reduce the amount of labor needed to replenish media. The simplicity of the design and ability to work with existing roller apparatuses will allow users to operate continuously without expending capital on complex reactors. The device is very near commercialization stage as there is an existing patent, favorable preliminary data, and an existing market where the customers are already familiar with the product category. __________________________________________ 45. A Non-Contact Low-cost Respiration Monitor Jeffrey Hay*(1), John Kielkopf(1), and John Naber(2) (1)Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville, (2)Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Louisville A novel non-contact electro-optical sensor technology has been developed that accurately measures respiration rates associated with normal breathing. Our respiration monitor, sensitive enough to measure changes in respiratory rates of individuals within a room, utilizes standard video technology easily incorporated into cell phones, web cameras, and baby monitors. When accompanied by an appropriate alarm system, it could warn of breathing irregularities associated with distress in infants and the elderly, complications during surgery, apnea in people and small animals, signal when a mare is about to foal, monitor vital signs for the critically ill, and save lives when a moment's inattention might otherwise end in tragedy. This technology may be incorporated

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA into the latest generations of existing devices to provide an affordable, reliable, yet sensitive product. The device will be marketed for in-home use to monitor infants and the elderly, for exercise monitors, and for veterinary medicine. __________________________________________ 46. A Novel Anticancer Agent with a Companion Predictive Biomarker Paula J. Bates* (1,2), Francesca R. Salipur (2), M. Tariq Malik(1), Gerald B. Hammond(3), Bo Xu(3) (1)Department of Medicine, (2)Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and (3)Department of Chemistry, Univresity of Louisville We have discovered a series of synthetic small molecules with potent antiproliferative activity against certain types of cancer cells. This family of molecules has marked antitumor activity in mouse models of cancer and is unique in several ways, including the unprecedented chemical structure and novel mechanism of action. Most importantly, we have also discovered a molecular biomarker that can predict response to this class of agents. Thus, we envision that these technologies can be developed to create personalized cancer medicines—those patients whose tumors express this biomarker would be selected to receive the therapy, whereas those lacking the marker would be spared from unnecessary treatment.

Furthermore, this biomarker is expressed in a significant proportion of common cancer types— including colon, lung, prostate, and breast cancer— suggesting a very large potential market for this agent. __________________________________________ COMMFUND TECHNOLOGIES: HUMAN HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT 47. Early Diagnosis Differentiation of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Based on Exosomal NonCoding RNA Profiles Douglas D. Taylor*, and Cicek Gercel-Taylor Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, University of Louisville While preterm births account for 12.7% of live births in the US, more than 60% of neonatal Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

mortality results from births occurring prior to 30 weeks gestation. Since micro(mi)RNA and protein profiling of placental biopsies may define pregnancies at risk for be useful in diagnosing preterm birth, our hypothesis is that specific miRNAs and proteins associated with circulating exosomes will exhibit the same utility, in a noninvasive manner, allowing theirits use in screening asymptomatic populations. This study utilized sera from pregnant women at 15-17 weeks gestation, subsequently delivering at term (=37 weeks, n=75) or preterm (26-34 weeks, n=50). These were matched for age, race and BMI. Exosomes were isolated and exosomal total RNA was extracted. miRNAs were isolated and profiled using qRT-PCR arrays for 88 specific miRNAs. Of 88 specific miRNAs, circulating exosomes from preterm pregnancies expressed elevated levels of 18 (>2fold), while 13 miRNAs exhibited diminished levels (>2-fold) versus term pregnancies. Differences in miRNA associated with circulating exosomes can distinguish preterm versus term delivering pregnancies. Gene regulated by miRNA associated with preterm-derived exosomes are associated with cellular compromise/inflammatory response.

Profiling of exosomal miRNA circulating in pregnant women provides early markers predicting preterm birth. __________________________________________ 48. Commercialization of a Decision Support System for Individualized Drug Dosing George Aronoff, Michael Brier, Adam Gaweda, Jon Klein*, and Michael Merchant University of Louisville School of Medicine The Smart Anemia Manager (SAM) is a Clinical Decision Support Tool originally developed to aid in the dosing of the anemia drug, recombinant erythropoietin that is administered to patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease (patients who receive dialysis treatments).

SAM is currently implemented as computer software that reads patient-specific treatment information in electronic form and provides the optimal personalized dose of erythropoietin to achieve appropriate treatment objectives over extended period of time. The treatment objectives,

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POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA tailored to the needs of an individual patient, are provided to SAM by the user, based on physician prescription. The core algorithm behind SAM combines the principles of automatic control theory and artificial intelligence and has been rigorously tested. Using patient-specific treatment data, such as hemoglobin level, hemoglobin rate of change, and erythropoietin dose the algorithm “learns” each patient's erythropoietin response, e.g. good, intermediate, and poor responder, and produces individual dose recommendations that are appropriate for each subpopulation. These recommendations are then combined based on the “learned” patient’s response to derive a personalized dose recommendation. In an early clinical trial, SAM guidance of erythropoietin dosing resulted in a 35% decrease in the amount of drug given, while patient blood counts were unchanged.

The core SAM technology in its current form can be readily utilized to support erythropoietin dosing recommendations in oncology and HIV patients suffering from anemia of chronic disease. The algorithms underlying SAM can be adapted to guide dosing of any drug that is dosed repeatedly, such as insulin or warfarin. __________________________________________ 49. Novel Degradable Antioxidant Polymers to Combat Oxidative Stress Nihar M. Shah*, J. Zach Hilt, and Thomas D. Dziubla Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky Oxidative stress is a key process in numerous pathological conditions (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma, and chronic ulcerations). Oxidants produced by cells damage tissue, inducing a vicious cycle of inflammation, edema, thrombosis and dysfunction, further propagating the primary disease conditions. Additionally, the biomaterialinduced inflammatory response is inextricably linked to cellular oxidative stress, where inflammatory cells release a plethora of cytokines, and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS & RNS). Strategies which can suppress this localized oxidative toxicity can theoretically extend the biocompatibility window for a variety of degradable materials. Studies have demonstrated that inclusion

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of antioxidants in the polymer chains can suppress biomaterial-induced inflammation and oxidative stress. However, this method suffers from a low percentage of antioxidant content compared to the bulk material as the polymer chemistries do not allow for incorporation of large amounts or a wide range of antioxidants. We have recently developed an antioxidant polymer platform based on the poly(ß-amino ester) (PBAE) chemistry, which allows incorporation of a wide variety of antioxidant within the polymer backbone. We have successfully incorporated two naturally-derived antioxidants, quercetin and curcumin, within the PBAE polymers.

The PBAE antioxidant polymers degrades in the presence of water and release the native quercetin or curcumin molecules that can scavenge ROS to protect the local environment from oxidative stress.

We can easily tune the speed at which the polymer degrades, and have experimentally shown that polymers containing either quercetin or curcumin protect cells derived from blood vessels from oxidative stress. __________________________________________ COMMFUND TECHNOLOGIES: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS 50. Closed System Container Wireless Monitoring Ashok Kumar, Siddhartha Bhattacharyya, and Patrick Garrity* Department of Computer Science, Kentucky State University Wireless sensor technology (WST) involves a collection of specialized sensors designed to remotely monitor and collect information on an important product or material found in a specific location or space. For example, WST may be employed for monitoring a “closed system” container of liquid like the contents of a barrel of aging bourbon. The use of WST allows for immediate (real-time) monitoring of important physical parameters in the container. The collected data can be analyzed to perform real-time monitoring of important industrial processes. The development of an integrated, wireless sensor system for the real-time monitoring of a container’s

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS – BY FOCUS AREA content is central to the implementation of an automated response system. We plan to develop an automated response system using WST in order to monitor the contents of the closed containers for long periods of time. This innovative WST monitoring system will save the distillery industry the expensive and often unsafe manual monitoring practice currently in use. __________________________________________

demonstrations to seek additional sources of funding for commercialization. __________________________________________

51. Security Pre-Processor for Industrial Control Systems Jeffrey L. Hieb*, James H. Graham, Nathan Armentrout, and Kyle Moss J.B. Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville

Peaklet Analysis is a software package for the analysis of spectra created through a joint venture between the WKU Research Foundation and HitCents, Inc. We will provide a listing of our commercialization efforts, supported by COMMFUND-1280-RFP-011, and the analysis we have provided to prospective licensees in support of this effort. A patent is currently pending on the algorithm used in this software. More information and a free downloadable demonstration version of the software, along with sample files and a user’s guide, are available at www.peakletanalysis.com. __________________________________________

The Field Device Security Pre-processor is a security hardened add-on cyber-security enhancement for industrial control system field devices. Field devices are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, and generally lack cyber-security features. For legacy systems, which account for a significant portion of industrial control systems,it is generally not possible to add security features to existing equipment. The Security Preprocessor providesmuch needed cyber-security for field devices. The Security Pre-processor adds sender authentication, accesscontrol, and message modification and replay attack prevention. The Security Pre-processor is securityhardened using technology developed by Hieb and Graham (Patent pending: Patent Application # 12726105). This architecture isolates network code, including hardware drivers, from security enforcing software and field equipment side software. Network drivers and network parsing software, if attacked, are prevented from reading or modifying security functions, security data, and field side control software. This limited interaction, provided by a state of the art micro-kernel (OKL4), dramatically increases the security of the device by substantially reducing the trusted computing base or TCB. The Security Pre-processor will be a high assurance device, with verified security features.

Commercialization funds will be used to build a brass-board prototype based on an existing proof of concept prototype. The brass-board prototype will be used for field testing and validation as well as for

Louisville, Kentucky – Friday June 1, 2012

52.

Peaklet Analysis: A Summary of Commercialization Efforts and Analysis Capabilities Bruce Kessler* Department of Mathematics, Western Kentucky University

53. Aerial Radio Repeater James Gantt(1), Michael Bowman(2), John Hart(3), and Randall Winchester*(1) (1)Center for Telecommunications Systems Management, Murray State University, (2)Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, Murray State University, (3)Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology, Murray State University.

During large scale natural events (hurricanes, earthquakes, ice storms, Tsunami, floods, tornados, etc.) or man-made events (terrorism, nuclear releases, etc.) emergency radio communications can be compromised. If emergency responders are unable to communicate then the response is severely impacted. This project will commercialize a low cost, lightweight, low power, radio repeater system that has been successfully prototyped and tested at Murray State University. The end result will be a portable radio repeater system for the national interoperability radio channels in the Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (VHF) Bands. The repeater will be extremely

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POSTER ABSTRACTS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BY FOCUS AREA lightweight and is targeted for fast aerial deployment at an incident, event or exercise using a small aerostat or inflatable mast. This will enable multiple agencies to have an interoperability communications platform that is adaptable to the needs of the response team. This project includes equipment construction, repeater integration and packaging with target weights of less than five pounds for the initial package and two pounds for the final package. __________________________________________ 54. ResponderLink James Gantt*(1), Michael Bowman(2), Fred Miller(3), and Randall Winchester(1) (1)Center for Telecommunications Systems Management, Murray State University, (2)Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, Murray State University, (3)Department of Management, Marketing and Business Administration , Murray State University Public safety agencies and companies that use radio networks need the ability to communicate during operational activities such as critical incident responses and mutual aid events. The ability to communicate is often hindered or made impossible by incompatible radio equipment or radio frequencies. In such cases, responders are unable to communicate directly with each other. The communication challenge becomes more complex when additional agencies are added to the event.

As the mix of radio manufacturers, bands, frequencies and modes used by response agencies increases, communication capabilities decline, ultimately impacting an effective response.

Manually relaying communications through the dispatcher or Incident Command results in lost time or corrupted information. This leads to additional problems in response. In many cases, existing radio intercommunications systems require dispatcher or command personnel to operate them, tying up a critical resource during a response event. The end result is that incident response personnel fall back on methods that are costly in terms of time and resources to communicate indirectly between agencies. The Center for Telecommunications Systems Management at Murray State University

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has developed an interoperability gateway solution known as ResponderLink. This system is a software solution with minimal hardware requirements that links radio equipment using RoIP (Radio over Internet Protocol) and also links the radio networks to the telephone system using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) for maximum flexibility. It uses voice command technology to allow full control of the link by the end user in the field. __________________________________________ COMMFUND TECHNOLOGIES: ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 55. Energy Harvesting For Low Vibration Wireless Sensing Ji-Tzuoh (George) Lin*, and Bruce Alphenaar Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Louisville Energy harvesting often involves in periods of sleep and active modes programmed by a microcontroller that manages the circuit function. It could be challenging in cases only limited power is available and recovered from the waste source of our environment. Especially when the energy harvested could not afford the microcontrollerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power consumption. In this study, the power managing strategy is to use low leakage MEMS switch to discharge and activate wireless sensors. Although MEMS switch requires the least quiescent current to work so all of the harvested energy can be stored, it also requires high actuation voltage which can be provided by our innovative piezoelectric energy harvester. The phase-synched piezoelectric energy harvester for harvesting usable power from low-level ambient vibration levels has been built and tested. The energy harvester provide many times higher voltage magnitude than a single cantilever of the same total area. Combined with the voltage boosting energy harvester and low leakage managing circuit, the wireless transmission is realized from the 10 mG level vibration energy harvesting. The energy harvester module could be compatible with commercial available wireless sensing products. This study not only realized the applications for wireless sensors using low vibration

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012

POSTER ABSTRACTS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BY FOCUS AREA energy harvesting but provides a platform for ultralow quiescent current energy harvesting. __________________________________________ 56. Remotely Operated Submersible Vehicle Stacy Wilson*, Ron Rizzo*, Wil Clouse Western Kentucky University A new remotely operated submersible vehicle has been designed for underwater exploration. This vehicle is based on an original prototype that was developed to aid the search and rescue community in underwater searches that could be dangerous for divers. The new system was created by expanding the function of the original prototype. The submersible vehicle system has applications in many areas such as search and rescue, bridge inspection, cave exploration, recreation, and homeland security. The system was designed to be small, portable, easily deployed, and inexpensive.

The submersible vehicle system is composed of two subsystems, a vehicle and controller, which are connected via tether to relay power and control information between the controller and the vehicle.

The system uses DC power and thus does not require a generator to operate as compared to many existing commercial submersible vehicles. The system is also significantly less expensive than submersible vehicle systems already on the market.

An additional benefit of the new system is that the customer has three different system options available to meet their specific needs. __________________________________________ COMMFUND TECHNOLOGIES: MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ADVANCED MANUFACTURING 57. Nickel Supported on Zinc Oxide Nanowires as Advanced Hydrodesulfurization Catalysts Franz G. Petzold, Jacek Jasinski, Ezra L. Clark, Jeong H. Kim,a,b Jason Absher, Helge Toufar, Mahendra K. Sunkara* Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, University of Louisville; Advanced Energy Materials; Sud-Chemie Inc. A novel catalyst with deep hydrodesulfurization

Louisville, Kentucky â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Friday June 1, 2012

(HDS) capabilities was tested with the aim of producing ultra-low sulfur diesel oil. The catalyst consisted of a zinc oxide nanowire (ZnO NW)/alumina carrier impregnated with nickel (Ni) as the active phase. Based on the concept of reactive adsorption, it was hypothesized that enhanced metal-support interactions and short diffusion paths between Ni and ZnO NWs could lead to improved activity and sulfur uptake capacity. Long ZnO NWs (10-15 microns) were produced in bulk quantities using an atmospheric plasma jet reactor.

In-situ heating studies of Ni impregnated ZnO NW samples revealed better Ni dispersion, greater Nisupport interaction, and smaller Ni particle sizes when compared to a support comprised of spherical ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). The reactive adsorbent was tested for on-stream sulfur uptake with model diesel oil spiked with difficult-to-remove organic sulfur species. The data indicated high activity for deep de-sulfurization in the initial stages but the catalyst deactivated via coking after 16 hours. The coking appears to be due to cracking of aromatic species present in the model oil in the absence of adsorbed surface hydrogen. The initial activity of the catalyst with modest composition of nickel loading indicated the potential utility of the catalyst system involving ZnO NWs as support. __________________________________________ 58. Strengthening of Concrete Bridges Using CatStrong Issam Harik* and Abheetha Peiris University of Kentucky The application of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites for the repair and rehabilitation of concrete structural members has numerous benefits over the traditional methods (e.g., enlarging the section, etc.). Carbon FRPs (CFRPs) have been preferred over other FRP material for strengthening of steel structures since CFRPs tend to posses higher stiffness. This research analytically and experimentally investigates the bond characteristics of CFRP carbon rods, the development of the CatStrong CFRP rod panels, and the flexural behavior of concrete members strengthened with CatStrong. Flexural tests are carried out under 4-point bending on several small

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POSTER ABSTRACTS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BY FOCUS AREA scale reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CatStrong. Field application of CatStrong was carried out on two bridges in Kentucky. __________________________________________ LATE SUBMISSIONS 59. Stochastic Modeling for Automated Response Technology (SMART) with Applications to Climate and Energy Craig Dickson(1), Stuart Foster(2), Kyle Moss(3), Anoop Paidipally(1), Jonathan Quiton*(1,2,3), William Ray (4)and Phillip Womble(3) (1)Department of Veterinary Science, University of Kentucky, (2)Frontier BioPharm, (3)Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky In this poster, we present our stochastic modeling approach for automating responses in terms of providing timely reports or information needed for climate interpolation and energy use allocation. We will present the main features of our three technologies: the SMART-map, the SMART-power and the SMART-switch and their potential impact on service users and providers. Current and future work are discussed.

60. Anatomical Evidence of Photoreceptor Degeneration in P23H Mutant Rhodopsin Transgenic Hybrid Swine Henry J. Kaplan*, Patrick A. Scott Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville

induces PR degeneration in swine eyes, as well as the progression and topographical distribution of PR degeneration in the P23H transgenic hybrid swine.

Methods: P23H swine and age-matched wild type (wt) controls were euthanized at post-natal days (D) 3, 14, 25, 30, 60, 90, and 120. Eyes were enucleated and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde in PO4 buffer.

Each group contained 1 wt eye and at least 1 transgenic eye. Posterior eyecups containing the retina were bisected along the vertical and horizontal meridians and processed for light microscopy. To quantify PR degeneration, rows of nuclei in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and inner nuclear layer (INL) were counted at specific locations along the vertical and horizontal meridian.

Results: With the exception of D3, significant reductions in the mean number of rows of nuclei in the ONL were found in all P23H pigs, and ONL reduction appears to be related temporally. D90 and D120 P23H pigs were most severely affected, with only a single row of nuclei remaining in the ONL. The INL was minimally disturbed, with small but significant increases in the number of nuclei in D90 and D120 P23H pigs, as compared to wt.

Conclusions: P23H transgenic hybrid swine exhibit morphological changes to rod photoreceptors that are evident shortly after birth, followed by progressive dropout of rods across the retina. This may be a useful model for development of intervention therapies that can eventually be applied to humans with PR degeneration.

Purpose: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited retinal degeneration that causes progressive loss of rod photoreceptors (PR), affecting cones later in the disease. While rodent models of retinal degeneration have bettered our understanding of inherited retinal disease, differences in eye size, retinal anatomy and physiology, render many of these models ill-suited for studying retinal intervention therapies intended for man. Because the swine eye closely resembles the human eye, our group has created transgenic hybrid swine with the most common autosomal dominant rhodopsin mutation, Proline-23-Histidine (P23H).

We investigated whether the P23H rhodopsin mutation

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Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference 2012