Galway research receives commercialisation support
Galway research projects on Parkinson’s disease and antimicrobial resistant infections are among those set to receive commercialisation funding. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor has announced funding to facilitate the commercialisation of eight research projects from NUI Galway.
The projects have been funded through the SFI Technology Innovation Development Award (TIDA) programme, which is run in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland and supports researchers undertaking applied research projects that demonstrate potential for strong economic impact.
A total of €782,279 was awarded to NUI Galway in areas of research including renewable energies and sustainable agriculture.
Professor Lokesh Joshi, Vice President for Research at NUI Galway, welcomed the awards, “Our research often leads to the development of a new or innovative technology, product, process or services. This funding will give these eight researchers the opportunity to demonstrate the technical feasibility of their idea and the commercial opportunities associated with their work. There is huge potential here for both economic and societal impact.”
The NUI Galway research activities awarded funding are:
– Dr Brian Ward, School of Physics, College of Science, NUI Galway – Development of an instrument to improve the characterisation of turbulence at tidal energy sites, to assist the tidal renewable energy industry in optimising turbine efficiency.
– Professor James O’Gara, School of Natural Sciences, NUI Galway – Evaluate new antimicrobials, biomaterials and therapeutic approaches for the treatment and prevention of antimicrobial resistant infections.
– Dr Sara Farrona, School of Natural Sciences, NUI Galway – The use of beneficial microorganisms to increase crop resistance and yield under SFI’s Sustainable Agriculture category – Enhancing plant growth and resilience by Ensifer – mediated seed priming
– Professor Paul Murphy, College of Science, NUI Galway – Design and synthesis of carbohydrate based therapies for fibrosis.
– Dr Daniel O’Toole, College of Medicine, NUI Galway – Development of a nebulised recombinant SOD protein for acute respiratory distress syndrome.
– Dr Thomas Barry, School of Natural Science, NUI Galway – Culture independent diagnostics technologies for the rapid detection of Non Tuberculosis Mycobacteria associated with water distribution system contamination.
– Dr Andrew Flaus, School of Natural Sciences, NUI Galway – Optimised chromatin substrates for epigenetic drug screening.
– Dr Leo Quinlan, School of Medicine, NUI Galway – Electrical stimulation cueing for freezing of gait correction in people with Parkinson’s disease.
