4 JHU professors received the Bisciotti Foundation Translational Fund’s first grants

Four Johns Hopkins University professors are receiving support for research through a new fund designed to support discoveries on a path toward commercialization.

The Bisciotti Foundation Translational Fund, created with suppbiort from the foundation started by Baltimore Ravens owner and Aerotek/Allegis Group founder Stephen Bisciotti and his wife Renee, is providing $300,000 annually. Awards range from $25,000 to $100,000, and work is completed over nine months.

Johns Hopkins Tech Ventures (JHTV) received 17 applications, and finalists presented work to an outside panel.

“We were pleased with the diverse set of technologies represented among the applicants and awardees, from solar cells to surgical tools to cancer therapies,” says Nina Urban, associate director of FastForward, JHTV’s startup program. “This represents the breadth and depth of Hopkins innovation.”

Here’s a quick look at the recipients, per JHTV:

• Susanna Thon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, created concentrators for next-generation solar cells that are designed to make solar energy cheaper and more widely deployable. They maximize light output in these new kinds of solar cells.
• Edward James Wright III, chief of urology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, is developing a disposable medical device to repair a urethral stricture without invasive surgery, according to JHTV.
• Warren Grayson, associate professor in JHU’s department of biomedical engineering, is creating a new way to repair facial bone loss from cancer using stem cells and 3D-printed scaffolds.
• Tian-Li Wang, a professor of pathology, oncology and gynecology/obstetrics, is developing a molecule that can treat ovarian cancer.

The fund is a sign of more resources being made available for commercialization activities among JHU faculty at both the university and medical centers. With the school’s stature as a top research university, officials are making a push to create more startups to take those discoveries to market.