4th Annual INNOVATE AWARDS
and
Induction into Patent Wall of Fame
2012
2013
2014
AGENDA
• Welcome & Introduction of Guests: Dr. Helena S. Wisniewski, Vice
Provost for Research and Graduate Studies, Dean Graduate School,
Executive Director, DHS National COE CMR.
• Opening remarks: Chancellor Tom Case
• Select Accomplishments & Special Announcement
• Induction into Patent Wall of Fame – Chancellor Case & Dr.
Wisniewski
• Presentation of Awards – Vice Chancellor Spindle & Dr. Wisniewski
• Wrap- up
AGENDA
•
For those of you who do not know me I am the Vice Provost for Research and Graduate studies, and I would like to extend a
warm WELCOME to:
•
Chancellor Case; Honorable Arlis Sturgulewski; Special Agent Kajetan Grochier; Incoming Interim Provost Gingrich; Vice
Chancellor Spindle; Deans, Directors, Associate Deans and Department Chairs, Faculty, Friends and
•
Very importantly - Award Recipients!
•
Thank you everyone for coming the 4th Annual Innovate Awards Ceremony and Patent Wall of Fame Induction.
•
I am really excited about this evening, and when I started these awards 3 year ago I hoped that they would realize great
achievements and it has exceeded my expectations – and you will see examples of these achievements this evening.
•
I am also glad to share that, through the years, the projects have been inclusive of all the UAA colleges, and campuses, and
celebrate research and creative works.
•
It takes many people to make an endeavor successful. But I would like to give a special heartfelt thanks to Chancellor Case and
Provost Baker, and our previous Provost Driscoll for their exceptional support of these awards over the years. Also to my Vice
Provost Research Council for Research and Creative Works for their dedication to review the proposals and uphold high
competitive standards. And of course, thanks to my staff
•
Now I would like to ask Chancellor Case to provide Opening Remarks - Chancellor Case
Select
Accomplishments
• Dr. Aaron Dotson – Advanced Water Treatment Research
• Dr. Tim Smith – Eye Tracking Technology Research
• Dr. Colin McGill and Dr. Eric Murphy – Malate
Supplementation Improves Memory
• Special Announcement
Special Announcement
•
In 2013, together with the faculty inventors, I formed UAA’s first two startup companies.
•
Tonight, I am please to announce the formation of our third startup company –
COGNICEUTIC SOLUTIONS, LLC
•
The Company Purpose: Research and development of nutritional therapies/interventions
to improve memory and cognition, and to increase levels of ATP and decrease redox stress.
•
Support for the research that led to this incorporation was in part supported by the Innovate
Awards – and hence appropriate to announce this evening.
•
I have enjoyed witnessing the progression from isolating the compounds to achieving
statistically significant results from testing in aged rats.
•
So, I am proud to present the Certificate and the Articles of Organization to:
•
Inventors/co- founders – Dr. Colin McGill and Dr. Eric Murphy.
•
Congratulations!
Induction into
Patent Wall of Fame
• This year a special induction into the patent wall of fame our FIRST Student will be inducted –
• Alexandra West – she now has graduated and works for
PND Engineers, But filed the patent as a student.
• Her Patent –Fish Carcass Disposal System
• Presentation by: Chancellor Case and Dr. Wisniewski
• Alexandra West - acceptance
2015 AWARD PRESENTATIONS
• Dr. Spindle, Vice Chancellor, Administrative Services and
Dr. Wisniewski - will present the awards.
Instructions:
• As your name is called please proceed to the front of the
room and stand next to Dr. Spindle.
• Remain until the description of your work is completed, to
pose for a picture with Dr. Wisniewski and Dr. Spindle.
Reprogramming Immunosuppressive Cells in Tumors
by Targeted Delivery of All-Trans Retinoic Acid
TEAM: Dr. Max Kullberg (WWAMI School of Medical Education) and
Ms. Hui-Ching Kuo (Biological Sciences)
• IMPACT: The goal of this work is to overcome barriers in drug
delivery for immunotherapy cancer treatments that fail to reduce
tumor growth and metastasis.
• The team has an innovative approach to liposomal delivery systems
that will improve T-cell activation leading to tumor regression.
Under this award this system will be tested using primary cell
culture to prepare for treatment of a tumor animal model.
• Given the current excitement about immunotherapies and this
innovative technique, the results generated under this award will put
the team in a strong position to pursue a high end publication
(Nature Nano Technology), and extramural funding from NIH.
Microbiogeochemical Cycling of Mercury in
Subglacial Environments
TEAM: Dr. Birgit Hagedorn (Environmental and Natural Resources Institute) and
Collaborator Dr. Fred Rainey (Biological Sciences).
•
IMPACT: Recent studies show that total oxidized mercury (THg) and
monomethylmercury (MMHg) are increasing in Arctic and Subarctic marine fish
and mammals despite the fact that atmospheric mercury levels are constant.
•
This suggests the production and/or release of stored MMHg may be related to
the increase of glacial melting, which will be the focus of this project.
•
This interdisciplinary approach will be the first study combining microbial and
biogeochemical analyses to develop fundamental insights on the production of
MMHg in subglacial environments.
•
Considering the high melting rates of glaciers in Alaska, documenting the
production of MMHg will improve understanding of mercury cycling locally and
globally. The data set of this project will be submitted to NSF for external
funding.
Sowing Seeds and Harvesting Community: Increasing
Food Security in Anchorage by Expanding
Community Gardens
• TEAM: Dr. Shannon Donovan (Geography and Environmental
Studies)
• IMPACT: Food Security is an important issue for Alaska.
Therefore, the purpose of this project is to form a partnership
between the Municipality of Anchorage and UAA to understand
the needs and opportunities for improving food security and
increasing community capacity in the greater region.
• The long-term goal is to develop a range of programs and projects
that can serve as a model to for increasing community capacity
and improving food security in urban and/or weather-challenged
areas.
Language Revitalization and Culturally Sustaining
Practices in Education through Writers’ Workshop.
TEAM: Dr. Cathy Coulter (Elementary Education) and Co-PI, Dr.
Irasema Ortega (Elementary Education)
• IMPACT: As Alaska Native Elders pass away and western
contact continues to encroach on Alaska Native villages, the
preservation of language and ancestral knowledge is an important
matter.
• Therefore, the goal of this project is to catalyze linguistic
revitalization will be published in a book and a peer reviewed
article.
• The outcomes of the project will be used in a grant proposal to the
Department of Education Office of Indian Education Professional
Development.
A Biomimetic Alternative to High-End Fabricated Polymeric
Foams: Feasilibity Study of Native White-Rot Fungi-Based
Insulation Material for Geoengineering Applications
TEAM: Dr. Philippe Amstislavski (Department of Health Sciences) with
Co-PI Dr. Joey Yang, Civil Engineering
• IMPACT: Currently, factory-produced foamed polystyrene, is used
extensively for thermal insulation in the cold regions.
•
The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to develop a methodology to
produce a fungi-based composite that meets the key requirements for
thermal insulation in the cold regions.
• This will lead to environmentally-friendly thermal insulation for
infrastructure construction.
• The PI was invited, by the Program Director of the NSF Environmental
Engineering Program to submit a NSF EAGER proposal following the
bench-top testing of the concept, which is the focus of the current award.
Dissociating the roles of intestinal bacteria and
learned anticipatory responses to sweet tastes in
producing harmful effects of artificial sweeteners.
TEAM:PI Dr. Gwen Lupfer (Psychology) and Co-PI Dr. Khrys Duddleston (Biological
Sciences)
•
Impact: Obesity is one of the most serious health. As a result, artificial non-caloric sweeteners
have permeated our food supply. Research now reveals the following problems: instead of
preventing obesity, these additives can increase weight gain by altering resident intestinal
bacterial composition and/or by disrupting normal anticipatory hormonal responses to sweet
tastes; and that the abnormal weight gain is retained even after artificial sweeteners are removed
from the diet.
•
The following question is important to understanding these problems: Can artificial sweetenerinduced alteration in weight control physiology be reversed by (1) relearning normal
conditioned responses to sweet tastes and/or by (2) re-establishing the normal flora of the gut?
•
This project will address this question by separating learning of how sweet tastes predict caloric
content from gut bacterial composition. Only by understanding the independent and interactive
influences of learned anticipatory responses and gut microbes on weight regulation can
appropriate treatments for overweight humans who consume artificial sweeteners be developed.
Talking Anchorage: An Investigation of Local
Identity in Urban Alaska
TEAM: Dr. Clare Dannenberg (English/Anthropology) and Dr. David
Bowie (English).
• IMPACT: Sociolinguistic researchers accounts of language variation
assume urban areas are linguistically monolithic. However, a recent
pilot study of certain neighborhoods in Anchorage indicates that local
identity is a factor for language variation in urban environments.
• Therefore, this project will investigate whether (1) urban areas are
linguistically uniform; or (2) urban areas are linguistically
differentiated based on neighborhood or occur in unexpected spaces.
• The results of the project will be used for a National Science
Foundation proposal in the 2016 mid-year cycle.
Tables of Istanbul
TEAM: Dr. Zeynep Kilic (Sociology)
• IMPACT: This project will produce a documentary film of
how globalization, ethnic/religious identities, migration, and
social class reveal themselves through food.
• This study is significant since it examines food, using
rigorous social science research methods within a cultural
studies frame.
• The film will be submitted to film festivals, and results will
be presented in a Conference paper and journal article.
UAA Winter Design Know How Book
TEAM: Dr. Herminia Din (Art)
(Dr. Din is a Keynote speaker at the Nordic Digital Excellence in Museums
Conference, in Warsaw, Poland so accepting on her behalf is her Department
Chair Dr Steve Godfrey).
• IMPACT: This project aligns with the current interest in the
Arctic and in collaboration with the University of the Arctic
(UA) Thematic Network on Arctic Sustainable Arts & Design
(ASAD).
• The book will strengthen UAA participation in the U-Arctic
Thematic Network and will inspire further artistic creation
and/or creative solution with a truly sustainable medium.
Consumer Preference and Market Potentials for
Alaska Salmon in China
TEAM: Dr. Angie Zheng (Economics and Public Policy), Dr. Yonggang Lu (Information
Systems and Decision Sciences), and Dr. Holly Wang (Agricultural Economics,
Purdue University)
•
IMPACT: In 2011, China was a top export market for Alaska, with salmon
accounting for its primary seafood export. China can provide Alaska with
significant economic growth potential through expanded trade.
• This project will assess the emerging demand for Alaska salmon in the
Chinese market by evaluating Chinese consumers’ preferences for various
product attributes using a well-established choice experiment methodology.
• This assessment can benefit local seafood producers in Alaska on how to
achieve maximum penetration into the Chinese market and to increase the
competitiveness of the Alaska seafood industry in the international market.