Purdue researchers land Trask Innovation Fund awards
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A pair of Purdue University researchers has received a total of nearly $100,000 to further develop their innovations, one a drought-resistant soybean plant and the other a new arthritis treatment.
Gyeong Mee Yoon of the College of Agriculture and Herman Sintim of the College of Science each were awarded funds from the Trask Innovation Fund administered by the Purdue Innovates Incubator, the university said this week. Each also received funding in an earlier round.
Yoon leads a team conducting research on agriculture that is resilient to climate change. They have been incorporating their technology into soybean plants.
“The average costs associated with droughts and heat waves have been estimated at $6.4 billion annually, and 47.33% of the contiguous United States is currently under the influence of drought conditions,” she said in a news release.
Yoon, an associate professor in the botany and plant pathology department, received $45,335 from the fund. She received $25,000 in the fall 2022 round of funding.
Sintim leads a team developing patent-pending compounds that potentially inhibit a protein shown to play a key role in arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis.
“Current medications for arthritis include expensive biologics and small-molecule drugs, typically anti-inflammatory drugs, which are not effective for a large proportion of arthritis patients,” he said.
Sintim, a chemistry professor, received $50,000 from the fund. He received $50,000 in the fall 2023 round of funding.
Funding recipients can receive up to $50,000 for their initial project and may reapply a maximum of three times to receive up to $100,000 to support the same technology, the university said.