VCU news

Barbara D. Boyan, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering

Woon-Hong Yeo, Ph.D., assistant professor, School of Engineering

Keith Ellis, Ph.D., assistant professor, School of Pharmacy

The Center for Innovative Technology has made a substantial investment in research commercialization initiatives in the School of Engineering and School of Pharmacy. Boyan, Yeo and Ellis received grants totaling $448,585 in the 2016 round of the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund awards. 

“We will continue to support emerging sectors that are pushing the boundaries of exciting research and development to help build the new Virginia economy,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in his announcement of the CRCF awards, which totaled $3.4 million in funding to support 48 initiatives in targeted areas of research commercialization, including cybersecurity, energy, data analytics, unmanned systems and life sciences.

Boyan will use her $250,000 award to support VCU’s pharmaceutical engineering initiative. The CRCF funds together with matching support from GlaxoSmithKline and the School of Engineering are funding the recruitment of Thomas Roper, Ph.D., an eminent researcher with proven skills in pharmaceutical manufacturing, research excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration. The award also supports establishment of a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical engineering laboratory under Roper’s supervision. This is VCU’s first CRCF award in the eminent scholar category.

The $98,585 CRCF grant awarded to Yeo will support development of a prototype, skin-wearable electrocardiogram monitor. The device, SKINTRONICS, uses nanomaterials to produce mechanically flexible and stretchable skin-like electronics. The device will also measure real-time ECG and physical activity on a smartphone app. SKINTRONICS is an improvement over the wearable ECGs available today, which are bulky, rigid and not ideal for babies or elderly patients with fragile skin.

Ellis will use his $100,000 award to develop a new methodology for carbon-hydrogen activation, a process that is highly sought after in the pharmaceutical industry. C-H activation offers drug manufacturers atom economy, cost savings and synthetic utility, but is currently in limited use because available methodologies have slow reaction kinetics and residual palladium contamination. They also fail to operate on an ingredient’s hydrogen atoms in a controlled, rational manner.

Ellis has devised a new C-H activation methodology that solves all three problems. It applies chelation to address the problem of molecule selectivity, and oxidative palladium catalysis to deliver faster reaction rates. The resulting active pharmaceutical ingredients have palladium levels well below the U. S. Food and Drug Administration cutoff.

These three commercialization grants position VCU to support national mandates to increase U.S. leadership in global manufacturing, which include research and development in pharmaceutical engineering.

Joseph Ornato, M.D., chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine

Ornato has been selected as the recipient of the 2016 Clinical Research Prize of the American Heart Association. The prize is awarded each year in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of cardiovascular science. Ornato was honored for his accomplishments during the Opening Session Ceremony of the AHA Scientific Sessions on Nov. 13 in New Orleans. 

Richard T. Marconi, Ph.D., professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine

Marconi has been appointed to serve on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Global Lyme Alliance. 

Well-recognized for his diverse research accomplishments, Marconi co-developed a canine Lyme disease vaccine that was licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in January. He is currently focused on developing a human Lyme disease vaccine and new diagnostic tests for the disease.

The Global Lyme Alliance is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure and accurate test for Lyme disease as well as educating physicians and the public about the dangers of Lyme. The organization funds research and expands education programs for the general public and physicians.

“Dr. Marconi brings an unparalleled expertise in vaccine development and genetic regulatory studies in spirochetal diseases to the scientific advisory board,” said GLA’s Chief Scientific Officer Harriet Kotsoris, M.D. “We are so fortunate to have him on board.”

James Levenson, M.D., professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine

Levenson and Stephen Ferrando, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at New York Medical College, have edited the second edition of “Clinical Manual of Psychopharmacology in the Medically Ill.” 

According to the publisher’s description, “The new edition of Clinical Manual of Psychopharmacology in the Medically Ill continues the legacy and builds on the success of the first edition by offering a thoroughly up-to-date, comprehensive, and practical guide to the prescription of psychotropic medications in patients with medical illness. The book addresses the prevalence of psychiatric illness in patients with serious medical illness, the complications that may arise, and the implications for psychopharmacological treatment.”

Levenson has published more than 175 papers and book chapters as well as four books, including “Psychiatry Essentials for Primary Care” and “The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine.” His scholarly interests include psychiatric disorders and their treatment in the medically ill and psychological factors’ effects on health care utilization and medical ethics.

Rong Huang, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy

Huang has been awarded a five-year, $1.5 million grant by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Science.

The project is titled “Protein N-terminal Methylation Mechanisms and Inhibition.” The overall objective of the research is to study the mechanism and recognition of protein alpha-N-terminal methylation.

Alpha-N-terminal methylation plays an essential role in regulating cell mitosis, chromatin interactions and DNA repair. “Its level is increased as a response of cellular stress, aging and developmental processes,” Huang said.

The project’s long-term goals are to elucidate the biochemical pathways mediated by protein alpha-N-terminal methylation that contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer and developmental defects and to develop potent and specific chemical inhibitors to examine the therapeutic potentials.

Huang joined the School of Pharmacy faculty in 2011. She also is a member of the Institute for Structural Biology, Drug Discovery and Development and an associate member of VCU Massey Cancer Center. After earning her Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry at Purdue University, she completed postdoctoral work in chemical biology at Johns Hopkins University.