Now that I have highlighted three of the twelve research projects that reached the technology transfer phase of their development and filed invention disclosures with the Indiana University Research and Technology Corp. (IURTC), I will wrap up this series of blogs by highlighting one last project. I have enjoyed the opportunity to share a few of the projects that contributed to the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute’s (Indiana CTSI) record-setting year for supported research projects being sufficiently developed to initiate technology transfer activities. The first three blogs highlighted an autism research project, a new approach to the treatment of bacterial infections, and a novel method to analyze dental “biofilm” for cavity risk.
The fourth and final project I would like to feature is a brand new method to prevent hot flashes, a highly distressing symptom commonly experienced by women during menopause, developed by Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D., Raymond E. Houk Professor in Psychiatry, and Philip Johnson, Ph.D., assistant research professor of psychiatry, both of the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Shekhar also serves as the director of the Indiana CTSI. The project received about $26,000 in support from the Preclinical Project Development Team in 2010 to explore the mechanism of hot flashes, which directly led to the breakthrough discovery of the stimuli that solicit hot flashes and the corresponding therapeutic approach to preventing them. Thank you for tuning in for each posting in the series on Indiana CTSI/IURTC-supported projects.