The Michigan State University Research Foundation and Michigan State University have announced the recipients of the 2024 Strategic Partnership Grants. This important funding mechanism supports promising new initiatives in key areas of research, scholarship, and multidisciplinary collaboration. Successful concepts aim to promote productive and sustained collaborations at MSU, leading to significant external funding and driving ideas with long-term impact. The SPG Program is jointly funded by the MSU Research Foundation and MSU colleges. Following a rigorous internal peer review process conducted by MSU faculty and research administrators, the top five proposals were submitted to the Foundation’s grants committee for presentation and review.
Three proposals were selected for funding:
- Farm-to-Table: A Novel Promethium-149 Radiotheranostic for Prostate Cancer Therapy
- Radiation-Hardened Phased Array Technology For 6G Non-Terrestrial Networks
- Predictive Machine Learning Infrastructure of the 3D Human Genome Integrated with Synthetic Biology to Boost Early Disease Diagnostics
“The SPG program is a vital tool for supporting early-stage research with potential for external funding or commercial application,” said Doug Gage, the university’s Vice President for Research and Innovation. “Thanks to the support of the MSU Research Foundation, leading-edge scholarship can be fully developed leading to both faculty success and advancement of the institution’s reputation.”
Farm-to-Table: A Novel Promethium-149 Radiotheranostic for Prostate Cancer Therapy
This project aims to develop a new, more effective prostate cancer treatment using a special radioactive substance called promethium-149 (149Pm). Known as the "farm-to-table" approach, the project spans the entire process from producing the radioactive material to testing its effectiveness. It involves producing 149Pm in sufficient quantities, attaching it to molecules targeting prostate cancer cells, and testing the combination in lab and animal studies to ensure effective cancer cell elimination with minimal damage to healthy tissue.
Experts from six MSU departments and colleges are collaborating to create this comprehensive system for targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies. The team plans to enable routine 149Pm production at the MSU Facility for Rare Isotope Beams and generate proof-of-concept data demonstrating 149Pm's superior anti-tumor effects compared to 177Lu. This could lead to new radiopharmaceuticals within 5-10 years, potentially improving the quality of life for prostate cancer patients. If successful, the techniques could be adapted to treat other types of cancer, making a broader impact on cancer therapy, and establishing MSU as a leader in the development of advanced cancer treatments.
Radiation-Hardened Phased Array Technology For 6G Non-Terrestrial Networks
The use of higher performance phased arrays to support future 5G and 6G mobile network technology standards is a growing trend in the space-based communications market. This shift involves replacing vacuum tube amplifiers with microelectronic chip amplifiers that outperform the current systems, but adapting them for the harsh environment of space presents challenges. This project addresses two significant barriers: thermal management and radiation tolerance.
“Despite the coldness of space, phased arrays with over a thousand amplifiers generate heat that is difficult to dissipate without adding the extra weight of complex heatsinks, which is not practical for spacecraft,” said Matthew Hodek, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering.
A buildup of heat can affect the transistors’ tolerance to high-energy particles from the sun and other cosmic bodies, making them more susceptible to single event effects that disrupt space communications or even end multi-billion-dollar space missions. However, incorporating a diamond layer beneath a transistor body could help dissipate heat and effectively trap radiation-induced charges, protecting the sensitive transistors.
“While the thermal and electrical properties of large single crystal diamonds are attractive, they’re difficult to process and integrate with electronics,” Hodek explains. “Polycrystalline diamond membranes combine the material benefits of diamond with manufacturing scalability, making them ideal for space applications.”
The project aims to refine the processing and polishing of PCD membranes to create suitable surfaces for interfacing with thinned gallium nitride transistors, develop amplifier circuits by integrating these transistors with other electrical components to efficiently amplify radio frequency signals, and assess the radiation performance of the devices by testing their sensitivity to radiation exposure. It leverages recent advances in PCD membranes by MSU and Fraunhofer USA, as well as the new SEE space electronics testing facility being built on campus. These advances will position the University as a leader in advanced space communication technologies.
Predictive Machine Learning Infrastructure of the 3D Human Genome Integrated with Synthetic Biology to Boost Early Disease Diagnostics
New advancements in data-driven technologies are rapidly advancing the global precision medicine market, currently valued at around $103 billion. However, traditional techniques only analyze DNA as linear (1D) sequences, neglecting the critical three-dimensional structures that influence how DNA functions within cells. The project aims to overcome this limitation by leveraging advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze these 3D DNA structures, offering improved diagnostic accuracy.
“Our approach will transform the paradigm by reconstructing high-resolution 3D genomes, beyond conventional 1D genome studies,” said Jianrong Wang, associate professor, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering. “This could enable millions of personalized 3D genome predictions for various diseases in a cost-effective way, advancing our capability of deciphering the genetic basis of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases.”
The project aims to develop an AI-driven infrastructure to predict 3D genome structures from personal DNA, providing a more accurate diagnostic tool. It uses genome-editing techniques to modify 3D DNA structures, directly evaluating disease-causing mutations, and employs interactive visualization and interpretation platforms to enhance patient understanding and engagement.
The interdisciplinary team, comprising experts from multiple departments and colleges, has a strong track record of high-impact research and federal funding success. The project would position MSU as a leader in DNA-structure prediction and personalized disease diagnosis, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
David Washburn, executive director of the MSU Research Foundation, praised the grant recipients.
“These projects leverage important resources and facilities that our organization has supported financially over the past decade, including FRIB and the MSU radiopharmacy,” Washburn said. “It’s exciting to see this research flourish, and we look forward to providing translational support to find ways to bring significant findings to market”
Since 2001, the Michigan State University Research Foundation has provided more than $38 million in funding for this program enabling 76 new research projects that have been able to able to raise in excess of $100 million in outside funding from state and federal funding sources.
Funded by the MSU Research Foundation and MSU colleges, the Strategic Partnership Grants Program support promising new initiatives in research, scholarship, and multidisciplinary collaboration. A successful SPG project aims to achieve several key goals:
- Establish a national or international research hub that elevates Michigan State University’s reputation and distinguishes it from other universities.
- Promote long-term research collaboration and productivity among faculty that would not happen without this funding.
- Encourage high-risk, high-reward projects with the potential for significant reputational benefits.
- Help MSU faculty compete for major external funding by ensuring the research’s sustainability beyond the SPG funding period.
- Develop research ideas with significant commercial potential, or broad community or global impact.
This story originally appeared on the MSU Research Foundation website.