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Twelve campus research teams have been named recipients of the annual Translational Seed Awards. These awards advance applied R&D efforts from UMass-based faculty research groups towards the development of spin-out/startup companies and the out-licensing of UMass intellectual property. 

The funded projects are: 

• Novel Nucleotide Biomanufacturing - Craig Martin, professor of chemistry          
• Generative AI for Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (RPT) - Joyita Dutta, professor of biomedical engineering                                
• AI-enabled Wearable Devices to Improve Post-Stroke Rehabilitation - Sunghoon Ivan Lee, associate professor of computer science
• FlavorED: Innovative Oncology Nutrition Education Program - Alissa Nolden, associate professor of food science           
• Wearable Devices to Improve Cardiovascular Health - Phuc VP Nguyen, assistant professor of computer science
• Next-Generation Filtration Technology to Reduce Industrial Waste - Jessica Schiffman, professor of chemical engineering   
• Novel Nano-fertilizers for Enhanced Crop Productivity While Minimizing Toxic Metals - Om Parkash Dhankher, professor in the of Stockbridge School of Agriculture
• Sustainable Low-Cost Infrastructure Repair Using 3D Printing - Simos Gerasimidis, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering     
• 3D-Printed Shoes Soles to Reduce Osteoarthritic Knee Pain - Sam Wojda, senior lecturer of biomedical engineering                                
• Improving Outcomes Due to Infertility and Subfertility Afflicting ~9% of Couples - Pablo Visconti, professor of veterinary and animal sciences
• Manufacturing a Solvent-free, Tunable Adhesive to ImproveSseams in Soft, Stretchable Products, such as Sportswear, Medical Braces and Wearable Devices - Al Crosby, professor of polymer science and engineering
• Community-oriented Decentralized Renewable Energy for Future Cities - Pari Riahi, associate professor of architecture

For 2025, the 12 projects were selected from a highly competitive group of applicants. Awarded teams will receive seed funding of between $50,000 and $100,000 each to achieve translational milestones with the goal of moving UMass Amherst research, know-how, and scholarly and creative works towards impact through startup ventures, out-licensing of patented or copyrighted work, scalable engagement with external partner organizations, or other vehicles. Translational Seed Awards are funded by the Manning Innovation Program, the U.S. National Science Foundation Accelerating Research Translation award (#2331351) and the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS).

Recipients of previous awards have gone on to secure over $8 million in external grants and investment for ongoing development in UMass Amherst labs and their resulting startup companies. 

“We are grateful for the Manning Family Foundation’s ongoing support; their gifts have been instrumental to the creation of startups and to the campus’s capacity for translational research,” says Peter Reinhart, founding director of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences. “We are now well positioned to expand Translational Seed Award opportunities to faculty in all schools and colleges, including Humanities & Fine Arts and Social & Behavioral Sciences.”

Alumnus Paul Manning and his wife, Diane, established the Manning Innovation Program through their family foundation in 2018. Their visionary gifts have provided for multiple years of support, advancing a robust and sustainable commercialization pipeline of applied and translational research projects from UMass Amherst.

Paul Manning, a 1977 graduate of UMass Amherst, is an entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in the health care industry, who most recently founded PBM Capital Group in 2010. Manning was also the anchor investor in Maroon Venture Partners, the first venture capital fund at UMass Amherst.

IALS was established as a translational research engine in 2015 by an investment from the Massachusetts Life Science Center and UMass Amherst.