MassVentures Announces $360,000 in Seed Funding for 10 Faculty Research Projects
Acorn Innovation Awards Help Massachusetts Research Institutions Commercialize Scientific Breakthroughs
BOSTON (January 30, 2025)—The Commonwealth’s strategic venture capital team, MassVentures, announces today the recipients of its 2025 Acorn Innovation Grant Awards (Acorn Awards), a proof of concept and commercialization funding program that helps Massachusetts research institutions bring new technologies closer to market.
Ten grants of $36,000 each, for a total of $360,000, were awarded to faculty researchers from UMass Chan Medical School, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Tufts University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute to assist them in testing the viability of their technologies and potentially bringing their research to market.
The Acorn Awards are funded by the Legislature, through the Commonwealth’s Innovation Commercialization Seed Fund, and overseen by MassVentures. Selected from a field of 35 applicants, the recipients were chosen through a competitive review process for their project’s technical merit, commercial viability, project plan and strength of team, according to Charlie Hipwood, President and CEO of MassVentures. Eight projects selected are therapeutics, diagnostics or from life sciences categories like cellular agriculture, and two projects are advanced materials or sensor and AI physical sciences based. Details of the individual projects can be found below. “This year we are pleased to award ten projects that represent promising technologies emerging from a variety of institutions. The Acorn Awards are an important part of the programs that MassVentures provides to accelerate the translation of academic research into businesses and jobs,” Hipwood said.
Faculty and researchers at the University of Massachusetts campuses received five awards. “The Acorn Awards provide important investments in research translation at UMass and other campuses across Massachusetts. We are excited to see the breadth of projects supported in our programs at Amherst and at the UMass Chan Medical School. And we are grateful to the Commonwealth and the MassVentures team for this continued and expanded support to catalyze early-stage innovation for the common good,” said Michael F. Malone, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Recipients of MassVentures’ 2025 Acorn Innovation Grant Awards are as follows:
Jessica Spinelli PhD; UMass Chan Medical School
Novel molecular tools to reprogram the electron transport chain - Developed first-in-class small molecules that reprogram electron flow in the mitochondrial electron transport chain. These molecules deliver electrons to fumarate, instead of oxygen, enabling mitochondrial function without oxygen present. Treating mice with these novel compounds makes them resistant to hypoxia such as happens during heart attack or stroke.
Chul Park PhD and Joseph Gikonyo PhD; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Bioengineered Granulation to Catalyze Sustainable and Carbon-neutral Wastewater Treatment Worldwide - Microbial granulation can play a crucial role in densifying and decarbonizing wastewater treatment and promote greater access to wastewater treatment worldwide. Yet, granulation is not a spontaneous process and is challenging to sustain. Their technology involves innovative biochemical-based cell regulation techniques that accelerate granulation rates and sustain granule formation.
Gregory Pazour PhD; UMass Chan Medical School
TACSTD2 Therapy for Polycystic Kidney Disease - Polycystic kidney disease is a leading cause of kidney failure, but treatment options are limited to an expensive mediocre drug. They propose to develop therapy using antibody drug conjugates to deliver anti-proliferative drugs to cystic epithelium. This is expected to reduce cyst expansion and prevent the progression to kidney failure.
S Thayumanavan PhD and Ryan Lu PhD Candidate; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Combating Resistance of NSCLC via Extracellular Protein Degradation by PolyTACs - They have created a new approach to specifically degrade membrane proteins in cancer cells. This ability provides a unique therapeutic opportunity for non-small cell lung cancer, which currently suffers from poor prognosis due to resistance development.
Yubing Sun PhD and Beatriz Martinez-Martin Graduate Student; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Advanced brain organoid models for neurological drug discovery and toxicology - They have developed a micro-engineered device (US patent pending) for generating regionalized neural organoids, stem cell-derived 3D models that mimic human brain structures and functions. They aim to use this technology to develop multiple disease models for preclinical drug discovery and environmental toxin screening.
Qinmin Zheng PhD and Andrew Whittle, Sc.D; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Novel Spectrofluorometer and Machine Learning for Online Early Detection of Harmful Algal Blooms - They are developing REMORA, an advanced spectrofluorometer employing machine learning for early detection of Harmful Algal Blooms. Using a unique flow-cell design with fiber optic light delivery, it enables superior detection and discrimination of algal groups. REMORA offers accurate, cost-effective, in-situ monitoring for proactive water quality management.
Leanne Chukoskie PhD and Sundararaman Rengarajan PhD Candidate; Northeastern University
A sensor-integrated and gamified decision support tool to minimize blood glucose variability - Sugar Slay is an app-based decision support tool for adolescents and young adults with Type 1 Diabetes. The app uses sensors and gamified supports to help users discover their individual glucose management trends and build stronger habits to minimize glucose variability and maximize independent diabetes management and healthy lifestyle choices.
Carolyn Lee-Parsons PhD and Lauren Cole-Osborn PhD; Northeastern University
Elite CRISPR-edited Periwinkle Plants for Production of Chemotherapeutics - The Madagascar Periwinkle plant is the only source of the chemotherapeutic vincristine. To enhance supply of vincristine, they will use CRISPR to generate gene-edited plants with elevated concentrations of the precursors to vincristine. They have proof-of-concept data and a pending patent for building their prototype as the next step.
David Kaplan PhD; Tufts University
Cultivated Insect Cells for Pet Food Ingredients - Farmed animal products present challenges for pet food manufacturers with regards to environmental sustainability goals, food safety, and supply chain resiliency. Their proposed innovation is a pet food ingredient based on cultivated insect cells (CICs), representing a marriage between the two leading alternative protein sources for pet food.
Andrew Teixeira PhD and David Kenney Research Fellow; WPI
Unlocking Carbon-Negative Concrete with Municipal Solid Waste - Cement and concrete are the central focus for industrial decarbonization efforts. Their unique technology transforms wet organic waste into a negative-emission mineral which can directly reduce the embodied carbon of the construction and waste management industries. Waste allows for a distributed production of a drop-in concrete additive for widespread adoption.
About
The Acorn Innovation Grant is funded by the Commonwealth’s Innovation Commercialization Seed Fund. Applications for awards are solicited annually in the fall. For more information: https://www.mass-ventures.com/mvcapital/acorn.
MassVentures is the Commonwealth’s strategic venture capital team. MassVentures finds, funds, and fosters early-stage deep tech startups and academic spinouts that fuel economic growth across the Commonwealth. www.mass-ventures.com
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