Written By Jackson State University
Jackson State University and its regional partners in the Mid-South Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) have been awarded $12 million to launch a new hub dedicated to advancing real-world biomedical innovations and entrepreneurship. Funding will assist aspiring entrepreneurs with education and mentorship and provide financial support.
Almesha L. Campbell, Ph.D., the assistant vice president for the Division of Research and Economic Development, is leading the effort for JSU. As a Carnegie high-research activity institution, JSU has been actively involved in harvesting health-focused innovation and commercialization with an eye toward equity, diversity, and inclusion.
The NIH’s REACH program is dedicated to facilitating the transition of fundamental scientific breakthroughs into the marketplace. REACH achieves this goal by offering innovators comprehensive entrepreneurial training, federal and industry experts’ guidance, financial support for initial product definition studies, and project management assistance.
Campbell said, “We are excited to provide entrepreneurial training to help innovators bring their technologies to market by providing them with funding to support their early-stage technologies. The recently awarded NIH REACH Hub aligns with our mission to train individuals to evaluate the commercial potential of new healthcare innovations critically. With the new initiative, we envision academic discoveries that will foster biomedical breakthroughs with life-changing implications worldwide.”
REACH provides feedback to help innovators crystalize their ideas and offers funding and project management support to bring their technologies to market. REACH partners span a four-state network (Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia). Along with JSU, the partners are George Mason University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Vanderbilt, which leads the REACH hub. The new funding includes a $4 million grant from the NIH. Meanwhile, partnering universities, state economic development entities, and public-private partnerships will chip in the remaining $8 million.
“Our participation in the Mid-South REACH Hub will be a significant addition to ongoing R&D efforts at JSU and in the state of Mississippi to enhance biomedical and healthcare-related innovations and entrepreneurial capacity established previously through the NSF I-Corps and ENRICH support. We anticipate that we will see major advancements in entrepreneurial ventures and research impacts in the communities we serve,” said Joseph A. Whittaker, Ph.D., vice president for Research and Economic Development at JSU.
Since 2016, JSU has had an NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, which prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory. JSU is now part of MidSouth I-Corps Hub, along with eight other institutions of higher education in the region, focused on accelerating product innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development.
JSU will lead the efforts to support academic biomedical innovators and entrepreneurs in the state of Mississippi.
