MIPS Round 39 Award Recipients

Projects approved for funding during this round. Some contracts may be pending.

Company: BioSurface Engineering Technologies, Inc. (Rockville)
Project: pre-clinical study testing the efficacy of BioSET’s spinal fusion product, which combines a proprietary, bone-stimulating peptide with a scaffold to induce bone formation between two vertebrae.
Total Project Budget: $397,669
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Biotechnology Institute
Principal Investigators: Dr. Paul O. Zamora, Chief Scientific Officer; Dr. Joseph L. Bryant, Associate Professor, Institute of Human Virology

Company: Comprehensive Cancer Cells Diagnostics, LLC (Baltimore)
Project: University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center-based clinical studies of the company’s diagnostic service for personalized chemotherapy, which measures a tumor’s resistance to commonly used cancer drugs.
Total Project Budget: $410,477
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Principal Investigators: Dr. Paul O. P. Ts'o, Founder and Managing Director; Dr. Katherine H. Tkaczuk, Clinical Director of Breast Cancer Program, Department of Medicine and Oncology

Company: CI Technologies, LLC (Frederick)
Project: developing software enabling first responders and emergency management organizations to seamlessly use wireless phones and devices during a catastrophic network outage, regardless of the phone services they are using.
Total Project Budget: $407,173
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Kenneth White, Chief Technology Officer; Dr. John Baras, Professor, Institute for Systems Research, Director Maryland Hybrid Network Center (HyNet)

Company: eClinForce.com, Inc. (Rockville)
Project: testing eClinforce’s web-based system for managing the entire process of conducting medical clinical trials effectively and efficiently. The system helps researchers streamline processes, improve data quality, shorten development cycles, and reduce costs.
Total Project Budget: $104,478
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Principal Investigators: Dr. Emily Wang, Director of Product Development; Patrice M. Holtz, Program Director, Center for Clinical Trials, Dean's Office SOM

Company: Five Aces Breeding, LLC (Laurel)
Project: studying standard breeding and genetic engineering techniques to yield strawberry crops that grow well in warm environments and produce single-fruited trusses that ripen at the same time, enabling easy mechanical harvesting.
Total Project Budget: $95,000
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Dr. Harry Jan Swartz , Owner; Dr. Gary D. Coleman, Associate Professor, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Company: Hemodyne, Inc. (Bethesda)
Project: clinical trial of Hemodyne’s hemostasis analyzer to determine a patient’s risk for blood clotting. The analysis system, which assesses a patient’s balance between bleeding and clotting, also measures receptivity to anticoagulants and coagulant drugs, as well as the risk of surgical bleeding.
Total Project Budget: $164,877
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Principal Investigators: Erika Martin, Clinical Director; Dr. David Zimrin, Assistant Professor, Medicine

Company: iBiquity Digital Corporation (Columbia)
Project: studying the company’s radio technologies.
Total Project Budget: $81,000
Partner Institution: Salisbury University
Principal Investigators: Albert Shuldiner, Senior VP & General Counsel; Dr. Ellyn G. Sheffield, Assistant Professor, Psychology

Company: Imagilin Technology, LLC (Potomac)
Project: evaluating the toxicity of Imagilin’s probiotic product for animal and pet foods. Probiotics are dietary supplements containing live bacteria that may strengthen the immune system. Probiotic use could reduce antibiotic use in animal feed, as well as prevent diseases such as salmonella.
Total Project Budget: $131,747
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: J. J. Lin, CEO/Chief Scientist; Y. Martin Lo, Associate Professor, Nutrition and Food Science

Company: LeukoSight, Inc. (College Park)
Project: tethering LeukoSight’s novel anti-inflammatory therapeutic to nanoparticles to effectively and efficiently deliver the drug to inflamed tissues. LeukoSight’s therapeutic could treat rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and sepsis.
Total Project Budget: $107,023
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Dr. Xia Zhang, President; Dr. David Mosser, Professor, CBMG

Company: Minkon Biotechnology, Inc. (Gaithersburg)
Project: advancing toward product launch with a pre-clinical study measuring the efficacy and safety of Minkon’s novel product for preventing obesity. The product may inhibit a metabolic pathway. It has shown it can completely prevent diet-induced obesity in animal models without apparent toxicity.
Total Project Budget: $103,950
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Principal Investigators: Dr. P. Xu, President; Dr. Da-Wei Gong, Associate Professor, Medicine

Company: MobiLaps, LLC (Silver Spring)
Project: enhancing and extending the functionality of MobiLaps' ISP Screen-Estate product. The Screen-Estate, which unobtrusively appears in the web browser as a toolbar and does not require client-side software installation, will play a key role in transforming ISPs into providers of location-specific content, and will enable e-commerce between local users and locally-owned businesses.
Total Project Budget: $127,415
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Dr. Hisham I. Kassab, President; Dr. Ashok Agrawala, Professor, UM Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, Director of MIND Lab

Company: Mobile Digital Systems, Inc. (Annapolis)
Project: testing the ruggedness of Mobile Digital Systems’ wireless, vehicle-based video surveillance system for law enforcement, homeland security, and military personnel. The video system streams live feeds back to a base station, where it is viewed and stored.
Total Project Budget: $108,454
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Angela M. Corrieri, President; Dr. Michael Pecht, Director and George Deiter Chair Professor, CALCE Electronic Product and Systems Center

Company: Mobitrum Corporation (Silver Spring)
Project: developing a software library for manufacturers of 802.11n wireless Internet equipment to use in easily programming wireless routers, switches, and PC cards.
Total Project Budget: $118,710
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Dr. Ray Wang, CEO; Dr. K. J. Ray Liu, Professor, ECE/ISR

Company: MXF Technologies, Inc. (College Park)
Project: developing algorithms and a searchable database of signatures for explosive and non-explosive liquids and solid chemicals. These will be coupled with MXF’s advanced X-ray technology to detect and identify explosives at checkpoints in bottles, containers and luggage.
Total Project Budget: $446,948
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Michael A. Champ, Executive Vice President; Dr. Christopher C. Davis, Professor, ECE

Company: Personics, Inc.
Project: developing a database of the way sound scatters in various human ear shapes to personalize and deliver extremely high-fidelity “surround sound” to Compact Disc and MP3 player headphones.
Total Project Budget: $162,778
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Steven W. Goldstein, CEO; Dr. Ramani Duraiswami, Assistant Professor, Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS)

Company: Potomac Affinity Proteins, LLC (North Potomac)
Project: optimizing and refining the company’s protein purification system, which accelerates and simplifies the process of accurately purifying proteins for drug discovery and development.
Total Project Budget: $105,000
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Biotechnology Institute
Principal Investigators: Bonnie A. Bryan, President; Dr. Philip N. Bryan, Professor, Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology

Company: Prasidiux, LLC (Bethesda)
Project: refining and expanding Prasidiux’s smart polymer gel for mass production. The gel, which could be attached to perishables such as vaccines or meat products, indicates changes in temperature that might be undesirable for sensitive materials.
Total Project Budget: $182,600
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Raymond Jones, President; Dr. Srinivasa R. Raghavan, Professor, Chemical Engineering

Company: Profectus Biosciences, Inc. (Baltimore)
Project: pre-clinical study of a pharmacological agent that could increase the efficacy of Profectus’ human immunodeficiency virus vaccine.
Total Project Budget: $225,622
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Biotechnology Institute
Principal Investigators: Dr. Kenneth C. Bagley, Staff Scientist; Dr. George K. Lewis, Division Director, Vaccines, IHV

Company: Rampf Molds (Hagerstown)
Project: integrating advanced materials and structure technologies into Rampf’s molds, which are sold to concrete product manufacturers. The new technologies will extend the life cycle of the molds, and possibly reduce their weight—and subsequent setup times.
Total Project Budget: $303,652
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Doug Clark, Purchasing Manager; Dr. Hugh A. Bruck, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Company: Recovery Science, LLC (Hollywood)
Project: scientific study and product testing trial of Recovery’s Wrist Isolator™, a new, low-cost, portable athletic training and rehabilitation device that strengthens and increases control within the full range of a wrist’s six possible motions.
Total Project Budget: $308,750
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Shalin Nayan Shah, VP, Research & Development; Dr. Jae Kun Shim, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology/Bioengineering/Neuroscience and Cognitive Science

Company: reoSYM (Potomac)
Project: developing compression protocols to carry radio signals from the edge of a wireless network to its core.
Total Project Budget: $173,478
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Tejbir Singh Phool, Chief Executive Officer; Dr. Michael R. Dellomo, Lecturer, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Company: Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Rockville)
Project: developing non-toxic, water-soluble polymers for delivering cancer drugs. With drugs attached, Rexahn’s polymers could be wrapped around a tumor, after which they would release drugs to attack just the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Total Project Budget: $215,408
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Principal Investigators: Dr. Deog J. Kim, Director/Discovery Division; Dr. Anjan Nan, Research Assistant Professor, Center for Nanomedicine and Cellular Delivery

Company: SD Nanosciences, Inc. (Beltsville)
Project: developing a novel, nanotechnology-based delivery system for a bacterial meningitis B vaccine.
Total Project Budget: $105,714
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Terry Chase Hazell, President & CEO; Dr. Daniel Conrad Stein, Professor, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics

Company: TestSolvers, LLC (Bethesda)
Project: developing algorithms to enhance the company’s tool for testing software, which detects more errors in less time than currently used methods.
Total Project Budget: $96,400
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Principal Investigators: Jean La Fonta, Chief Operations Officer; Dr. Avi Bar Cohen, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Company: Theradigm, Inc. (Balltimore)
Project: animal study tracing the path neural stem cells take to replace dying or dead brain cells. The study, using the university’s unique, image-guided cell delivery system, could provide Theradigm with an effective tool for delivering neural stem cells during clinical trials.
Total Project Budget: $107,477
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Principal Investigators: Dr. Smita Savant-Bhonsale, VP Research & General Manager; Cha-Min Tang, Associate Professor, Neurology

Company: VorCat, Inc. (Rockville)
Project: benchmarking VorCat’s turbulent fluid flow simulation software for new uses in the chemical processing and pharmaceutical industries. VorCat’s software is currently used in the automotive, aerospace, maritime, and biomedical markets.
Total Project Budget: $106,250
Partner Institution: University of Maryland
Principal Investigators: Peter S. Bernard, Chief Technology Officer; Richard V. Calabrese, Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Company: WellDoc Communications, Inc. (Baltimore)
Project: evaluating the effectiveness of a patient-to-physician interactive diabetes management system. The system includes a cell phone-based software platform and supporting web-based interface, which together enable real-time analysis, feedback, and education between a patient and physician.
Total Project Budget: $196,402
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Principal Investigators: Dr. Suzanne K. Sysko, President & Medical Director; Dr. Charlene C. Quinn, Associate Dean, Epidemiology & Preventative Medicine

Company: Zylacta Corporation (Boyds)
Project: developing optimal methods to mass-produce Zylacta’s hepatitis C therapeutic. The drug also could be used to treat autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as chronic heart failure and multiple cancers.
Total Project Budget: $115,963
Partner Institution: University of Maryland, Biotechnology Institute
Principal Investigators: Dr. Alexei I. Slesarev, President; Dr. Frank T. Robb, Professor, COMB