UI Ventures' Iowa Health Sciences GAP Fund, which supports innovative faculty, staff, and postdoctoral fellows and scholars from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, Engineering, Education, Pharmacy, Nursing, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Public Health developing medical devices and health software technology, has awarded $114,000 to 6 faculty and staff teams to advance the development of innovative medical devices and health software.

 

Jon Sung Kim, Associate Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health, received $21,000 to advance toenail-based metallomics biomarkers.

 

Reza Nejadnik, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics, received $20,000 to advance a syringe injector to prevent generation of impurities in therapeutic formulations.

 

Aislinn Conrad, Associate Professor in the school of Social Work, received $5,000 to advance an AI-powered detection device that classifies violent action in real time.

 

David Kaczka, Professor of Anesthesia, Radiology, and Biomedical Engineering, and Emmanuel Akor, a PhD student in biomedical engineering, received $30,000 to advance a low-cost mechanical ventilator for patients in low-resource settings suffering from respiratory distress.

 

Hans Johnson, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, received $20,000 to advance an AI technology that performs detailed neuroradiological analysis of MRI scans and predicts potential outcomes and risks for long-term impairments.

 

Robert Bowers, Assistant Professor of Family Dentistry, received $18,000 to advance a disposable needle bender assembly that eliminates the need for a two-step drilling process for dental procedures in lower posterior teeth.