I-Corps: Device For Producing The Non-Antibiotic Antimicrobial Hypothiocyanite (Htc) For Use In Food Safety

<p>This project was considered using input from multiple directorates and program officers. It included verbal input from the I-Corps Cognizant Program Officers and written input from the Topic-Specific Directorate (included below). The intellectual merits as well as the broader impacts were considered and the team was invited to submit this proposal.
<br>Directorate Input: The PI has developed and patented a novel synthetic process to make the antimicrobial chemical, hypothiocyanate (HTC). HTC has the potential to be commercially used in the food safety market if it can be made cheaply. Currently meat producers in the US use hypochlorite to prevent ecoli contamination, but this molecule can produce carcinogens and, thus, has been banned in European markets. The PIs technology, produced under funding from a NSF grant from the Chemistry Division, should allow HTC to be made at a scale and price that would make it a safe alternative to hypochlorite.The team consists of the PI, Michael Ashby, who is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oklahoma. The Entrepreneurial Lead, Robert Free, is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma's (OU) Engineering Physics program. He is currently a Fellow in OU's Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth. Robert has experience in commercialization efforts. J. Boyd Nolan is the Entrepreneurial Mentor. He has experience at Boeing and has worked for several successful startups. It is my opinion that this team is excited about the opportunity to actively participate in the I-Corp Program and will benefit from it. For this reason and the fact that the discovery is in a commercially significant field, I recommend this proposal for I-Corp funding.
<br>Cognizant Program Director Recommendation: This I-Corps project builds upon previous work supported by NSF.
<br>The Previous Grants were: CHE-0503984CHE-0911328There is a clearly-defined market need and the team possesses the domain knowledge to justify I-Corps support. If successfully transitioned to a for-profit entity, there is potential for clear impact. The budget for $50,000 conforms to I-Corps requirements. The Academic team has discussed this effort with the I-Corps program directors and it is our unanimous recommendation to support this I-Corps project. This effort will be supported by MPS using the following codes:030000008023</p>