The Pat & Shirley Ryan Family Research Acceleration Fund provided $2 million in funding to eight faculty members’ research projects, according to a Feb. 10 news release.
The fund supports projects as they develop from concept to commercialization. In the most recent round of awards, eight projects were selected from 41 proposals.
Part of the Ryan family’s $480 million gift in 2021, the fund officially launched in 2022. The Ryan Family Foundation initiative will eventually total a $35 million in grants.
“At the heart of every breakthrough — whether in business or science — is a culture that values creativity, collaboration and bold thinking,” Patrick Ryan (Kellogg ’59) said in the Feb. 10 news release. “The Ryan Family established the Ryan Family Research Acceleration Fund to foster that spirit at Northwestern, helping researchers transform visionary ideas into real-world impact.”
Projects were selected based on their assessed potential for impact, unique methods, current progress and practicality.
This round’s projects included developing an artificial intelligence-assisted tool to help predict heating risks during MRI scans for patients with implants, creating a wireless device to detect delirium in hospitalized patients and designing wearable sensors to detect the nutrient quality and volume of breast milk during feeding.
The awarded support comes as the fourth round of funding led by the initiative and in total has awarded $8 million for 33 projects. Last year, the initiative dedicated over $2 million to nine research projects.
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