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South Dakota Dedicates $2.8M to University Research Centers

Gov. Mike Rounds announced last week the creation of four new specialized research centers at the state’s public universities. The $2.8 million in awards mark South Dakota’s first foray into using university-based research investments as a tool to grow the state’s economy, the governor said.

The four 2010 Research Centers are:

* Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, $780,000 – This center will foster research leading to the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic technologies and products for infectious diseases in humans and domestic animals.

* South Dakota Signal Transduction Center, University of South Dakota, $900,000 – This center will examine the pathways that regulate cell growth and differentiation, cell death, response to stress and the maintenance of constant physiological conditions, with a goal of reducing cardiovascular disease and cancer.

* Center for Accelerated Applications at the Nanoscale, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, $585,000 – This center will focus on research in the areas of nanoparticles and associated nanosensors, with emphasis on South Dakota mineral development.

* Center for the Research and Development of Light-Activated Materials, University of South Dakota, $503,741 – This center will perform both basic and developmental research on materials with light-activated properties. The research is important to medical applications such as human tissue bonding, drug delivery, and anti-tumor agents, and is important to developing phosphors for sensors, new laser materials, and thin films that impart special properties and characteristics to the materials they coat.

Seven new senior scientists, eight postdoctoral students, seven Ph.D. students, eight graduate associates, and 11 technicians will be brought into the state university system in the first two years of the initiative. Another 24 university scientists, whose salary is supported by their respective institutions, will also be associated with the projects.

Funding for the centers stems from broader economic development legislation in South Dakota that was passed earlier this year (see the March 12, 2004, issue of the Digest). A research and commercialization council selected the four research centers after reviewing 11 proposals submitted by faculty at South Dakota public universities. A press announcement of the centers is available through Gov. Rounds’ website: http://www.state.sd.us/governor/

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2004. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged ­ please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected.

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