UO chooses first projects funded by new tax credit program

EUGENE, Ore. -- (June 4, 2008) -- The University of Oregon today announced the first two projects to receive funding through private gifts to the University Venture Development Fund (UVDF), a state income tax credit program designed to help move research discoveries to the marketplace.

Inspired by his work with barn owls, UO biology professor Terry Takahashi aims to build a prototype for a new tool for evaluating hearing in patients too young or too ill to indicate awareness of sounds. His work is supported by gifts to Oregon’s University Venture Development Fund.

Chemistry professor Mark Lonergan (right) and graduate student David Stay are developing a promising new means of solid-state lighting at the University of Oregon’s Lorry I. Lokey Laboratories. Work on the prototype is supported by gifts to Oregon’s University Venture Development Fund.

(Photos by Michael McDermott)

The projects chosen involve UO faculty in two areas. One group seeks to develop a prototype for new low-cost, high-efficiency lighting technology. The other group is pursuing a prototype for a new device that may lead to technologies for diagnosing the hearing capabilities of patients too young or too ill to indicate awareness of sounds.

Under the venture development fund program, donors can receive a 60-percent tax credit by contributing to one or more funds at state-supported universities in Oregon. The legislature has authorized participating campuses to receive up to $14 million in tax-credit-eligible donations.

Since the tax credits took effect in October, the UO has received gifts totaling $721,062. The UO can award the 60-percent tax credit on the first $3.27 million in gifts designated for its venture development fund.

Gifts to venture development funds at the UO and other participating campuses provide a source of targeted funding for highly promising projects at critical stages of development, said Rich Linton, vice president for research and graduate studies.

"Our experience at the University of Oregon shows that relatively small strategic investments during these stages can be crucially important over the long term," Linton said. "The innovations we have selected for the first round of awards from the UO's University Venture Development Fund have compelling potential to provide great social and economic benefit."

Linton said that the UO identifies the most promising projects through its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program, which provides interdisciplinary teams of M.B.A. (master of business administration), law and science students real-world experience in the commercialization of intellectual property.

A total of $58,008 will fund the next stages of development for the chosen projects.

The recipients of the funding and summaries of their research programs are:

• Mark Lonergan, professor of chemistry and director of the UO Materials Science Institute, together with David Stay, a graduate student in Lonergan's chemistry lab, will engineer a prototype for a new lighting technology. Their patent-pending work has applications in the semiconductor industry and for consumer products ranging from under-cabinet lighting to streetlights. If successful, their innovation will significantly improve on the stability and efficiency of polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells used for solid-state lighting. One-fifth of the nation's electricity goes for lighting, and the U.S. Department of Energy's goal is to increase efficiency by at least 50 percent through advances in solid-state lighting.

• Terry Takahashi, professor of biology and director of the UO Institute of Neuroscience, will create the first prototype of a device to evaluate hearing that does not depend on a patient's ability to answer questions. The concept arises from Takahashi's work with barn owls, which led to the discovery that the pupils of the eyes dilate reliably in response to sounds. Recently completed trials found that the pupilary dilation response is as reliable as conventional ways of testing human hearing.

This summer the university will award venture funds to help spinout companies take the next step in commercializing UO-licensed innovations, said Jim Bean, dean of the UO Charles H. Lundquist College of Business.

"We are grateful to donors for supporting our state's efforts to bridge the gap between basic research funding and private investment," Bean said. "Our goal is to deliver on the potential of university research while training the next generation of entrepreneurial business leaders and helping to seed new businesses that will stay in Oregon."

For an overview of Oregon's University Venture Development Fund program, including FAQs and links to participating universities, visit www.ous.edu/venturefund. For details about the UO's venture development fund, visit http://uoventurefund.uoregon.edu.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Media Contacts: Melody Ward Leslie, associate director of development communications, 541-346-2060, mleslie@uoregon.edu; Jim Barlow, director of science and research communications, 541-346-3481, jebarlow@uoregon.edu

Source: Donald Upson, operations liaison with the UVDF, UO Office of Technology Transfer, 541-346-3349, dupson@uoregon.edu

Note: Lonergran and Takahashi are faculty members in the UO College of Arts and Sciences.

###