Cornell CAT awards support seven new biotechnology partnerships

Seven Cornell research teams have received Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) grants to advance early-stage life science technologies through collaborations with biotechnology companies across New York state.

The projects, which began July 1 as part of the 2026-27 funding cycle, represent more than $1.2 million in combined project support, including $562,258 from Empire State Development's Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) and $643,000 in matching contributions from industry partners. Administered by Cornell's CAT, the competitive grants help accelerate promising discoveries toward commercial applications.

The funded projects address challenges ranging from treating herniated spinal discs and improving fertility care to detecting eye disease with artificial intelligence, reducing childhood antibiotic use and protecting agricultural crops from frost.

"The CAT program is about bringing together the strengths of Cornell researchers and New York's life science companies to solve important problems," said Marcus Smolka, associate vice provost for research. "The CAT grants will help move promising discoveries closer to real-world applications while strengthening New York's innovation ecosystem and building technologies that have the potential to improve lives."

CAT grants provide up to $75,000 to Cornell principal investigators, matched dollar-for-dollar by New York industry partners, to support collaborative research projects with commercial potential. The program brings together Cornell researchers and biotechnology companies to advance innovations in areas including medicine, agriculture, veterinary health and engineering.

The 2026-27 CAT grant recipients are:

• Lawrence Bonassar, the Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor in Biomedical Engineering in Cornell Duffield College of Engineering for "Application of Dermisphere™ hDRT for Repair of Herniated Discs," with Fesarius Therapeutics (New York City).
• Abe Davis, assistant professor of computer science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science for "Smartphone-Based Ophthalmic Imaging with AI for Early Detection of Eye Disease," with Iriscience (New York City).
• Kyra Gan, assistant professor of operations research and information engineering in Cornell Tech and Duffield Engineering for "Dynamic Ovarian Response Modeling for IVF Stimulation Protocol Optimization," with Néa Fertility (New York City).
• Weihow Hsue, assistant professor, section of cardiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine for "Validation of Near-Field Radiofrequency Sensors in Canine Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease and Congestive Heart Failure," with SensVita (New York City).
• Jason Londo, associate professor of horticulture in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences for "Evaluating the Efficacy of Naturally Derived Anti-freeze Biomolecules for Frost Protection in Grapes and Apples," with CryoBio (Ithaca).
• Elizabeth Moore, veterinarian for the Center for Animal Resources and Education in the College of Veterinary Medicine, for "Pre-GLP Hemocompatibility Characterization and Site Qualification for the NovaGraft Biodegradable Arteriovenous Graft," with Anova Biomedical (Ithaca).
• Rong Yang, the Marjorie L. Hart '50 Professor of Engineering in Duffield Engineering for "Reducing U.S. Children's Antibiotic Exposure via Non-Invasive Immune Therapy," with OTO Biotech (Ithaca).

In addition to the research awards, CAT is supporting two complementary initiatives. The Student Internship and Industry Partnerships program, led by Zachary Shulman '87, J.D. '90, director of Entrepreneurship at Cornell, and Debra Moesch, assistant director at Entrepreneurship at Cornell, connects students with multiple New York biotechnology companies through paid internship opportunities.

And a workforce development project led by Jia Dong, senior research associate at the School of Integrative Plant Science in CALS, in partnership with Luminova Biotech in Rochester, New York, will explore light-activated approaches to improving plant bioenergetics and growth.

Since 1983, Cornell's CAT program has supported more than 1,040 biotechnology innovations, helping launch collaborations between Cornell researchers and New York companies while advancing technologies toward commercialization. The program is supported by NYSTAR, which works to advance technology innovation and commercialization across the state.

The next CAT request for proposals opens Sept. 1 with applications due Oct. 30 for projects beginning Jan. 1, 2027. More information about the program is available at biotech.cornell.edu/cat.

Stephen D'Angelo is the communications manager for biological systems at Cornell Research and Innovation.