Visit the News Hub

Office of Technology Management to mentor Mizzou on commercialization

Washington University selected to support Mizzou in accelerating translational research

May 30, 2024

Tina McGrath Photography

Nichole R. Mercier, PhD, (left) with Sheila Grant, PhD.

Washington University in St. Louis has been chosen to mentor the University of Missouri as part of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program. Mizzou is among 18 academic institutions in the United States to receive the inaugural award.

The four-year, $5.5 million award will be used to set up a technology, entrepreneurship and commercialization hub at Mizzou. The ART program aims to empower academic institutions to accelerate the pace and scale of translational research.

Each of the 18 academic institutions selected a mentor institution for each ART project. Washington University is Mizzou’s mentor. Nichole R. Mercier, PhD, assistant vice chancellor and managing director of the Washington University Office of Technology Management (OTM), is co-principal investigator on the ART grant. She will work closely with Sheila Grant, PhD, professor of chemical and biomedical engineering at Mizzou and the principal investigator on the grant.

“One of the unique features of the ART program is a strong partnership between the awardee institution and a mentoring institution,” Mercier said. “We look forward to working with Mizzou to share our experience in commercializing technologies to help move innovations from the lab to the marketplace.”