Above: Khyati Patel, Teighlor Livingston and Taylor Macera are in the lab preparing some materials for experimental work.
Four current and recent VSU students are involved in an experiential learning and research project through the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps™ program. The NSF describes their program as follows:
“The National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program uses experiential education to help researchers gain valuable insight into entrepreneurship, starting a business or industry requirements and challenges. I-Corps enables the transformation of invention to impact. The curriculum integrates scientific inquiry and industrial discovery in an inclusive, data-driven culture driven by rigor, relevance, and evidence. Through I-Corps training, researchers can reduce the time to translate a promising idea from the laboratory to the marketplace. NSF is developing and nurturing a national innovation network to guide scientific research toward the development of solutions to benefit society.”
(Read more about the NSF’s I-Corps™ program here: https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/)
Two of the students have co-authored a paper that is submitted to a peer reviewed international journal. It describes the new compound that was tested by the National Cancer Institute. While the NCI tested it against nine types of cancer, the student group is focusing on lung cancer, which has an 80% mortality rate.
Former VSU student, Teighlor Livingston, says, “The NSF’s I-CORPS program allows students to move out of the lab and into the industry. I enjoy the program because it provides the opportunity to discover and face potential challenges in innovation development, while advancing interpersonal skills.”
Photo above: Teighlor Livingston and Taylor Macera are making their weekly presentation to the National Science Foundation related to their efforts to commercialize a cancer drug developed at VSU.