The University of Louisville and partners will lead an effort to bring technologies born at Kentucky universities to market, thanks to $1.16 million in support announced by Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday.

The effort, Kentucky Commercialization Ventures (KCV), is a collaboration between UofL, the University of Kentucky and Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. (KSTC). Together, they will provide expertise, training and other support to help Kentucky colleges and universities get their inventions off campus and into the hands of entrepreneurs and industry.

“The University of Louisville has long been a leader in driving innovative, research-backed technologies to the marketplace,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “Through this new venture, we can extend our vast proven experience, knowledge and success to institutions around the Commonwealth, working with them to accelerate economic development and the commercialization of technologies that could save lives and improve the way we live and work.”

In getting university-born technologies to market, KCV’s goal is to boost Kentucky’s position as a technology hub, spurring economic development and new tech-backed startups. Connecting all the state’s schools also is expected to strengthen the state’s position to compete for grants and other federal funding that support innovative companies.

“We all want to grow Kentucky’s tech sector and create the high-paying, knowledge-based jobs that follow,” Beshear said. “A big part of doing so is turning Kentucky’s own academic research and development capabilities into commercially viable products and startups. By partnering to create Kentucky Commercialization Ventures, we will provide the infrastructure to commercialize our own best ideas, build the commonwealth’s tech industry and distinguish Kentucky as a national model in innovation.”

Under recently signed contracts, Kentucky will pay $200,000 to each of UofL’s and UK’s research foundations over the next two fiscal years, and $755,000 to KSTC this fiscal year.

At UofL, KCV will be led by the Office of Research and Innovation’s Commercialization EPI-Center, which works with startups and industry to commercialize university-owned technologies. Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation, said KCV is an opportunity to expand on other UofL efforts in this area, such as its suite of innovation grant and training programs that support technology and product development.

“This builds on UofL’s existing work to boost entrepreneurship and get cutting-edge, university-born technologies to market,” Gardner said. “With KCV, we can leverage those past successes and earned expertise to help other Kentucky colleges and universities do the same, driving economic development across the Commonwealth.”

The EPI-Center will have an in-house KCV commercialization manager, Megan Aanstoos, who will work directly with inventors and institutions across the state to develop innovative ideas and inventions into marketable products with established business models. UofL also will have a faculty or administration champion who will work directly with the faculty, staff and students at large.

“We are very excited to work with our sister institutions to drive commercialization in Kentucky,” said EPI-Center executive director Allen Morris.

A collaboration between the University of Louisville and West Kentucky Community and Technical College will allow students from both institutions to work together in a dental clinic while providing services to residents of the Jackson Purchase region.

Dr. T. Gerard Bradley, dean of the University of Louisville School of Dentistry (ULSD), joined WKCTC President Anton Reece and Carrie Hopper, dean of WKCTC’s Allied Health and Personal Services and dental assisting program coordinator, for the announcement today in Paducah.

A memorandum of understanding between UofL and WKCTC allows the dental school to operate the mutually beneficial dental clinic on the second floor of the Anderson Technical Building on the WKCTC campus.

Partnerships like the one with WKCTC provide dental services to communities, an essential component of UofL’s dental curricula, Bradley said.

“Our goal is to develop a network of community-based partner clinics in a variety of locations across Kentucky. These externship sites enhance our clinical curriculum while meeting the oral health needs of underserved populations,” he said.

Reece said the UofL / WKCTC partnership is historic. “We are excited to partner and collaborate with the University of Louisville School of Dentistry to provide needed dental services to the community and our region.”

“Collaboration with WKCTC strengthens our community engagement in the western part of Kentucky and we are proud to join with the college to establish a dental clinic in Paducah,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “The important work of the university is not only educating future health care professionals, but also teaching students to become culturally competent providers.” 

The clinic will have a full-time licensed dentist managed by ULSD, and will be a clinical learning site for fourth-year UofL dental students. WKCTC will provide dental assistants from its existing dental assisting program along with use of existing dental equipment and chairs.

“Having the opportunity for our dental assisting students to work with UofL dental students will provide valuable learning experiences,” said Hopper. “This collaboration will help serve the underinsured, underserved population in our service region. I am beyond excited to begin this partnership with UofL School of Dentistry.”

ULSD will provide expert dental oversight, supervision and management of the dental clinic operations, including the establishment of all dental fees, billing and collection.

UofL is engaged in a similar collaboration with the Red Bird Mission and Red Bird Clinic located in Beverly, Ky. Dental students work under the direction of a local dentist, providing the students an opportunity to treat patients in a rural community and culture. Students also rotate through similar externship sites in urban settings, including the Shawnee Dental Clinic located in an underserved area of Louisville.

“These experiences truly teach our students to become confident, compassionate dental providers,” Bradley said.

JUNE 29, 2020

UofL’s Kent School of Social Work is partnering with the nonprofit organization Wellspring on a new, five-year federal grant to offer a unified care approach to help homeless people experiencing both mental health and substance use issues to find housing and recovery.

“About 50% of adults with severe mental illness have a co-occurring substance abuse disorder,” said Wellspring CEO and Kent alumna Katharine Dobbins.

The goal is to help people become free of homelessness, engage in recovery and improve their quality of life through a community-based approach.

The nearly $2 million project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is designed to boost specialized training to serve 180 Louisville adults via Wellspring, a behavioral health agency with a 38-year history of providing mental health services.

“Obviously the issue of people having both mental health and physical problems is a major concern in Louisville,” said Bibhuti Sar, UofL social work professor and the grant’s lead investigator, who pointed to the efforts of Wellspring and other local groups working together to address homelessness. “The Kent School of Social Work and the University of Louisville strongly support the well-being of the community. We welcome the partnership of Wellspring to enhance their efforts and experience to do that work.”

Working with other community partners such as the Coalition for the Homeless and Louisville Metro Housing Authority, the project will identify some of Louisville’s most vulnerable adults living on the streets with both disorders and will seek to provide them with housing and services designed to stabilize their lives.

“This will be a life-changing program,” Dobbins said. “It helps move a person along the path of recovery toward the goals they want to achieve. We will take a harm-reduction approach, but critical life experiences serve as opportunities to help individuals make positive changes.”

Participants will have a support team that includes a therapist, case manager, nurse practitioner and a peer support professional. This team, in conjunction with the Kent School, will develop skills in using evidence-based methods that help integrate “trauma-informed” care for participants. UofL will bring in national experts for training in evidence-based interventions. Sar said he hoped the training will occur this summer with services to begin in early fall.

“This grant will help our staff hone and improve their skills in evidence-based practices,” Dobbins said.

Those practices include integrated dual disorder treatment, which addresses both problems (mental health and substance use) simultaneously with the same team; motivational interviewing, which guides people toward change; and a “housing first” model, which uses supportive services to help chronically homeless people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders.

The Kent School team includes Martin Hall, an associate professor with experience in researching substance use issues, who will lead the evaluation part of the grant to ascertain the program’s effectiveness. Jim Guinn will be the project’s daily coordinator, and Sar said the team will hire a research assistant.

“We also want to understand the impact of services on consumers in the sense of improving their functioning and well-being,” Sar said.

Partnering organizations also will measure outcomes including how many homeless people get housed and how quickly and whether they maintain housing for a year or more. Other measurements will assess improvement to their quality of life and whether their psychiatric conditions changed.

“Our goal is to get people into independent housing, their own apartments with their own amenities,” Dobbins said. “We provide supportive services. We hope to get people into treatment as well, using these evidence-based practices.”

Continuing the UofL connections, Dobbins has a Kent social work degree and Wellspring program manager Paul Bliss has been a Kent adjunct faculty member; Sar hopes later to involve Kent students in the work as well.

“It’s rewarding to see our graduates making a difference in the community, and the chance to partner with them as alumni is fantastic,” Sar said.

Photo provided by publicdomainphotos.net. 

Increasing diversity in the medical field is Tino Mkorombindo’s goal, and the reason he has established Greater Influence Inc., a nonprofit that serves as a resource for minority students who plan to pursue a career in medicine.

Mkorombindo has completed his third-year as a student at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. This fall he is pivoting to pursue a MBA before completing his medical education and ultimately applying for a residency position in orthopedic surgery.

A native of Zimbabwe, Mkorombindo grew up in California, and says the number of minority physicians in the United States is far too few to reflect the patient population.

According to the U.S. Census of 2019, those who identify as underrepresented minorities (Blacks, Mexican-Americans, multi-race, mainland Puerto Ricans, and Native Americans-American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians) represent more than 36% of the general population. However, according to data from the Diversity in Medicine: Facts and Figures 2019 report of the Association of American Medical Colleges, individuals from these groups comprise just a little more than 12% of the physician workforce.

“Increasing physician diversity is important for ensuring culturally competent patient care and access for underserved populations. Studies also tell us diversity leads to improved patient outcomes and patient satisfaction,” Mkorombindo said.

His vision for the organization is to create a space that ensures all students, from high school through medical school, have the tools they need to excel.

“This would ultimately allow us to positively address the dire need for diversity in the physician workforce,” he said.

Mkorombindo created and designed a website that provides a blueprint and support for high school students until their final year of medical school. Website resources address various topics including weekly motivation, study information, guidance for applications to undergraduate schools, medical schools and residencies, advice on seeking and providing mentorships, along with printable checklists and timelines.

The community-based nonprofit looks to increase early exposure to medicine, launching new initiatives that will improve access to health care in Louisville’s West End, and implementing fundraising campaigns for student scholarships.

Mkorombindo says the scholarships will fund things like SAT/ACT/MCAT/Board prep courses, medical school applications, travel funds for interviews and conferences.

Find out how to get involved, visit Greaterinfluence.org or @Greaterinfluence on Instagram. Follow Mkorombindo @tinomko on Twitter and Instagram or email him at info@greaterinfluence.org.

University of Louisville athletics generated more hours of community service during the 2019-20 academic year than any other power five school.
 
This announcement, which came last week, marks the sixth consecutive year that UofL has ranked in the top 10 in all of Division I in community service, improving upon last year’s seventh place ranking.
 
Fourteen teams placed in the top 10 in community service in Division I for their sports, including Field Hockey and Lacrosse, which led their respective sports.

Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, Baseball and Dance ranked third in the country, Men’s Swimming and Women’s Rowing ranked fifth, Cheerleading ranked sixth, Women’s Golf and Softball ranked eighth, and Women’s Basketball, Men’s Golf and Women’s Swimming ranked tenth.

From April 2019 to April 2020, Louisville athletics generated $279,831.72 in financial impact of service, worked with 208 different partners, took part in 864 service opportunities and conducted 11,004 validated hours of community service.
 
Overall, 735 Louisville student-athletes participated in community service with 262 student-athletes completing more than 15 hours of community service.
 
Louisville was also named NCAA Teamworks Champions in the fall of 2019.

In the fall of 2019, Valerie Fuchs, a part-time professor at the Hite Art Institute in UofL’s Department of Fine Arts, tasked her interior design students with designing a few rooms and raising funds for the Louisville Hotel for the homeless.

Unable to reach anyone in time, that project was put on hold. But the fire had been ignited in Fuchs, who was determined to find something that mixed a comprehensive interior design project with benevolence.  

Around that same time, she read an article about Camp Restoration, a planned community of homes made of shipping containers for homeless veterans in southwest Louisville. The objective of Camp Restoration is simple: to help those veterans get back on their feet.

As reported by WDRB, the idea for the community came from Jeremy Harrell, founder and CEO of the Veteran’s Club, who recruited Paul Sirek, an architect at Luckett & Farley, to conceptualize what those homes would look like.

Coincidentally, Sirek works with Fuchs’ husband. So, she asked if her critique class could participate in the project. Initially, the class was approved to design two of the planned 25 container homes.   

“After we had a critique with Jeremy Harrell, he was so happy about how different each design was, that he said we could do more,” Fuchs said. “He wanted the veterans to be proud of their homes and show them off to encourage socialization.”

The 20 students went through the entire design process, coming up with three different schemes each and choosing one to pursue. At one point, there were 36 different single-family home designs and 24 different family home designs.

The junior class (eight students) had the family home, which consisted of four containers, while the sophomore students (12) had the single container home to design. However, the project entailed much more than just interior design. Each home has to be tailored for challenges like PTSD, for example.

With adaptive reuse of a shipping container, the students were initially required to design homes within the containers, similar to  interior design programming in most projects, Fuchs said. But the project grew as the students began their work.

“After working with the students, I thought they needed to learn how to work on the process of how to create great design as they all were so talented. So I adapted that style of studio, similar to how an architecture traditional studio is run,” she said. “Design is design and it needs rigor to accomplish anything worthwhile.”

The students’ process for the “adaptive reuse project for homeless veterans” included:

• A summation of nine readings covering design theory, PTSD, homelessness and sustainability.
• The creation of three collages and models.
• Site visits of other container-built structures (the Russell Neighborhood Community Center, Copper & Kings and Jeremy Semones Core Containers).
• A lecture and critiques by Jeremy Harrell of the Veteran’s Club and architect Paul Sirek.

All of that was even before the design development for a 9-foot-by-40-foot shipping container. The students created a thesis, designed at least four schemes and generated four plans, four elevations, one section and renderings in perspective/axonometric. They also created color and furniture finishes for the project and endured several in-class critiques before creating the construction documents. The documents included dimensions, plans, elevations, sections, schedules and cut sheets/specs.

Additionally, two students, Kayleigh Garner and Micheal Blanton, taught themselves how to use AutoCad drafting software during the project and then taught other students how to use the programming as well.

According to Fuchs, working on this “real” project allowed the students to gain the experience of solving problems within conditional parameters. 

“They learned the structural limits, had to learn codes for egress, fair housing requirements of room sizes, natural light, zoning and where to put the electrical box. These are real problems interior designers face every day and the sooner you know what your parameters will be, the better designer you will become,” she said.

Despite the abrupt shift to remote operations in March due to COVID-19, the project, and the students’ enthusiasm for the project, continued.

“Even during quarantine, the students were able to create construction documents,” Fuchs said. “The students really rose to the challenge and went way beyond my expectations. Their enthusiasm for a real project that will help so many veterans was amazing. I loved their designs and how deeply they thought this through. They worked so hard and I am so proud of them and their efforts.”

Although COVID-19 has put most things on hold, the groundbreaking for Camp Restoration was still held over spring break and the community is expected to be completed in 2021.

Meanwhile, fundraising continues for the community, and Fuchs plans to do what she can for that effort through a new, online free design service called Design for Everyone. The idea is that anyone can submit their home design problems and Fuchs and a few UofL students, acting as interns, will come up with a solution.

“In exchange we are going to ask for donations to be sent to Camp Restoration,” Fuchs said. “It is going to be fun. I had been wanting to have a real project that could give back to the community for my two interior design classes, as I believe good design is for everyone.”   

Although the flowers are still in bloom and the grass has turned that signature blue-ish green, things are no doubt different this year.

The traditional pageantry that kicks off springtime in the commonwealth – the Kentucky Derby – isn’t happening on the first Saturday in May for the first time since 1945.

A pandemic has put us all on pause.

However, while we’re relegated to our homes, left to wait for an unpredictable amount of time for things to get back to “normal,” our spirit still resonates. You see it when the green lights turn on. You hear it when the bells toll.   

On Saturday, you’ll feel it when that old familiar song plays. Our song.

Since 1936, UofL’s Marching Cards have served as “The Official Band of the Kentucky Derby,” opening up the “Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” with our rendition of “My Old Kentucky Home.” Each year, our students play this song to about 150,000 people at Churchill Downs and an additional 15 million television viewers across the world.

By the time the band is finished playing, there typically aren’t many dry eyes left. A Courier Journal columnist described this experience best last year: “I’ve interviewed Kentuckians who haven’t set foot in the state for 30 years who still stand in front of their televisions and weep when they hear the woodwinds and brass instruments strike the first few notes of ‘My Old Kentucky Home.’

The lyrics tell us that there’ll be hard times, by and by. But at the crescendo, it’s as if 150,000 voices nudge us to weep no more.” 

Has there been a better time for such a nudge than now?

UofL’s drum major Natalie Humble didn’t want that feeling – that experience – to get lost this year.

So, she reached out to a few of her friends, both at UofL and at other colleges and universities across Kentucky, and asked if they would want to perform a virtual version of the state song and debut the finished piece on May 2, what would have been Derby Day. 

“I came up with the idea one day while doing online schoolwork and reflecting on what the semester would have been like in a normal situation. ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ popped into my head and I immediately wanted to create something that brought some normality back into the spring. But I wanted it to be something that all of us – as Kentuckians – resonated with,” Humble said.

Everyone she reached out to was interested. In fact, Humble recruited about 100 total participants – about half of whom are UofL students. Another 20 or so are UofL School of Music alums, a handful are UofL faculty and the rest are from other institutions throughout the state. Thirteen total institutions, to be exact.

“We had a massive amount of interest from students at UofL, and it was really incredible to see the alums show so much interest. I am truly proud of how many other schools we got to participate,” she said.

Humble, a rising senior Music Education major from Monticello, Kentucky, has performed at the Derby twice. Her favorite memory was during her freshman year, when it down poured. 

“It doesn’t sound like much fun, but it was so memorable that I can still feel the adrenaline now just the same as I did on that day,” she said.

Although performing “My Old Kentucky Home” to kick off the Derby is a signature UofL experience, Humble said it was important to get other schools involved this year because of the unusual circumstances created by COVID-19.

“As a college student and as a Kentuckian, I know how hard it is to adjust, and this experience is something that we all share. In times like this, it is especially important for all of us to realize that we aren’t alone and that we’re a team, so inviting everyone to be part of such a meaningful project was the most valuable part of the whole idea,” she said.

“The Derby performance always represents togetherness for me. It is such a short part of the timeline, but it is a time where all the people watching – no matter where they are in the world – are taking a moment to pause and come together. I think this year’s performance represents the same thing, just in a different way.”

Stay tuned for this performance of the “My Old Kentucky Home,” which will be available on both the UofL and UofL Cardinal Marching Band Facebook pages Saturday, May 2.

The following schools will be represented in the performance: Campbellsville University, Eastern Kentucky University, Georgetown College, Ivy Tech Community College, Lindsey Wilson College, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Thomas More University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, University of the Cumberlands, Western Kentucky University.

APRIL 15, 2020

The Commonwealth of Kentucky, in collaboration with the University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute and the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council, is launching a groundbreaking initiative with three large Kentucky hospital systems – Baptist Health, Norton Healthcare and UofL Health. The purpose is to help health care workers understand whether they were unknowingly exposed to COVID-19, to determine how much immunity was generated by such exposure, and to identify those with the best immune responses as donors of high-quality plasma for rescue treatment of patients with advanced COVID-19.

In addition, these data will be informative as scientists worldwide are working to determine whether quantitative antibody measurements can be used to predict immunity in the overall workforce. This program represents a unique alliance between government and otherwise competing private groups in order to address an unprecedented crisis.

Testing will begin with high-risk personnel in Kentucky, starting with the health care workforce. As the process is scaled up it will be made available to other essential workers. There will be three steps of testing:

• First, a point-of-care test will provide a yes or no answer on the presence of antibodies.
• In a second step, positive blood will then be assayed for the amount of antibodies present in the blood.
• Finally, in patients with high amounts, the neutralizing power of the antibodies will be evaluated.

The University of Louisville Center for Predictive Medicine for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (CPM), has established a high-throughput, real-time assay for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies that will be utilized and CPM will use their renowned Bio Safety Level 3 facility to test for the neutralizing activity of the antibodies.

“The University of Louisville is committed to addressing all forms of health,” said Neeli Bendapudi, President of the University of Louisville. “We are uniquely positioned to play a key role in this effort because of our talented researchers at CPM and our UofL Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, which allows us to establish the very best donors of plasma for patients.”

This unprecedented collaboration of the public and private sector has already secured private donations of $1.75 million in the form of a challenge grant to build community-wide coalition of philanthropic support, which will allow the program to scale more quickly and save more lives. (Click here for more details on how you can help).

“America and Louisville need more and advanced COVID-19 testing now. I am excited about this ambitious project and its potential to provide useful data for the recovery of our community. Louisville’s team of cutting-edge scientists represents the best of who we are as Louisvillians – compassionate, smart and entrepreneurial,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.

“This is exactly the kind of collaboration that Kentucky is poised to enable,” said Dr. Cedric Francois, CEO of Apellis Pharmaceuticals and LHCC board member. “We have the infrastructure in our commonwealth to quickly bring this revolutionary technology together by leveraging the great work already being done with the health care stakeholders, such as Norton Healthcare’s convalescent plasma program, and the extensive work that had already been done to start their antibody serology testing to improve Kentucky’s response and recovery to the COVID-19 pandemic and be a model for the rest of the nation.”

“This model for testing is exciting and it is our hope that antibody measurements can be used to predict immunity,” said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. “If so, it will be a critical tool in the reopening of Kentucky’s economy.”

MARCH 31, 2020

Praneeth Goli, a senior chemistry major with minors in philosophy and biology, has kept himself plenty busy during his time at UofL.

Goli is both a Henry Vogt Scholar and a KEES Scholar. He serves as the founder of both the Louisville Social Innovation Lab and the Droplet Water Project, and is also a member of the Indian Student Association. He has been involved in research in diabetes care and treatment at the University of Louisville and Harvard Medical Schools.

For the Droplet Water Project, Goli teamed up with UofL alum Jarui Desai (’18) to provide clean drinking water to those who need it most.  As of now, they have completed water projects in both India and Colombia.  

Last year, he was named a Barry Goldwater Scholar, a prominent award that goes to sophomores and juniors pursuing research careers in math, science and engineering. There have been just five Goldwater Scholars at UofL in the past decade.

In 2017, Goli earned the CCU Outstanding Freshmen Student Award. The next year, he earned the CCU Outstanding Sophomore Student Award. The year after that, the CCU Outstanding Junior Student Award.

Goli has certainly shown a pattern of achievement and a global pandemic hasn’t slowed that down.

Goli and Nico Ferreyra, another UofL student, recently assembled a committee of volunteers that have so far distributed nearly 800 meals to those who need them during the COVID-19 outbreak. The students are working with Blessings in a Backpack to facilitate the meal deliveries and are focused on making sure the food needs of the city’s elderly population are being met during this crisis.

According to Goli, the committee he and Ferreyra assembled is built in partnership “with inspiring local nonprofit leaders and include the key public organizations working on this issue.”

“We are excited to continue mobilizing our volunteers in a safe and coordinated manner,” Goli said.

For John Nevitt, director of economic mobility at Metro United Way, Goli’s efforts are not surprising considering his extensive resume.

“Praneeth Goli has been an extremely thoughtful and engaged Metro United Way volunteer, serving on our Community Impact Cabinet,” Nevitt said. “As you may know, he is extremely industrious, having launched two non-profit organizations since becoming a student at UofL, and soon to help with the creation of a social innovation lab at the university.”

Earlier this month, Goli was presented with a Cardinal Award. Formerly known as Mr. and Ms. Cardinal, the Cardinal Awards are presented by UofL’s Student Activities Board and is based on academic excellence, co-curricular activities and service to the university. It’s clear, however, that Goli’s service extends far beyond the university.

Check out the video Metro United Way put together about their efforts here.