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SIU trustees celebrate faculty awards, NIH grants and BioLaunch wet‑lab hub
Summary
Board members recognized faculty innovation and collaboration, heard FY24 research totals (SIUE $39M expenditures; SIUC $52.8M expended) and learned about BioLaunch/iFIRM, a $7.2M wet‑lab hub intended to support regional biotech and food‑innovation startups.
Trustees heard multiple research and awards reports during the Academic Matters Committee session, including recognition of the SIU System Inventor of the Year and system faculty collaboration awards, updates on FY24 research expenditures across campuses and a briefing on BioLaunch, a wet‑lab entrepreneurship hub.
Inventor and collaboration awards: Rob Pitino and system faculty leaders presented the 2025 SIU System Inventor of the Year award to Dr. Phil Jensick for a record of invention disclosures and licensing activity. FACSS representatives announced two Faculty Collaboration Award teams: Drs. Motasheem Sam Shamsi and Mina Sumita for a biosensing platform to detect genetic biomarkers, and Drs. Natasha Flowers and Christy McIntyre for work on the Illinois Tutoring Initiative.
FY24 research totals and highlighted grants: SIUE interim research dean Liz Kelly reported 199 active awards and $39,000,000 in expenditures in FY24 (up from $32M in FY23). Kelly highlighted two NIH awards and a $1,300,000 grant to Prof. Sharon Locke for programming that connects underrepresented high‑school students to health‑care pathways; she also noted a $137,000 IBHE award for virtual mental‑health access (TimelyCare). SIUC presenters reported $52.8M in expenditures in FY24, with notable projects including a $2.6M NASA education grant, PFAS remediation NSF work, and rare‑earth recovery projects funded by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
BioLaunch/iFIRM: Trustees viewed materials describing BioLaunch (iFIRM), a $7,200,000 project housed in the McLafferty Annex and funded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (Rebuild Illinois), the SIU Foundation and the university. The facility will provide biotechnology cores (genomics, bioprocessing, analytical instrumentation including a 500 MHz NMR) and flexible business space intended to support faculty commercialization, university spin‑outs and regional companies.
Why it matters: Board members praised cross‑campus collaboration and framed BioLaunch as an economic development and workforce tool for Southern Illinois. Presenters said the facility will accelerate company formation, provide testing capabilities for food and beverage products and support translational research.
What comes next: Trustees expressed support and no substantive objections; campus research offices will report progress as projects and partnerships develop.
