In 2019, the Emory School of Medicine Dean’s Office launched the Imagine, Innovate, and Impact (I³) awards to provide seed funding for promising research. To date, the program has funded 154 awards, totaling more than $8.6 million.
“Nurturing early-stage concepts with modest yet meaningful financial support not only jumpstarts scientific success but also cultivates a culture of collaboration and innovation,” said Vikas P. Sukhatme, former dean of Emory School of Medicine and Morningside Center director and co-founder.
The program collects return on investment (ROI) data from each award, and as of the end of 2024, the awards have generated an impressive 14:1 ROI. The awards have also helped launch 172 publications (87 pending), 248 presentations (34 pending), and 70 external media mentions, among other successes.
“The response from so many investigators, both at Emory and from other institutions, was unexpected and most gratifying,” said Theresa Gillespie (hematology and medical oncology), 2022 recipient of I³ Wow! research funding. Gillespie’s award fueled her project HealTh EqUity Research INitiative IN Georgia (TURNING). TURNING unifies health disparities research at Emory by building new partnerships with experts from different fields to train the next generation of researchers.
She added, “This I³ Wow! award will have long-standing and sustainable impact over many years to come."
Interdisciplinary collaboration is at the heart of the I³ awards. Thus, proposals for the I³ awards are encouraged to emphasize collaboration, recognizing the transformative potential of collective endeavor in driving scientific progress. The awards have leveraged relationships with Kaiser Permanente Georgia, Georgia Tech, the Global Center for Medical Innovation, and Woodruff Health Sciences Center.
Comprehensive assistance in developing and commercializing life-changing therapeutics
The School of Medicine has planned multiple rounds of I³ funding every fiscal year, with awards divided into subcategories centered around a unifying theme. For example, some awards are for biomedical knowledge, while others are related to leveraging the Emory Integrated Core Facilities.
Zhexing Wen’s (psychiatry and behavioral sciences), influential research on antidepressant medication was among the first to receive an I3 Wow! Research award in 2019. Wen used the funding to understand how cells in the body react to antidepressants. He hopes to create a digital tool that predicts which patients will respond best to which antidepressants. “The I3 award also provided us a unique opportunity to form a new collaborative research team with complementary expertise to address an important problem and an unmet medical need,” said Wen. He noted the support from the award helped his team “to collect foundational data within a year for applications of external federal grants.”
Hope amid uncertainty
In March 2020, little was known about the COVID-19 virus, and there were few clear protocol roadmaps. Steve Roser (surgery) won a I³ Nexus award to develop and disseminate a checklist manual for COVID-19 to communities and health care facilities. The checklist included graduated recommendations to help users focus on providing care as soon as possible.
Later that year, Joshy Jacob (microbiology and immunology) received an I³ Wow! Research award focused on preventing the COVID-19 virus from making copies of itself by targeting the protein nsp15. He and his team used the award to investigate whether they could stop the virus from replicating by repurposing already FDA-approved therapies. Jacob’s research ultimately contributed to a promising foundation for developing more potent drugs targeting nsp15 in the future.
Carlo De Cecco (radiology and imaging sciences) received the I³ Emory/Georgia Tech award in 2021. De Cecco used the award to collaborate with Georgia Tech professor Ali Adibi (electrical and computer engineering) on a project entitled “An Artificial Intelligence-based Platform for Severity Analysis, Prognosis, and Early Prediction of Short and Long Term Outcomes in COVID-19 Patients.” Together, they developed an artificial intelligence model platform for assessing the severity of COVID-19 cases, predicting patient outcomes, and providing early intervention.
"The scope of the I³ awards extends beyond mere financial support; it encompasses comprehensive assistance in developing and commercializing life-changing devices and products.” - Carlo De Cecco
“From preclinical assessments to clinical trial support, the program facilitates every stage of the innovation process, ensuring that groundbreaking ideas reach fruition and benefit society.”
The I³ awards played a significant role in leveraging innovation and collaboration to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing the power of collective effort in addressing global health challenges.
Heralding a new era of possibilities
The School of Medicine is proud of the research occurring under the Imaging, Innovate, and Impact awards program and the excellent return on investment.