{"252291":{"#nid":"252291","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Starter Offers Alternative Funding Method for Medical Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFunding for research is a highly competitive endeavor under the best of circumstances. For Georgia Tech doctoral student Troy Alexander, a new avenue for funding has opened.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlexander works as a researcher in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.kubaneklab.biology.gatech.edu\/index.html\u0022\u003ESchool of Biology Professor Julia Kubanek\u2019s group\u003C\/a\u003E. His latest project seeks to accelerate the discovery of new medicines for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases by studying Fijian red algae.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo help raise funds to support this research, Alexander and Kubanek posted the project on Georgia Tech Starter, a university-based, peer-reviewed crowdfunding platform for faculty-sponsored scientific research projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlexander established a fundraising goal of $9,450 to fast-track the discovery of these new medicines through a combination of biomedical screening, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and multivariate statistical analysis of his library of marine chemical compounds from the Fijian organisms. By identifying unknown molecules, the research will prioritize exploration of previously unseen structures that can exhibit strong potency toward microbial and human cancer cell lines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese molecules previously unknown to science will be carried forward for purification, structure determination, and development as treatments for disease,\u201d Alexander said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Starter is a perfect venue for making human medicine research advances more accessible to a general audience, he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Allison Mercer, an applied physicist at Georgia Tech Research Institute \u2013 and the mastermind behind \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Starter\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 using crowdfunding for science means there is a community of people invested in the research, witnessing its benefits and outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere is incredible potential for contributors to engage with scientists in a way that hasn\u2019t been done before: A project that is successfully funded converts into a blog through which only project supporters can monitor the progress of the project, ask the scientists questions, and witness world-class research at Tech as it unfolds.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut, before taking a step to gain the world\u2019s attention through \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ETech Starter\u003C\/a\u003E, researchers need to consider several things, Alexander said: One is the amount of funding to request.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe amount we seek to raise should be large enough to make an impact on our research, but it shouldn\u2019t be so large to sound insurmountable to potential donors,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAnother item to consider is how easily one can make their research appeal to a broader audience,\u201d he said. \u201cDo you have any tangible goals that can be achieved within the first year as proof of progress to donors? Are you willing to commit to engaging with the audience \u2013 from making the video to maintaining social media contact? These are huge commitments, and they need to be managed without becoming a drain on research time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELastly, Alexander advises that the goals of the project need to be easy to explain and justify. Short-term goals should be clear to give investors something to anticipate. And, he said, researchers should be prepared for the contingency that the funds might not be raised.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELike other crowdfunding platforms, Georgia Tech Starter operates with an all-or-nothing funding strategy. Only if the project goal amount is reached within a 60-day window, are donors\u2019 credit cards charged. This helps assure supporters that the researchers will only receive the pledged money if they have enough total funds to achieve the stated project goals. Some research efforts are scalable, but many are not.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf it costs a million dollars to launch a telescope into space, it doesn\u2019t do you any good to get halfway there,\u201d said Mercer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents interested in taking advantage of Tech\u2019s crowdfunding site can visit starter.gatech.edu to submit their contact information.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe process for getting a project posted on Georgia Tech Starter includes a comprehensive peer review of the project to ensure that: it is achievable; the requested funding amount is enough to complete the project; and the researchers on the project have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to get the research done right. Through the peer review process, researchers will receive feedback on how to better craft the project\u2019s message for posting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe do everything we can to support the project creators so they can be successful,\u201d said Mercer.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFunding for research is a highly competitive endeavor under the best of circumstances. For Georgia Tech doctoral student Troy Alexander, a new avenue for funding has opened for his\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;latest project that seeks to accelerate the discovery of new medicines for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases by studying Fijian red algae.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Doctoral student seeking new medicines derived from Fijian red algae"}],"uid":"27299","created_gmt":"2013-11-07 18:26:17","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:18","author":"Michael Hagearty","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/starter.gatech.edu\/#46","title":"Accelerating Discovery of Antibiotics from Algae"}],"groups":[{"id":"1182","name":"General"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"79271","name":"algae"},{"id":"11571","name":"Antibiotics"},{"id":"277","name":"Biology"},{"id":"66201","name":"Georgia Tech Starter"},{"id":"524","name":"medicine"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}