SUNY Chancellor King Announces Funding for Groundbreaking Technologies to Improve Lives and Protect New Yorkers

September 14, 2026

$400,000 in Seed Funding Distributed through the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF)

Albany, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today announced the latest round of seed funding through the Technology Accelerator Fund (TAF), which provides grants to faculty inventors and scientists. Grants totaling $400,000 will support groundbreaking research at five campuses, including: the State University of New York at Albany, State University of New York at Binghamton, State University of New York at Buffalo, State University of New York at Stony Brook, and SUNY Upstate Medical University.

This year's awardees are using artificial intelligence to accelerate cancer diagnostics, developing therapies for circadian rhythm disorders, improving energy-efficient semiconductors for electric vehicles and AI infrastructure, advancing non-invasive cardiopulmonary monitoring and burn diagnostics, enabling scalable room-temperature quantum sensing, enhancing RNA therapeutic drug delivery, and creating targeted treatments for acute respiratory disease.

"SUNY is a national leader in interdisciplinary research that develops state-of-the-art technologies, saves lives, transforms industries, and serves the public good," said SUNY Chancellor King. "Through the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund, we are proud to continue investing in cutting-edge research and celebrate the vision, passion, and purpose that our researchers embody."

The SUNY Board of Trustees said, "SUNY research uses revolutionary breakthroughs to fuel economies and empower communities. With continued support from the Technology Accelerator Fund, SUNY's researchers are able to commercialize initiatives that will improve the lives of people throughout New York State and beyond."

The SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund helps support critical research – such as feasibility studies, prototyping, and testing – which demonstrate that an idea or innovation has commercial potential. The goal is to accelerate time to market for these innovations and increase their market readiness for potential investors, strategic partners, and customers.

The Technology Accelerator Fund Class of 2026 funding recipients include:

State University of New York at Albany

  • Scalable Platform for Room-Temperature Quantum Sensing and Imaging Technologies: Current quantum photonic devices usually require cryogenic cooling to function properly, limiting widespread use. Dr. Spyros Galis is revolutionizing quantum photonic platforms to allow room-temperature operation. This new approach significantly reduces cost, complexity, and energy consumption while enabling real-world applications.
  • Real-Time Non-Invasive 3D Monitoring of Pulmonary Perfusion and Ventilation: When treating neonatal and pediatric patients for congenital heart disease or other cardiopulmonary conditions, having complete data to inform decisions is crucial to the quality of care. Dr. Gary Saulnier is developing CurrentView, a product to drastically improve a caregiver's ability to make data-informed decisions with a bedside monitoring system that uses non-invasive electrical measurements to provide continuous assessment.

State University of New York at Binghamton

  • Secure AI Platform for Rapid Image-Based Molecular Biomarker Prediction: Turnaround time for treatment decisions remains a major roadblock to efficient cancer care. Dr. Nancy Guo developed ClinSegAI, a predictive model that uses artificial intelligence to detect biomarkers within standard pathology imaging to rapidly reduce treatment decision time, marking a major improvement in the standard of care.
  • In Vivo Validation of Lipid Nanoparticles for RNA Therapeutic Delivery: RNA therapeutics provide promising treatment avenues for a wide variety of diseases, but current methods using lipid nanoparticles (in a person's fat cells) have poor delivery and efficiency, and raise toxicity concerns that limit proper dosing. Dr. John Fetse has overcome these challenges by incorporating amino acids directly into the lipids, reducing toxicity risk and improving delivery rates.

State University of New York at Buffalo

  • Gallium Oxide Semiconductor Transistors for Electric Vehicle and AI Power: The growing use of electric vehicles and data center boom is increasing the demand for technology that can deliver electricity more efficiently. Dr. Uttam Singisetti is developing a new type of high-power electronic device that can reduce wasted energy, improve performance, and lower costs.
  • First In-Class Therapy for Advanced Phase Circadian Disorders: Circadian rhythm disorders arise when the body's internal biological clock does not match their daily schedule or environment, increasing risk for sleep disruption, cardiovascular disease, depression, cancer, and chronic pain. Dr. Margarita L. Dubocovich is working to treat advanced sleep disorders with an orally administered therapeutic that realigns the underlying biological clock mechanism and restores healthy rhythms.

State University of New York at Stony Brook

  • Terahertz Spectral Imaging for Diagnosis of Skin Burns: When a patient experiences a burn injury, they may undergo multiple surgeries to reconstruct the injured area because of inaccuracies in burn diagnosis. Dr. M. Hassan Arbab has developed a handheld, portable scanner for the diagnosis and triage of burn injuries with 93- 95 percent or better accuracy, as compared to the current rate of clinical techniques around 60-65 percent, greatly expanding diagnostic capabilities and improving the care provided to patients.

SUNY Upstate Medical University

  • Lung-Targeting Drug Formulation for Treatment of Acute Respiratory Disease: Using lung-targeting lipid nanoparticles, Dr. Yamin Li is changing the standard of treatment for sepsis-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening condition causing lung injury and breathing challenges that affects roughly three million patients annually. Dr. Li aims to meet a critical need in healthcare, reduce mortality, shorten ICU stays, and decrease ventilator use for patients with the condition.

State University of New York at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez said, "Research and innovation are central to the University at Albany's mission as a public research university, where we transform promising ideas into real-world impact. The work of Dr. Spyros Galis and Dr. Gary Saulnier reflects the depth and breadth of research at UAlbany, from advancing quantum sensing technologies to improving how clinicians monitor and care for pediatric patients. The Technology Accelerator Fund gives our faculty the critical early support they need to move groundbreaking ideas out of the lab and into the real-world. We are grateful to Chancellor King and SUNY for supporting this important work that can make a meaningful difference in people's lives."

State University of New York at Binghamton University President Anne D'Alleva said, "Binghamton faculty are developing new technologies that could have a real impact on delivering timely, safer, and more effective treatments for people suffering from a variety of diseases. Professors Guo and Fetse are tackling important health challenges through their research, and I am grateful to SUNY for supporting this work and helping move these discoveries beyond the lab and closer to people who could actively benefit from them."

State University of New York at Buffalo President Caroline Attardo Genco said, "The selection of two UB researchers for the Technology Accelerator Fund grants highlights the strength of our innovation ecosystem and our leadership in both semiconductor research and the life sciences. Whether advancing more efficient power technologies for emerging applications or developing innovations that improve human health, our faculty are transforming research discoveries into solutions that enhance lives, drive economic growth, and create meaningful real-world impact."

State University of New York at Stony Brook President Andrea Goldsmith said, "Stony Brook University is proud to see Dr. Arbab's innovative work recognized with a Technology Accelerator Award. At Stony Brook we have a long and successful track record of translating our research breakthroughs into real-world impact to benefit humanity, which is exemplified by Dr. Arbab's visionary technology. The sophisticated handheld device he has developed uses terahertz imaging to help clinicians more safely, conveniently and accurately assess burn injuries exemplifying our excellence in transformational medical diagnostics. Achievements like this and so many others across our campus elevate our mission to advance the frontiers of knowledge and use these discoveries to benefit our communities, our great state, the country, and the world."

SUNY Upstate Medical University President Dr. Mantosh Dewan said, "At Upstate, our research is ultimately about improving the human condition—finding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease and improve the lives of the patients and communities we serve. We are grateful to SUNY for its continued commitment to advancing this important work and for helping our researchers move promising discoveries from the laboratory toward real-world impact."

The SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund awards grants through a highly competitive process that weighs several factors, including the availability of intellectual property protection, marketability, commercial potential, feasibility, and breadth of impact. Since the launch of the Technology Accelerator Fund in 2011, SUNY has invested more than $5.1 million in the program to successfully advance the commercial readiness of 99 innovations born at SUNY campuses. The program has catalyzed follow-on investment of an additional $41 million from development partners, including government agencies, industry licensees, and early-stage investors.

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

Share this:

       

 
Contact:
Holly Liapis
518-320-1311
Email the Office of Communications