Research in Georgia: The Power of Discovery

In 2009, Robert J. Woods spun a startup out of his extensive research in glycobiology, which is the study of carbohydrates. A distinguished research professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemistry at the University of Georgia, Woods cofounded Lectenz Bio based on reagents he and his colleagues developed from enzymes used to detect glycans, complex carbohydrate structures that are important disease biomarkers, such as in the early detection of cancer.

Growing Amid Uncertainty: University of Georgia Professor Robert Woods cofounded startup biotech company Lectenz Bio. Photo credit: Ben Rolliins

“Our method tells [medical professionals], ‘Hey, look here,’” says Woods. “It helps to enrich a sample in the material that they would want to analyze.”

Lectenz Bio manufactures its products in Athens at Innovation Gateway, part of UGA’s Innovation District, and enjoys a well-respected, global reputation.

“We’ve grown very well, we’ve got a great team and we’re still growing,” Woods says. “But we couldn’t do [the work] without the support of the National Institutes of Health.”

For now, the NIH grants that fund Woods’ work are ongoing. But for the future? “Let me check the Magic 8 Ball,” he says.

A Flourishing Environment

As longstanding contributors to the global research ecosystem, Georgia’s public research universities deeply benefit from federal investments, and they’re now navigating reductions in funding.

Funding Impact: Tim Denning, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

“In recent years, Georgia has made a significant leap in federal R&D flowing to our universities, climbing from No. 12 to No. 8 in the U.S.,” wrote Tim Denning, president and CEO of the Georgia Research

Alliance, in an email. “Public and private research funding has a profound impact on our state. It drives purchases of equipment and supplies, creates jobs and ultimately returns money to Georgia’s tax base. Beyond the economic benefits, university research also helps launch startup companies and create all kinds of products that benefit Georgia and the world.”

The University System of Georgia’s four research universities achieved substantial milestones in 2024.

Georgia Tech was the largest research university in the United States without a medical school and the third largest recipient of federal research funding in the U.S.

The University of Georgia set a record with $628.1 million in research and development expenditures – a 10% increase year-over-year – and its sixth consecutive year of growth.

The university received $185.7 million in research grants, with more than half of that total coming from federal sources including the NIH, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.

Augusta University, home to the Medical College of Georgia and the Georgia Cancer Center, received more than $134 million in research awards in fiscal year 2024. The university received $79.3 million in National Institutes of Health grants.

And then there’s Emory University. The private institution located in Atlanta is considered one of the nation’s leading research universities. In fiscal year 2024, Emory received a total of more than $1 billion in research funding, including over $488 million in NIH funding. Emory is among the top 20 universities receiving NIH funds.

Risky Decisions

However, in February 2025 the Trump administration announced it would implement changes to the federal research funding process, reducing or eliminating grants made through the NIH. The administration targeted overhead costs, stating such amounts would be capped at 15% of the “direct” research amount of the grant. The administration also initiated a purge of research related to topics of diversity, equity and inclusion. An Emory University research grant exploring breast cancer disparities in women of color was halted. A joint project between Emory and Morehouse School of Medicine, focused on improving pregnancy and postpartum outcomes for Black women, was halted with $1.6 million left on the grant.

Research Disruption: Maria Thacker Goethe, president and CEO of Georgia Life Sciences. Photo credit: Kevin Garrett

While Georgia’s research universities fared better than others nationally, there are currently 46 NIH grants impacted (either terminated or those that may be reinstated), resulting in a loss of $22.05 million in funding. That’s according to the Grant Witness website, a project tracking the termination of scientific research grants under the Trump administration, state by state. The number of NSF grants currently impacted stands at 52, with a current loss of $31.47 million in funding. Some grant terminations may be reinstated, while others will be permanent, depending on legal outcomes.

“Georgia research institutions have felt a very significant impact from the federal rollbacks, specifically in NIH and NSF funding,” says Maria Thacker Goethe, president and CEO of Georgia Life Sciences, the largest life sciences industry association in the state. She adds that other researchers with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have also been affected.

Thacker Goethe’s message about the impact of research cuts is simple: Disruption shatters the foundational trust researchers have in grant continuity.

“Research depends on long-term investment and certainty,” she says. “Research can take years before something can come to fruition, so when a grant is frozen or canceled and then suddenly reinstated, with little warning, we can lose weeks to years of work. It disrupts career trajectories for some people, and it risks undermining discoveries that can serve public health, whether that’s Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, rare disease, whatever it may be.”

She also points out that disruption in research is much more than a political talking point. It’s a global leadership issue with national security implications.

“This is handing innovation to China, one of our biggest adversaries,” says Thacker Goethe. “At the same time, for our industry, China is critical to a lot of innovation because of some of the [inputs] they provide due to the global economy. So, we see countries like China doubling down on consistent, large-scale investment in biomedical, medtech and biomanufacturing, and we’re just handing [innovation] to China on a silver platter. Every time we hesitate or undercut our own researchers, we risk ceding leadership in the life sciences to global competitors, period.”

Bench to Bedside

More than a Building: Russell Keen, president of Augusta University. Photo credit: Hillary Kay

Despite the uncertainty, there is exciting news throughout the state. Georgia researchers have achieved significant successes in university laboratories, hospitals and even under the Gold Dome this past year.

In March, the Georgia legislature appropriated $99.8 million for Augusta University’s $146.2 million Translational Research building. Through a combination of university funds, private philanthropy and community support, Augusta University has contributed $46 million and counting to the project. The site preparation, including demolition of the buildings currently on the site, is expected to be completed by January 2027, and construction of the new building is slated to be completed by November 2028.

“This is more than just about a building,” says Augusta University President Russell Keen. “It’s the beginning of a new era of focus towards innovation and discovery, and that has been a great selling point as we look at recruiting top-tier researchers and accelerating the translational research that we’re talking about.”

With federal limits being placed on some grants, Keen is putting a renewed emphasis on seeking multiple funding streams and boosting public-private partnerships, such as the two-year Hyundai Scholar Hope Grant, a $400,000 pediatric research grant awarded to Dr. David Munn, a physician and professor of pediatric oncology, at MCG.

Munn co-directs the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program, investigating and developing ways to activate children’s immune systems so that cancer-fighting immunotherapy drugs that work in adults will also work in kids.

Munn’s work is the type of translational research that the new building at Augusta University will support.

“It means that you can take it, quite literally, translate what you’ve done there to the bedside of a patient, or take it from the [laboratory] bench, and it goes to market,” adds Keen.

A Strategy for Impact

But seeking out multiple sources of research funding isn’t just a “revenue tactic.”

“It’s a strategy for impact,” writes Donald Hamelberg, vice president for research and economic development at Georgia State University, in an email. “When different funders invest in our research, we’re able to deliver different kinds of public value. For example, foundations and community partners help us shape questions that are locally relevant. Federal agencies support the kind of ongoing research that pushes theory forward. And state [and] local agencies and corporate partners give us access to real-time data and opportunities to test and apply findings quickly.”

Multiple Sources of Funding: Donald Hamelberg, vice president for research and economic development at Georgia State University. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

This mix of funding partnerships isn’t performative; it has meaning and application, leading to richer datasets, faster translation of research into practice and more stability for labs and students.

Georgia State’s geographic location, situated in the heart of Downtown Atlanta at the intersection of government and commerce in a global city, with a diverse student population exceeding 52,000, lends itself to cultivating meaningful relationships in unique fields of study, including the social sciences.

“Because we have these advantages, we’ve built the infrastructure to leverage them,” Hamelberg says. “The Georgia Health Policy Center [at GSU] connects research directly to policy and practice. In that center, we’re designing programs, linking data and translating findings for decision-makers across Georgia – all within a few blocks of the state Capitol. Another major asset tied to our location is our membership in the Atlanta Research Data Center, part of the national Federal Statistical Research Data Centers network. Through ARDC, our faculty can access secure, non-public federal microdata – such as those from the census – for approved projects. That opens the door to policy-relevant analyses that just aren’t possible with public data alone.”

For example, the university was awarded the William T. Grant Institutional Challenge Grant, a five-year, $1 million award received in 2022 by GSU’s Georgia Policy Labs in collaboration with Achieve Atlanta, an educational nonprofit that partners with postsecondary institutions and other nonprofits to help Atlanta Public School students access, afford and earn postsecondary credentials.

“Achieve Atlanta has always been a data-forward organization,” says Jonathan Smith, associate professor of economics at Georgia State University, W.J. Usery Chair of the American Workplace and a faculty director with the Georgia Policy Labs. “But through Georgia Policy Labs, we’ve been able to connect Achieve Atlanta’s data to other organizations to better understand students’ circumstances, financial needs and outcomes in and through college. This has, for example, led to an expansion of the Achieve Atlanta scholarship to more students in the Atlanta Public Schools and [a recently] announced expansion into the Fulton County School District. Additionally, the collaboration and research have led to some programmatic changes within Achieve Atlanta and a better understanding of who benefits the most from the scholarship and under what circumstances.”

“Beyond the economic benefits, university research also helps launch startup companies and create all kinds of products that benefit Georgia and the world.” – Tim Denning, president and CEO, Georgia Research Alliance

“Because our partners are local, one of our scholars is embedded with the nonprofit,” says Hamelberg. “That means we’re co-defining questions and using linked administrative data from schools, scholarship programs and higher-ed systems to run rigorous causal analyses. That work has already helped improve outcomes for Atlanta Public School graduates by feeding evidence directly into program design.”

To Market, To Market

For the third consecutive year, the University of Georgia ranked No. 1 among U.S. universities for the number of commercial products brought to market by industry partners based on university research. It’s hardly a fluke. For the past 10 years, UGA has placed in the top two and has never placed outside the top five in the 12 years that the survey’s been conducted.

Weathering the Storm: University of Georgia Professor Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn and researchers developed a virtual reality program to improve storm preparation. Photo credit: Ben Rollins

Among the products of note in 2024 was Weather the Storm, a virtual reality program to improve storm preparation. Developed by Sun Joo “Grace” Ahn and a group of researchers at UGA, Clemson University, Georgia Sea Grant and South Carolina Sea Grant, the project was funded through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Weather the Storm uses virtual reality (VR) technology to allow people to see the effects of a storm surge inside a home, while another portion of the experience guides users through the preparation and evacuation process. These phases build what designers call self-efficacy, creating a mental map of the steps people can take during a future catastrophic weather event.

Weather the Storm is available online for free at www.ugavr.com/weatherthestorm. It requires a VR headset, specifically a Meta Quest. However, Ahn’s lab also licensed a commercial version of Weather the Storm.

“If you have a company, and you would like to tailor [the program] … or you want certain features added onto this, then we’re definitely able to do this because all of this is developed in-house,” says Ahn.

Currently, Ahn is collaborating with the University of Oregon to develop a wildfire-specific version. Her goal is to create an entire library of VR scenarios.

Innovative Technology: UGA Professor Elizabeth Brisbois and colleagues developed a nitric oxide-based hand sanitizer that works longer than alcohol-based versions. Photo credit: Contributed

Around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Elizabeth Brisbois, a distinguished faculty fellow and associate professor in the School of Chemical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering at UGA, was looking for innovative ways to deploy antimicrobials – substances that kill bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites – in medical device applications. However, with the onset of the pandemic, she and her colleagues redirected their attention to hand sanitizers. They wanted to try using nitric oxide, a gas molecule produced naturally in the body, to kill bacteria and other microbes associated with infections around medical devices.

They created a hand sanitizer, dubbed NORel, with a gel formula that remained effective for up to two hours after application. (Typical alcohol-based sanitizers evaporate and stop working after about 30 to 60 minutes.) Brisbois has obtained patent protection and established a small startup. There are already applications for this antimicrobial technology beyond hand sanitizers.

“There’s been quite a bit of work by us and others looking at nitric oxide for wound care, for example,” says Brisbois. “[There are] different types of creams that you could apply to a wound or even bandages or wound dressing, so there’s a lot of promise there.”

Research Wins

From nurturing the seed of an idea and iterating concepts in a lab or incubator to counseling entrepreneurs throughout every stage of growth and commercializing products, as well as spinning out companies, Georgia Tech has mastered the art of research partnerships, both large and small. Last year, the school launched 143 startups, and in Fiscal Year 2025, it generated 124 patents and received nearly $1.5 billion in funding.

Complicated Times: Tim Lieuwen, executive vice president for research at Georgia Tech. Photo credit: Georgia Tech

“We’re the third largest recipient of federal funding in the United States,” says Tim Lieuwen, executive vice president for research at Georgia Tech. “There’s the amount of research that we do, but also there’s a big focus on commercialization, working with the private sector, but also starting companies. We set a new record last year in terms of patents that we generated, companies that we started and venture capital investment.”

Georgia Tech also operates the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), which collaborates with over 800 companies across 100 counties statewide.

“These are small companies with three to five employees who aren’t normally engaging with big research universities,” Lieuwen says. “We work with them and help them streamline processes, or help them deal with cybersecurity concerns or integrate AI into their workflows.”

A recently announced partnership between the NSF, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Georgia Tech to build the $20 million Nexus supercomputer with AI capabilities will support many of Georgia’s key industries, including aerospace, healthcare and manufacturing, while accelerating the pace of discovery for universities nationwide.

When it comes to the perils facing research universities, Lieuwen doesn’t get distracted by things he can’t control.

“These are very interesting, and I’ll say very complicated, times,” he says. “With this change in administration, [there are] a lot of questions on the role of universities and the value of university research. My role is to try to find the areas in which we can serve national priorities. Bringing more manufacturing jobs to the region – that’s a big priority. Treating cancer, national security and making our pilots safer. Those are things we’re really good at. And those issues, I don’t care what administration you’re in, are big priorities.”

“We need to do more to show the public what we do and why it matters. … Impact is the reason we’re here.” – Donald Hamelberg, vice president for research and economic development, Georgia State University

It’s also important for research universities to reclaim the research narrative and communicate effectively, says GSU’s Hamelberg.

“We need to do more to show the public what we do and why it matters,” he says. “That means producing more plain-language summaries alongside papers, holding community briefings with partners and building public dashboards when appropriate. It also means telling concrete stories of impact, such as how a study improved a service, saved money or boosted health or education outcomes. Our students and researchers can be powerful ambassadors for this. After all, at Georgia State, impact is the reason we’re here.”