News: Horticulture Student Earns Scholarship, Trip of a Lifetime

Posted Sept. 16, 2013 | Tina Smith

Robin Cannon, a senior horticulture student at Kent State University at Salem, recently received the Perennial Plant Association scholarship during the organization's annual symposium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Aside from the $1,000 scholarship, the association provided travel expenses for Cannon to attend the weeklong symposium and participate in its lectures, tours and networking opportunities with professionals from around the world. She was one of six students from the United States to receive the scholarship, and the first ever from Kent State.

During the symposium, Cannon heard speakers from around the country discuss trends in gardening and design, and she toured several private and public gardens. The trip also included a hike up Whistler Mountain.

"This was a trip of a lifetime," Cannon says. "I saw the most amazing gardens and plants, and we never stopped. I got some really great ideas that I hope to use someday, especially with using different combinations and decorative items."

Cannon shared that she saw roof-top gardens, a "living" wall, forests, water features, home gardens, container gardens and had an up-close encounter with a glacier. During her trip, she met numerous horticulture professionals, students and professors.

"Everywhere we went, the people were so inviting and willing to share their knowledge," Cannon says. "Gardeners are sharers. They are out there to make things beautiful and to make us happy and feel good. It felt nice to be around so many nice people who want to do good things for others."

Cannon lives in Aurora, Ohio, and graduated from West Geauga High School. She will graduate in December with a bachelor's degree in horticulture.

The Perennial Plant Association is headquartered in Hilliard and is a trade association of growers, retailers, landscape designers, contractors, educators and others who are professionally involved in the perennial plant industry. The annual symposium attracts more than 500 persons from 40 states, Canada and other countries.

Source: Kent

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Kent State College of Public Health Awarded Grant for Biofilm Research

Posted Apr. 5, 2013

Kent State University's College of Public Health recently received the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Grant while partnering with Sterionics Inc. for work on advancing and commercializing a wound therapy biotechnology product.

The grant totaled $150,000; $50,000 of which went to Kent State, the remainder to Sterionics.

Principal investigator Christopher Woolverton, Ph.D., professor of environmental health sciences, and James Ferrell, biological sciences graduate student, have been collaborating with Sterionics since 2008. The subcontract to Kent State will extend bench research on the Sterionics device, which uses proprietary technology to kill bacteria.

"Our partnership has not only supported the research and development of Sterionics, but also permitted a Kent State graduate student access to technology and business workings, allowing him to see the inner workings of a small company," Woolverton said.

Sterionics, a science technology and innovation company, and Kent State have collaborated for several years on developing a product that is aimed at killing bacteria and biofilms, a thin film of bacteria that sticks to a surface. The device also has demonstrated the ability to stimulate skin cell growth. It kills bacteria that cause skin infections while stimulating cells that make up the skin to reproduce rapidly and migrate, which is determined by laboratory testing.

"It's like a one-two punch," Ferrell said.

Kent State and Sterionics are currently working on phase one of the project. The goal is to put prototype one to use, further modifying it to make it smaller and to optimize it by "tuning" it for specific applications.

Ferrell said he is optimistic that the results generated from this grant will result in positive data for the phase one proposal and ultimately lead to phase two funding from the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research program.

Phase two could eventually lead to controlled animal trials with this technology. The overarching goal of all of this work is to lead to commercialization and advancement of wound care.

"The partnership between Kent State University and small businesses like Sterionics could lead to positive and mutual benefits for both entities moving into the future," Ferrell said.

Find more information on Kent State's College of Public Health website.

Source: Kent

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