{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://defazio.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/defazio-applauds-federal-grant-for-eugene-innovator", "DeFazio Applauds Federal Grant for Eugene Innovator", "2014-11-06", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Peter DeFazio", "D000191", "defazio.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC- Rep. Peter DeFazio is pleased to announce the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded a $100,000 grant to mAbDx Inc., an early stage Eugene-based technology firm founded by former University of Oregon science researcher, Michael Marusich, Ph.D.\u00a0 The company is on the forefront of biomarker research and immunoassay development and conducting several important projects, ranging from aquaculture to cancer research. (Read more about mAbDx here.)\nThis grant supports efforts\u00a0to provide Northwest hatchery managers real-time feedback to prevent shellfish losses and is part of a larger $18 million program NIFA awards to small businesses nationwide through its Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR). Winners are identified as having high-quality, advanced research and development that will lead to technological innovations and solutions for American agriculture.\nPrior to founding mAbDx, Marusich co-founded MitoSciences, another UO spinout company and the leading developer of anti-mitochondrial antibodies, mitochondrial assays, and products and services for mitochondrial toxicity screening. MitoSciences and mabDx were incubated in the UO\u2019s Riverfront Research Park.\n\u201cSmall businesses like mAbDx Inc. are integral to developing the groundbreaking research that makes America a global academic leader and an economic powerhouse,\u201d Rep. DeFazio said. \u201cI am proud to support our nation\u2019s innovators, and I\u2019m especially proud to see this kind of work associated with the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. Our research universities play a critical role in spurring innovation.\u201d\n\u201cWe congratulate mAbDx on this well-deserved grant, which will help Dr. Marusich\u2019s second startup company take groundbreaking discoveries from our region to the next level,\u201d said Charles Williams, the UO\u2019s associate vice president for innovation.\n\u201cThe collaboration between Dr. Marusich and OSU on this SBIR is further evidence that the South Willamette Valley offers a robust regional community where locally developed innovations and UO spinout companies like mAbDx can succeed, contributing to the economic vitality of Oregon, the United States, and global society,\u201d Williams added.\nHoused in a private, custom-built biotechnology lab in the Lewis Integrative Science Building at the University of Oregon as part of company incubator space sponsored in part by Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), mAbDx will conduct work on a rapid simple test to detect bacterial contamination in shellfish hatcheries.\n\u201cOSU applauds mAbDx for winning this highly competitive award from NIFA, and we are excited\u00a0to continue our partnership with this company through Dr. Mark Leid in our College of Pharmacy and Dr. Claudia Hase in the College of Veterinary Medicine,\u201d said Brian Wall, assistant vice president for research, commercialization, and industry partnerships for Oregon\u00a0State University. \u201cThrough the OSU Advantage, we are allocating an additional $10,000 in support of this important work at OSU to ultimately provide Northwest hatchery managers real-time feedback to prevent shellfish losses.\u201d\nSince 1983, the SBIR program has awarded more than 2,000 research and development grants to American-owned, independently operated, for-profit businesses with 500 employees or fewer.\nUO and OSU support projects at university-related start-up companies like mAbDx through the University Venture Development Fund (UVDF), a state supported program stimulating donor giving to innovation and research efforts. The Oregon Legislature will consider renewal of the UVDF during the 2015 legislative session.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://defazio.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/defazio-applauds-federal-grant-for-eugene-innovator"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2320877760648727, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}