YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

10 YEARS LATER: Since opening in 2007, about 10 entities have conducted research inside Jordan Valley Innovation Center.
10 YEARS LATER: Since opening in 2007, about 10 entities have conducted research inside Jordan Valley Innovation Center.

A Decade of Discovery: Leaders share JVIC successes, plans

Posted online
The center of Springfield is known for its college campuses, the Springfield Cardinals and its downtown scenes. Not far from Park Central Square, however, scientific research takes place daily at the Jordan Valley Innovation Center. This month, the center celebrated a decade of discovery.

The center has wasted no time, according to Paul Durham. He leads one of the two centers JVIC is divided into: the Center for Biomedical and Life Sciences and the Center for Applied Science and Engineering.

“It’s a unique situation to be in – to be an academic like myself and to have the freedoms to work with these companies on projects,” said Durham, director of the Center for Biomedical and Life Sciences.

Medical marvels
In the years since JVIC finished construction in June 2007, two tenants can be counted as anchors: Brewer Science Inc. and Mercy Research were first on board, and they remain the two largest occupants.

“Four main organizations are partnered with us right now,” said JVIC Director Allen Kunkel.

The other two entities are ESM Technologies LLC and Missouri State University’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences, although Kunkel said as many as 20 companies work with the center at one time, completing projects that span the globe.

Terms like carbon-based electronics, materials research and characterization, device fabrication, prototyping and nanoelectronics regularly are thrown around.

Rolla-based Brewer Science produces materials for smartphones and tablet computers. At JVIC, however, Brewer Corporate Technical Fellow Jim Lamb says research is up to something a little different.

In 2015, Brewer Science was producing materials for carbon-electronic devices to eventually be used in wearable electronics.

That work continues, Lamb said, though it has changed.

“Initially, we looked at being a material provider. At this point, we are a device provider,” Lamb said.

An example of a carbon-electronic device, Lamb said, could be a vibration or heat sensor on a motor, which alerts you when the motor needs service.

“Industry applications is our primary focus,” he said. “It’s a faster-growing, earlier market.

“In the medical field is where I expect people will see these up front.”

Much of Durham’s recent projects have involved finding better means of easing pain without traditional drugs. Currently, Durham is helping lead research on the effects of a person’s diet on their brain.  

“Changing the bacteria in your gut has different influences,” he said. “You can protect yourself from certain diseases by eating a certain type of diet.”

Durham and his colleagues found chicken bone broth may, quite literally, be a comfort food.

“When you eat the broth, it basically changes your gut, and the bacteria in your gut, and that correlates with decreased inflammation and pain. Like in your joints, would be a good example,” said Durham, also a professor in cell biology.

The research has included testing diet and its effects on cognitive function, as well as stress and anxiety levels.

Another study, in conjunction with pharmaceutical company ElectroCore Medical LLC, allowed Durham a better understanding of vagal nerves.

Durham also has worked with pharmaceutical companies such as Merck and Allergan during his time at JVIC.

Vagal nerves are one of the 12 cranial nerves a body has. Most importantly, vagal nerves are responsible for controlling a person’s heart rate and food digestion. But they also control responses to painful stimuli, Durham said.

That’s why he worked with ElectroCore to create a medical device to stimulate the nerve through a person’s skin near their laryngeal prominence, more commonly known as an Adam’s apple.

“It is not painful and has been shown to be safe when used daily,” Durham said. “The device has recently been approved by the FDA as a migraine therapeutic.”

Durham also is working on a cannabis project with colleagues.

“Cannabis is interesting, because marijuana has two major classes of compounds,” he said.

Durham said marijuana is made up of THC, the hallucinogenic part, and CBD, or cannabidiol, which is used in many states for its medicinal values. Separated from THC, cannabidiol can help people without making them feel high.

“We’re isolating out the CBD effect, and again, what we’re finding is that it blocks inflammation and pain,” he said.

The cannabidiol, Durham said, could be administered orally or topically to combat pain.

All of these projects, Durham said, seem to be protective from pain in migraines, as well as temporomandibular joint disorders, or TMJ, models.

Exploring expansion
Built for $12 million a decade ago, Kunkel said JVIC is profitable today.

All corporate affiliates pay about $18 per square foot for their leases, and at 75,000 square feet, there aren’t any leases available.

“We’re full,” Kunkel said. “So we’re actually trying to figure out how we could expand the facility.”

Kunkel and others are in the early stages of investigating the options.

Not many companies have moved through the innovation center, Durham added.

Crosslink vacated its space in 2014 due to a depressed research-funding climate, as did Lockheed Martin Corp. the year prior, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

Nantero of Massachusetts was also once a tenant of the center. Both Crosslink and Nantero, as well as Brewer Science, signed for space in the facility before the building’s groundbreaking.

Kunkel said JVIC’s mission is to encourage discovery, create higher wage jobs in Springfield and allow MSU students an opportunity to work alongside corporate partners or on their own scientific projects.

“That’s the overall key. How can we continue to grow and achieve our goals and assist more companies and create more jobs? The way to do that is to have a larger space to fit their needs,” Kunkel said. “We’ve accomplished a lot in these years and we hope to accomplish more in the next decade by helping companies and assisting students along the way.”


[[In-content Ad]]

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
From the Ground Up: Republic Intermediate School

The Republic School District is on track to open its Intermediate School for fifth- and sixth-grade students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences