Greg Harris and his fall 2023 research team

UC researcher repairing nerves, one innovation at a time

Greg Harris’ research on nerve repair could help millions to recover from traumatic incidents

By Stephen Kenney Email Stephen

6 minute read August 23, 2024

It could happen nearly anywhere.

Maybe you were driving around town or serving your country on the battlefield or even competing on the sports field. And then, suddenly, everything changes.

Traumatic nerve injuries can have debilitating effects on those who go through them. From severe and unabating pain levels to a loss of sensation or movement in certain body parts, there’s no shortage of difficulties for those whose nerves get damaged.

Greg Harris, an associate professor of chemical engineering at the University of Cincinnati, is on a mission to change people’s lives. With his team and some help from UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub, Harris aims to provide a ray of hope — and a full recovery — to those whose nerves are currently flagged as beyond repair.

It takes some nerve …

Harris and his team have taken on a worthy endeavor, but it’s far from easy. Nerve regeneration and repair require highly specialized skills that may only be possible at Research 1 universities such as UC.

Greg Harris. Photo/Greg Harris

“Nerves can be damaged, and in particularly severe cases, the nerves are unable to be repaired even with surgical intervention,” Harris said. “Our research is geared at providing a therapeutic approach to regain nerve function for these severe cases.”

Current nerve regeneration and repair practices use autografts, which take nerves from another part of one’s body, and engineered nerve guidance conduits, a bioartificial alternative. Harris believes both methods have limitations as neither achieves a full functional recovery.

“Our research leverages a novel nerve guidance conduit that’s able to provide electrical, chemical and physical cues to growing cells and nerves,” Harris explained. “In making a multiplexed biomaterial, we’re able to mimic development and provide a path to grow and reinnervate damaged nerve tissue.”

The research Harris’ team is working on may be complex, but its possible impacts are not: it could provide near-complete recovery to those facing debilitating nerve damage.

From research to real-world results

While Harris’ nerve research holds life-changing potential, several key steps must be taken beyond the lab to bring that vision to reality. He turned to UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub to help him transform his research into a viable, real-world product.

The 1819 Innovation Hub is a startup incubator where UC students and researchers connect with Cincinnati’s corporate community. Patenting help from the Tech Transfer team and the Venture Lab business pre-accelerator played particularly significant roles in advancing Harris’ research.

The Tech Transfer team has been invaluable to the development and research we have done thus far.

Greg Harris Associate professor, UC

UC’s Tech Transfer team works with faculty members to discover whether their research findings could be marketplace successes. Patenting is critical to safeguarding UC researchers’ discoveries, gaining new funding rounds and allowing for the licensing and successful commercialization of these findings. The Tech Transfer team accomplishes this through its extensive knowledge of the patenting process, along with close collaboration with faculty members and patent counsels.

“The Tech Transfer team has been invaluable to the development and research we have done thus far,” Harris said. “From the very beginning in patenting the initial idea … they have expedited the research and allowed us to gain the knowledge and skill set to obtain the funding necessary to continue the research at a high level.”

Image from Greg Harris' nerve research. Photo/Greg Harris

Harris has advice for other researchers — any researchers, in fact — working at UC.

“Go to Tech Transfer at the beginning of the project,” he said, “because not only are they able to help in the commercial space … they also give valuable resources and skills for conveying your idea in a clear manner to apply to grant writing and to obtain funding to continue the work in an academic setting.”

In other words, Harris recommends heading to Tech Transfer as research begins, whether patenting and commercialization interest you or not. The team adds invaluable insights on topics such as the Ohio IP Promise, funding sources, patent potential and interested companies and investors.

Meeting needs where they’re at

Harris enjoys researching but also hopes to see his ideas reach the marketplace and benefit people with traumatic nerve injuries. UC’s Tech Transfer team pointed him to the Venture Lab business pre-accelerator, also housed at the 1819 Innovation Hub, to help him create a real-world product.

“The Venture Lab was fantastic to work with,” Harris said, “because it really provided me with a different perspective on the research we’re doing. How to connect our work to the market … it also provided an avenue to really gain an understanding of the products already out in the space for development and what is still needed and in demand currently.”

From patenting progress to business development, Harris is grateful for his experiences at UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub. Madison Bourbon, a senior licensing associate on the Tech Transfer team, is equally excited about Harris’ progress.

“It’s been great working with Dr. Harris and seeing the progress he’s made with the development of this potentially life-changing nerve repair technology,” Bourbon said. “Tech Transfer exists to facilitate the protection and commercialization of inventions created by brilliant UC professors like Harris, and we can’t wait to see the joy his product brings to those facing serious nerve injuries.”

Featured image at top: Greg Harris and his fall 2023 research team. Photo/Greg Harris

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