Sprout Program Announces 2025 Awardees: Investing Deeper in Transformative Research
The Sprout Program is proud to announce the two exceptional projects selected for funding in the 2025 cycle, which covers FY ‘26. Supported by the Office of Technology Licensing (OTL), Sprout continues its mission to accelerate the commercialization of groundbreaking technologies developed within the Division of Science by Brandeis researchers.
This year marks an exciting evolution for the program: while fewer projects were selected, each received significantly larger awards, reflecting our commitment to making bold, catalyzing investments in high commercial-potential innovations. These grants support promising research, helping Brandesian inventors take critical steps toward real-world application, whether in human health, agriculture, or sustainable industry.
The 2025 awardees are working on novel solutions to two urgent global challenges: antifungal resistance in medicine and agriculture and building platforms for cancer treatment. Their work exemplifies the innovativeness and scientific excellence of the Brandeis research community.
Meet the 2025 Sprout Awardees:
Development and Optimization of Novel Protein-Based Antifungals for Therapeutic and Agricultural Applications
PIs: Alex Johnson, Kaushik Ragunathan
Team: Angie Como-Mosconi, Alexandra Latuda, Emma Kote
Fungal pathogens cause devastating diseases in humans and plants, which threaten public health and agricultural supplies. New antifungals are rarely developed, and there is a need for cheap and effective methods to manage the global fungal burden. We discovered a class of protein-based antifungals and seek to develop these molecules for human therapeutic and agricultural applications. The team will use their Sprout funding to refine and patent this new class of antifungals.
Discovery and Development of Novel Molecular Scaffold for Targeted Protein Degradation
PI: Lizbeth Hedstrom
Team: Penchala Narasimharao Meka, Ann Lawson
Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) recruit target proteins to E3 ligases for ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. The commonly used E3 ligases CRBN and VHL face challenges due to tissue-restricted expression and resistance. We have developed a novel molecular scaffold that induces the degradation of the oncogenic transcriptional regulator BRD4 by a distinct PROTAC-like mechanism. This project aims to optimize the molecular scaffold and extend the approach to degrade additional protein classes, including cancer targets.
This year’s recipients exemplify the Sprout Program’s growing impact: focused support to empower Brandeis researchers to move from lab bench to marketplace. In addition to funding, Sprout participants receive commercialization guidance, intellectual property services, and marketing assistance. We congratulate the teams and look forward to more breakthroughs ahead.