Briefs for Wednesday
The Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County has awarded grants to two local life sciences startups to support growth and fund research.
Spokane-based genetic testing company Allele Diagnostics received a $500,000 Small Business Innovation Research Program matching grant this month to assist in developing genetic diagnostics assays, according to a HSSA news release.
“With the matching HSSA grant, Allele (Diagnostics) will have a final assay design, including probe design, software tools and implementation of laboratory methods to improve efficiency,” Marcelo Morales, Allele Diagnostics founder and CEO said in a statement.
Allele was a prior recipient of a $221,840 SBIR grant and a $5,000 grant writing award.
Spokane-based Photon Biosciences LLC also received a $265,092 SBIR grant administered by the Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County.
“The funding from HSSA will help us introduce our technology to solve other problems in the health care industry,” Chandima Bandaranayaka, Photon Biosciences CEO said in a statement.
The grant will allow Photon Biosciences to hire more employees, develop its PBS Microarray program, apply for an additional SBIR grant and create a commercialization plan, according to the news release.
Photon Biosciences received $135,000 in an earlier round of funding from HSSA.
HSSA has granted nearly $8 million in both research and Access to Care grants. It has created an estimated 500 jobs and more than $100 million in total economic activity, according to the release.
Whitworth business program wins CUNA award
Whitworth’s School of Business has received an award from the Credit Union National Association.
The school’s “Balance your Bucs” program, a personal-finance education program, earned CUNA’s Diamond Award, which recognizes the creative excellence and outstanding results of financial programs.
Whitworth’s program seeks to educate students to lead well-balanced lives and was nominated by Spokane Teachers Credit Union.
School of Business Assistant Dean Robin Henager developed the program and said many students realize they have a lot to learn about money management, according to a school news release.
“The program is rewarding for everyone involved, including our student coordinators who run the program, our student advisers who lead the workshops, our attendees, our sponsor representatives, and myself as I watch the positive impact of the program on our students’ lives,” Henager said.
“Balance Your Bucs” hosts 14 workshops a year that deal with budgeting, saving, investing and avoiding fraud and identity theft.
It also includes financial wellness week, a budget simulation and a trivia game.
STCU’s partnership has allowed for several scholarships to be awarded to Whitworth students and for the group to offer free coffee cards to students who take a ride to class on the Cash Cart.
Keith Appleton, a community officer for STCU, said it was rewarding to work with Whitworth’s program.
“Supporting financial education in new and creative ways sets Balance Your Bucs apart in a dynamic peer-to-peer learning model,” Appleton said.
From staff reports