Jordyn Ting is this year’s winner of the Hunter Family Foundation Traumatic Brain Injury Translational Research Program, which aims to transform research discoveries made in laboratories into products and treatments for patients with injury or inflammation of the central nervous system. The Hunter TBI Program is made possible through the generosity of the Hunter family, whose mother benefitted from the care of faculty in the School of Medicine’s Department of Neurosurgery.
Ting, a postdoctoral fellow who did her PhD in bioengineering at Pitt, will receive $100,000 to support her research on whether deep brain stimulation in the motor thalamus can improve speech and swallowing in patients with traumatic brain injury. She is planning to test implants in three or four patients for up to one month, giving them stimulation to see if their swallowing improves.
Photo by Rayni Shiring/University of Pittsburgh
“Especially for those with more moderate to severe impairments, they typically just have to live with these issues, or get feeding tubes, or modify their diets, and have somebody watch them eat to make sure they don’t choke,” Ting said. “This research hopefully can help prevent choking and make a significant difference in the patients’ quality of life and health.”
Her mentors include Elvira Pirondini, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, and Jorge González-Martínez, director of the Department of Neurological Surgery Epilepsy and Movement Disorders Program.
That team, with Ting as the entrepreneurial lead, was among the 2023 winners of the Pitt Innovation Challenge in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute for the application of the technology in stroke. Ting has also gone through the Life X Accelerator program to build out the commercialization plan for this therapeutic intervention. She is now participating in Equalize Startups, an entrepreneurship program for women, and is working to launch a startup.
“We are thrilled to support Jordyn’s research to help improve the lives of patients struggling with speech and swallowing disorders,” said Sue Hunter, a member of the Hunter family. “Her work aligns beautifully with our mission of supporting projects that advance innovations toward commercialization.”
The Hunter TBI Translational Research grant is administered by the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE). OIE provides opportunities for innovators designed to support and accelerate innovation, including funding programs, intellectual property protection guidance, patenting support, startup consulting and more. Learn more at innovation.pitt.edu.
Media contact: HSNews@pitt.edu