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August 19, 2025

MSU Research Foundation and Michigan State University Announce 2025 Strategic Partnership Grant Recipients

Funded projects include next-generation vaccine design, low-cost biomedical diamond nanoparticles, and a proposed national physics center to explore new forces of nature.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (Aug. 19, 2025) — The MSU Research Foundation and Michigan State University have announced three research initiatives selected to receive funding through the 2025 Strategic Partnership Grants (SPG) Program. Jointly funded by the Foundation and MSU colleges, the program supports innovative, multidisciplinary projects that combine high potential for real-world application with strong prospects for major external funding.

Since its inception, the SPG program has provided early-stage resources that enable faculty to launch ambitious research collaborations, strengthen MSU’s competitive position for national awards, and accelerate ideas with the potential for lasting scientific, economic, and societal impact.
“This year’s SPG projects address challenges in vaccine design, advanced materials for medicine, and fundamental physics, areas where MSU already has significant expertise,” said Doug Gage, the university’s vice president for Research and Innovation. “By bringing together researchers from multiple colleges, the program creates opportunities to combine strengths in ways that position these teams for competitive federal funding and long-term collaboration.”
The following three projects were selected for 2025 SPG funding:
  • Rational Design of an Antigen Vehicle for Next Generation Vaccine Development – Led by Dr. James Geiger, this project will develop new bacteriophage-based carriers that improve how vaccines stimulate the immune system. The approach will be tested on two challenging targets — a cancer-associated antigen and a virus affecting livestock — with the goal of creating a versatile platform for more effective human and veterinary vaccines.
  • Sustainability and Scalability in Diamond Synthesis for Cost-Effective, Large-Scale Industrial Production – Principal investigator Dr. Shannon Nicley and her team will refine a process for producing high-purity diamond nanoparticles at dramatically lower cost. These particles, valuable for advanced imaging and diagnostics, will be engineered for biomedical use, with applications that include detecting and guiding treatment for aggressive brain cancers.
  • The Nuclear Pear Factory: A Proposed National Science Foundation Physics Frontiers Center – Directed by Dr. Jaideep Taggart Singh, this project will strengthen MSU’s bid for a major national center at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. The work focuses on rare pear-shaped atomic nuclei that can be produced in practical quantities only at MSU, using them to search for previously undetected fundamental forces.
“These projects build on capabilities we’ve supported for years, from FRIB’s isotope production to our advanced materials partnerships, and apply them in new ways,” said David Washburn, Chief Executive Officer of the MSU Research Foundation. “It’s exactly the kind of work the SPG program is meant to accelerate, taking established strengths and using early investment to open new frontiers in research and application.”
Since 2001, the MSU Research Foundation has invested more than $38 million in SPG awards, enabling 79 projects that have gone on to secure over $100 million in external funding. To learn more about the Strategic Partnership Grants program, visit msufoundation.org/strategic-partnership-grants.
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