BlackboardBarrierMed & FSU Team Up For $1 Million Research on Latex Allergy
BarrierMed, Inc., based in Lake Mary, Florida, a technology firm created to develop, market and sell non-latex, non-allergenic products such as surgical gloves to health care professionals, has formed a unique collaboration with the Florida State University Research Foundation.
The collaboration involves a contractual agreement with BarrierMed, led by President and CEO Victor Ragucci, that will fund a $1 million research project at FSU to develop new ways to painlessly and quickly detect if an individual has an allergy to latex.
In an innovative partnership with BarrierMed, Ching-Jen Chen, dean of the Florida A&M University-FSU College of Engineering, will lead a team of research scientists in an 18-month study to develop a simple and painless test to detect latex allergy in humans. The team plans to study three approaches: a diagnostic kit that would use saliva samples to capture latex-specific antibodies; a study to produce a painless micron-size needle to withdraw a blood sample; and a study on the use of localized anesthetic agents to be used before sample withdrawal. After an initial six-month investigation, Chen and his team will focus on the study most likely to produce the best results.
Natural rubber latex (NRL) is found in many common products. For years latex has been used in the medical field to create barriers that reduce the risk of infection and contamination. Unfortunately, natural rubber latex is a known allergen that can cause serious skin infections. It is estimated that approximately 10 percent of those who regularly use surgical gloves, such as health care professionals and law enforcement officers, are allergic to latex.
BarrierMed, Inc. is a leading developer and manufacturer of synthetic barrier technologies that help reduce the risks and concerns of natural rubber latex allergies. BarrierMed's proprietary water-based synthetic polyisoprene formulations are a superior synthetic alternative possessing all of the positive characteristics of latex while significantly reducing the allergy risks.
Ragucci, through BarrierMed, made a gift-in-kind to FSU last year of non-latex surgical gloves worth almost $190,000 for use by students and staff in the School of Nursing, the College of Medicine, the College of Human Sciences, and Thagard Student Health Center. This relationship helped lead to the new contractual agreement between BarrierMed and the university for the research study.
"FSU is a nationally ranked research center and the presence of the Center for Nanomagnetics and Biotechnology is what appealed to me," said Ragucci, a Florida entrepreneur and an ardent supporter of FSU. "Dr. Chen is a leading expert in the field of nanomagnetics and coincidentally had an interest in developing a painless needle. It makes for a perfect fit between BarrierMed and the FSU Research Foundation."
"The implications of this research project to develop a painless method of detecting latex allergies are significant," said FSU President T.K. Wetherell. "The partnership between BarrierMed and FSU is an example of a state university doing important research with a Florida business that can produce tangible results and have a dramatic impact on the health care industry."
Article Courtesy of Florida State University, http://www.fsu.com/pages/2004/09/28/barriermed_fsu.html
