Rochal Industries Working With UTSA on $1M DoD Grant

A researcher at The University of Texas at San Antonio has captured the Department of Defense’s interest with his groundbreaking work on treatment options for optical nerve trauma.

Matt Reilly, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UTSA, has received a $1 million grant from the DoD to see how his research could help soldiers with head injuries that damage their vision. Given that these kinds of injuries are common among soldiers hit by IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan, any techniques or biomedical technology developed as a result of the research could have the potential for commercialization.

Reilly also will work with Katelyn Swindle-Reilly of Rochal Industries LLC, a local wound-care product company, to develop new material that can deliver doses of therapeutic drugs to injured nerves.

Ann Salamone, president of Rochal Industries, said their collaboration with UTSA on this research could be very significant for everyone involved. Effective treatments for these kinds of injuries are very much needed both to determine the severity and to assist in the healing process.

The grant will enable the researchers to use magnetic resonance imaging machines to test injured nerves and see how different nutrients can impact healing.