Did you know? Here are 5 inventions from the University of Kentucky that changed the world

From a nasal spray device that can administer an overdose-reversing drug, to cutting-edge artificial intelligence that can read ancient scrolls lost to time, Kentucky’s flagship research university has generated a myriad discoveries and inventions.

The University of Kentucky’s discoveries are made possible by its massive research budget — $429.2 million in fiscal year 2021. In 2022, that made UK 64th among 648 public and private universities’ research spending, according to the National Science Foundation’s Herd Survey.

The fall semester begins Aug. 21, and students will be pouring back into Lexington in the coming days. With information provided by the UK, here’s a look at five of the most ingenious inventions and dynamite discoveries.

Reversing overdoses with a life-saving nasal spray

Today, you can go to the drugstore and buy a life-saving dose of naloxone over-the-counter in the event a family member, friend or stranger experiences an overdose. That hasn’t always been the case.

Previously, this overdose-reversing drug was only available by injection and only from trained medical professionals and first responders.

In 2014, the Food and Drug Administration put a plastic nasal device on the fast track for approval, the device was developed by former UK professor Daniel Wermeling, Pharm.D.

As a professor of pharmacy practice and science, Wermeling focused on early stage clinical drug development and drug delivery systems, particularly nasal drug delivery. Working through his startup, AntiOp, Wermeling’s research was financed by a three-year, $3-million grant from the National Institutes of Health with additional funding from the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp.

With the help of the pharmaceutical arm of British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, Wermeling’s AntiOp was able to speed up the production and worldwide marketing of intranasal naloxone.

FDA expands access to overdose-reversing Narcan. How Kentuckians can find it now

Tracking feeding in preterm infants

In the U.S., about 400,000 infants are born premature each year, and more than 10% of births worldwide are preterm, making the issue a global health concern. Additionally, young children with a history of prematurity can experience long-term issues with poor feeding and growth.

Gilson Capilouto, Ph.D., drew upon more than 40 years of clinical experience on pediatric feeding disorders to co-develop a medical device to measure how well an infant is doing with breast or bottle feeding. The device generates a set of metrics health care providers can use to help shape their treatment approach.

According to UK, Capilouto’s research has led to a line of products now being implemented as the standard of care in children’s hospitals across the U.S. It is also being used in research trials overseas, including in Japan, China and Australia.

Using vitamin B3 to fight cancer risk and aging

If you walk down the skin care aisle at any drug or grocery store, you’ll likely find rows of products containing vitamin B3. The nutrient is prized for its ability to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, calm redness and produce keratin, the protein that maintains skin health.

Decades of research by former UK faculty members Elaine and Myron Jacobson played a large role in making these products possible.

It was the Jacobsons, now entrepreneurs, who adapted knowledge of vitamin B3 into clinical applications, a feat that eventually resulted in the development of new compounds for topical use. The rise of this new technology led to the wide range of products sold worldwide today.

Vitamin B3 (also called niacin) also plays a role in genomic integrity and DNA repair, which has made it of interest to cancer researchers.

Low-cost wastewater treatment

Wastewater treatment is expensive, but a team of UK researchers developed a low-cost method of eliminating calcium and the buildup it can create in pipes.

Using carbon electrodes, Cameron Lippert, Ph.D., James Landon, Ph.D., and Kunlei Liu, Ph.D., developed a method for removing the contaminant without the use of salt. Their startup, PowerTech Water, got its start in the laboratories of UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research.

Tapping the power of AI to read ancient biblical scrolls

In 2015, Brent Seales, Ph.D., and his team of researchers used cutting-edge technology to unlock the secrets of the En-Gedi scroll. Uncovered in an ancient synagogue, this document is the oldest Hebrew Bible found since the Dead Sea scrolls.

It took the power of machine learning, specifically the technique of virtual unwrapping, to read the text.

As explained in the short video below, virtual unwrapping works by constructing a digital, three-dimensional image of the scroll by tracing its shape and scanning for ink pigments. Brighter pixels in the image indicate the presence of dense materials, such as inks made of iron or lead. The final step includes unfurling the three dimensional image onto a single plane so that it can be read more easily.

Through this process, Seales and his team were able to uncover the document’s true nature as the beginning of the Book of Leviticus.

Now, Seales is leading a global competition, called the the Vesuvius Challenge, to read the charred Herculaneum scrolls marred by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE nearly 2,000 years ago.

After demonstrating artificial intelligence can successfully extract letters and symbols from X-ray images of the unrolled papyri, Seales’ team is releasing its software and thousands of images of rolled-up scrolls and papyri.

Stephen Parsons is one of the researchers and just completed his doctoral degree on the project after first getting started with it as an undergraduate in 2014. According to Parsons, to further accelerate research breakthroughs, Seales partnered with Silicon Valley executives to launch the worldwide challenge. The prize is $700,000, and the winning team will resurrect an ancient library from the ashes of a volcano, Parsons told the Herald-Leader.

Correction: This story was updated at 11:08 a.m. Aug. 10, 2023, to correctly identify Seales as the leader of the Vesuvius challenge and to better clarify the unwrapping process.

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