The University has entered into a $3.2 million corporate research agreement with a medical company to develop devices for cancer therapies, according to a University release Wednesday.

The research effort, in partnership with the biomedical device manufacturing company U.S. Medical Innovations, will develop devices using cold plasma, which can inactivate microbial pathogens, according to the release. The release states the partnership will continue eight years of work that Michael Keidar, a professor of engineering, and Jerome Canady, the CEO of the plasma medicine life sciences division of the company, have already begun.

The release states Keidar and Canady will also research altering the devices to combat the spread of COVID-19. Keider is part of a research team that was awarded a National Science Foundation grant in May to develop a “plasma brush,” which could potentially decontaminate materials like masks and gloves, the release states.

Tom Russo, GW’s assistant vice president of industry and corporate research, said in the release that this partnership will expand the reach of GW’s research, providing an opportunity for the research to be developed into a product.

“Researchers love to do the research, but a lot of time, that’s where their skill set ends,” Russo said. “They don’t have the capacity, or sometimes the desire, to turn that research into a product. It’s not their expertise. It’s not using their resources most effectively. That’s why it’s important to bring someone else in who knows how to do that but doesn’t have the basic research skills. It’s a good marriage.”