Date: Jun 12, 2013 Author: Luther Turmelle Source: The Middletown Press (
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A New Haven-based company that has developed a low-cost skin monitoring system that allows patients to take three-dimensional images of lesions that can then be analyzed by dermatologists has received a $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
3Derm Systems received the grant from the NSF's Small Business Innovation Research program. The money will be used to expand efforts to create a method that will enable earlier detection of skin cancer.
3Derm's technology was developed by Elizabeth Asai, Elliot Swart and Nickolas Demas while they were students at Yale University. None of the three were immediately available for comment on Wednesday regarding the grant award.
Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3) congratulated 3Derm for receiving the grant.
"As a cancer survivor I know the value of regular screenings and preventative care," DeLauro said in a statement. " My ovarian cancer was detected by chance in Stage 1, and I have now been cancer-free for 27 years. Everyone should have the same opportunities for early detection that I did and the progress we have made thanks to innovative companies like 3Derm Systems is amazing."
The Small Business Innovation Research program allows small businesses to take entrepreneurial risks that they might not otherwise take, DeLauro said.
The program's investments have created over 10,000 jobs in Connecticut since it was launched in 1982. A total of 194 companies have received Small Business Innovation Research grants since 2000.
