Tulane’s TRICS 2026 showcases innovation and research across disciplines
A cross-disciplinary showcase of research, innovation and impact held court at the fourth annual Tulane Research, Innovation, and Creativity Summit (TRICS), on April 15-16, 2026, at the Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.
The two-day event drew students, faculty, industry professionals and community members for poster sessions and lightning talks spanning a wide range of fields — from artificial intelligence, healthcare and modern engineering to environmental science, architecture, liberal arts and Roman archaeology.
More than 300 poster submissions represented nearly every academic discipline at Tulane, with researchers on hand throughout the summit to discuss their work directly with more than 600 registered attendees. The format encouraged conversation and the exchange of ideas across fields, highlighting the breadth of research at the university.
“TRICS is where novel ideas are celebrated, early-stage concepts gain traction, and industry can connect with breakthrough research at Tulane University,” said Kimberly Gramm, the David and Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at the Tulane Innovation Institute. “The event is designed to be a collaborative environment where new perspectives and shared expertise can turn ideas into applications with significant future impact.”
Poster presenters were also invited to participate in a juried competition recognizing projects with societal impact and commercial potential. Honorees were awarded funding by the Tulane Innovation Institute as part of its annual prize program, now in its third year. Winners included:
Innovation Prize for Societal Impact | $1,000
Julie Cohen, School of Science and Engineering, PhD candidate, Neuroscience
Optimized Anti-Epileptic Screening for Pharmacoresistant Epilepsy Using Drosophila
Innovation Prize for Technology Development | $1,000
Miller Dickerson, School of Science and Engineering, PhD candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Clinical Translation of Photoacoustic Imaging: Pulsed Laser Diodes for Point-of-Care Deep Tissue Oxygenation Assessment
Industry executives, venture capital leaders and community partners served as judges, offering professional feedback and engaging directly with researchers to share industry perspectives and external opportunities.
Chad Steele, interim vice president for research, pictured with Kimberly Gramm and John Landrum
The summit opened with a keynote conversation between John Landrum, vice president for business development at Intralox, and Gramm. Landrum discussed how organizations translate new ideas into scalable solutions, emphasizing the importance of building a culture of innovation within companies.
Wednesday afternoon featured lightning talks from Tulane faculty. Classical Studies professor Susann Lusnia discussed her analysis of a Roman artifact uncovered in uptown New Orleans. Computer scientist Nicholas Mattei, associate professor and co-director of the Tulane Center for Community-Engaged AI, examined the societal implications of generative AI. Amanda Kruger Hill, executive director of the Cowen Institute and Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the Taylor Center, presented on advancing educational entrepreneurship in New Orleans. Alexis Culotta, senior professor of practice in art history, showcased her work visualizing creative connections through the Artistic Network Toolkit.
Thursday’s lightning talks focused on biotech entrepreneurship, featuring ventures created by Tulane students, alumni and faculty. Presenters included Vinoin Vincely of LumaWave; Kalen Hall and Leo Williams of Informuta; Brian Summa of MAGIC-SCAN; and undergraduate Dylan Murray, co-founder of Exactics.
Open Medical Innovation Challenge Spring 2026 winners
On Wednesday evening, TRICS continued at Richardson Memorial Hall with the seventh Open Medical Innovation Challenge (OPEN MIC) Night, which drew more than 200 attendees for live, health-focused pitches. Co-hosted with StartupNOLA, the event served as the summit’s official opening night event.
Three $750 awards were presented to Wafaa Elwakil, Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine candidate from the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, for a real-time platform to detect Vibrio vulnificus in waterways; Annabelle Patterson, an A. B. Freeman School of Business undergraduate pursuing degrees in management and finance and a master's degree in accounting (Dec. ’26), for a car safety system addressing crash test dummy disparities that put women at risk; Yinga Wu, a Tulane School of Medicine postdoctoral researcher, for a dual-target fibrosis therapy developed with undergraduate Connor Schiefferle, a cell and molecular biology major (’28).
The $500 People’s Choice Award went to Raahil Rab, an undergraduate in the School of Science and Engineering majoring in psychology (‘28), for CarryOn, an AI-powered practice partner designed to reinforce therapeutic lessons between sessions.
Provost's Proof of Concept Spring 2026 honorees pictured with Kimberly Gramm
During OPEN MIC Night, the Tulane Innovation Institute also announced three new $50,000 awards through the Provost’s Proof of Concept Fund, bringing the program’s total investment to more than $1.15 million since its 2022 launch. Spring 2026 recipients included three faculty members from the School of Science and Engineering: Damir Khismatullin, associate professor of biomedical engineering, for a contact-free levitated droplet platform for laboratory testing; Sina Pourtaheri, adjunct associate professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering, for a sustained-release vancomycin nanosphere platform to prevent surgical site infections; and Jianwei Sun, professor of physics and engineering physics, for a scalable computational tool to predict electron-phonon interactions in quantum materials.
The summit concluded with a faculty research reception at the Tulane Innovation Institute, where participants shared projects and sought potential collaborators — a fitting end to an event built on the idea that some of the most important partnerships and research advancements begin with conversations and with people willing to listen and lend their support.
Applications for the next OPEN MIC Night cycle open Aug. 17, 2026, and the next Provost's Proof of Concept Fund cycle opens May 1, 2026. TRICS 2027 will be held April 7-9, 2027. More information is available at innovation.tulane.edu/programs.
