Sandhurst Discusses DRACO, Biotechnology on Credit Hour

VERMILLION, S.D. – Eric Sandhurst, Ph.D. ‘20, president and founding partner of the Dakota Research and Consulting Organization, discussed entrepreneurship and the future of biotechnology in South Dakota on Credit Hour.

“One of the reasons I got into biomedical engineering is that it was a cutting edge field,” said Sandhurst. “It paired really well with entrepreneurship. If you’re developing new research that’s going to change the field why not go into that research with the mindset that this can be a product or service that can be commercialized.”

Sandhurst obtained his bachelor's degree, master's degree and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of South Dakota. His research is focused on tissue engineering, biomaterials development, stem cell biology, and creating organoids for high-throughput drug screening. He has filed for a patent related to Multifunctional Microspheres – biodegradable, porous polymer microspheres that act as a local drug delivery platform and a three-dimensional cell culture system.

“Looking out five years or ten. I think South Dakota is a great place to start a company,” said Sandhurst. “We have a really attractive business environment and tax structure –especially to scale up. I think that’s valuable to investors to know the manufacturing space and capabilities are here.”

Credit Hour is the University of South Dakota’s podcast highlighting the achievement, research and scholarship of its staff, students, alumni and faculty. Follow Credit Hour on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and www.usd.edu/podcast.

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