Middle Tennessee State University

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, US

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, founded in 1911. It offers a broad portfolio of undergraduate and graduate programs and is particularly recognized for aerospace, recording industry, education, and business. The university serves a diverse regional student body and maintains close connections to the aviation, media, and service sectors of Middle Tennessee.

Middle Tennessee State University conducts applied and interdisciplinary research through institutes and centers spanning education, aviation, media, and the sciences. Notable units include the Center for Popular Music, the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia, and the Tennessee Center for Botanical Medicine Research. Faculty projects are supported by state and federal agencies as well as industry collaborators in aviation, recording and broadcasting, and construction materials. Application strengths include aviation operations and safety, literacy assessment and intervention, audio and entertainment technology, and natural products screening. The university also engages in workforce-focused innovation with regional employers, emphasizing technology transfer and professional training aligned to Middle Tennessee’s economy.

Top industry applications

Halo’s AI pipeline combines publication data and faculty input to determine the industry applications with greatest concentration of publishing faculty. It then surfaces those with the strongest industry collaboration evidence.

Medicine

Oncology & cancer therapeutics

Middle Tennessee State University teams fuse mathematical optimal control with laser-based cell analysis to model tumor growth and rapidly screen how cancer cells respond to drugs and radiation. Alongside this platform, chemists and immunologists are developing targeted bispecific antibodies and novel small molecules—such as tubulin and WDR5 inhibitors—that attack resistant melanoma, neuroblastoma, and blood cancers. The work bridges computational treatment design and preclinical discovery to deliver new therapeutic candidates for hard-to-treat malignancies.

Relevant Innovators

April Weissmiller

Principal Investigator

Oncology & cancer therapeuticsOncology & cancer therapeuticsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Daniel Erenso

Unclaimed

Oncology & cancer therapeutics

Souvik Banerjee

Unclaimed

Oncology & cancer therapeuticsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Agriculture

Soil health and fertility

Middle Tennessee State University scientists evaluate how no-till systems and cover crops enhance soil water retention, infiltration, and thermal properties to reduce erosion and drought stress on Tennessee farmland. By linking microbial community shifts and nutrient cycling to practical soil health indicators, they provide growers with actionable strategies to cut input costs and sustain yields. This research supports precision conservation planning and strengthens the commercial viability of climate-resilient row-crop agriculture in the Southeast.

Relevant Innovators

Keely O'brien

Principal Investigator

Soil health and fertility

Chaney Mosley

Principal Investigator

Soil health and fertilitySoil health and fertilitySustainable farming practices

Henrique G. Momm

Unclaimed

Soil health and fertilitySustainable farming practices

Medicine

Medical diagnostics

Middle Tennessee State University researchers are engineering AI-driven diagnostic systems—from cervical cancer detectors and brain tumor classifiers to pediatric digital stethoscopes—that aim to deliver faster, more reliable clinical decision support. Their work also spans point-of-care biomarker assays, remote biomarker monitoring for decentralized trials, and automated histopathology analysis to reduce costs and expand access. These innovations target urgent market needs in early disease detection, diagnostic resilience, and scalable healthcare delivery.

Relevant Innovators

Ben Jansen

Principal Investigator

Medical diagnosticsMedical imagingNeurology & neurological disease

Charles Chusuei

Principal Investigator

Medical diagnosticsMedical diagnostics

Samir Poudel

Unclaimed

Medical diagnosticsMedical imaging

Medicine

Infectious disease & antimicrobials

Middle Tennessee State University scientists are developing synthetic peptoids, bioavailable antiviral nanoemulsions, and aurone-based compounds to combat drug-resistant fungi, bacteria, and viruses including Candida, Staphylococcus aureus, and SARS-CoV-2. Their research also maps how dangerous hospital pathogens like Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida auris persist in healthcare environments and interact with host immune systems. These efforts address the urgent antimicrobial resistance crisis while creating commercial opportunities for next-generation anti-infective drugs, hospital disinfection technologies, and pandemic preparedness platforms.

Relevant Innovators

Kevin Bicker

Principal Investigator

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Scott Handy

Principal Investigator

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Joshua Phillips

Principal Investigator

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsVaccine development

Medicine

Pharmaceuticals and drug delivery

MTSU researchers develop PLGA nanoparticle and nanoemulsion platforms to enhance oral bioavailability and enable localized drug delivery for hearing disorders and antiviral therapies. Their medicinal chemistry labs also discover novel tubulin inhibitors, autotaxin inhibitors, and antifungal peptoids that target metastatic melanoma, resistant cancers, and lethal biofilm infections. These converging pipelines address critical gaps in drug formulation and therapeutics for high-need markets.

Relevant Innovators

Scott Handy

Principal Investigator

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Elena I. Mancera Andrade

Unclaimed

Infectious disease & antimicrobialsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Carl B. Womack

Unclaimed

Oncology & cancer therapeuticsPharmaceuticals and drug delivery

Agriculture

Sustainable farming practices

Middle Tennessee State University researchers are refining cover crop and no-till systems that boost soil health, water infiltration, and erosion control while curbing nutrient runoff. Their work integrates precision conservation modeling, microbial biofertilizers, and organic forage transitions to cut input costs and build climate resilience. These practical innovations help farmers and agribusinesses increase productivity, meet conservation mandates, and access growing regenerative and organic markets.

Relevant Innovators

Samuel I. Haruna

Unclaimed

Soil health and fertilitySustainable farming practices

Song Cui

Unclaimed

Crop yield optimizationSoil health and fertilitySustainable farming practices

Racha Elkadiri

Unclaimed

Soil health and fertilitySustainable farming practices

Last updated by Halo AI Mar 25, 2026. Please verify key information.

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For general inquiries

David Butler

Vice Provost for Research & Dean, College of Graduate Studies, Middle Tennessee State University

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Top industry applications

Oncology & cancer therapeuticsSoil health and fertilityMedical diagnosticsInfectious disease & antimicrobialsPharmaceuticals and drug deliverySustainable farming practices