HONORING ACADEMIC INVENTION NAI 2013 l 1
“Imagination is
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF INVENTORS IS A 501(C)(3) NON-PROFIT MEMBER ORGANIZATION COMPRISED OF U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES, GOVERNMENTAL AND NON-PROFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS WITH OVER 2,000 INDIVIDUAL INVENTOR MEMBERS AND FELLOWS SPANNING MORE THAN 100 INSTITUTIONS AND GROWING RAPIDLY. THE NAI WAS FOUNDED IN 2010 TO RECOGNIZE AND ENCOURAGE INVENTORS WITH PATENTS ISSUED FROM THE U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, ENHANCE THE VISIBILITY OF ACADEMIC TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION, ENCOURAGE THE DISCLOSURE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, EDUCATE AND MENTOR INNOVATIVE STUDENTS, AND TRANSLATE THE INVENTIONS OF ITS MEMBERS TO BENEFIT SOCIETY.
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more important than knowledge, for imagination embraces the world.” -Albert Einstein
Table of Contents
Message from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Purdue University: Printing Solar Cells - What’s Next for Solar Technology. . . . . . . . 30
About the NAI Annual Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The Smithsonian Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation . . . . . . 32
Auburn University: Biosensor Food Detectors Save Lives and Money for Millions of Americans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Texas A&M University: Advanced Flame Retardant Simultaneously Protects Homes and the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Boise State University: Protecting DNA through ‘Bar Codes’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
University of California, Davis: Scientist Makes Jaw-dropping Discovery in Tissue Regeneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Boston University: New Lubricant Promises Extended Relief for Joint Pain. . . . . . . . . 10 California Institute of Technology: Handheld 3-D Camera is Changing the Scope of Dentistry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth: Using ‘Yeti’ - How Scientists and Students Study Polar Regions from Afar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Draper Laboratory: Big Data in Small VSS Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Emory University: A Virologist’s Life Changing Impact in the Study of HIV/AIDS. . 18 IHMC: Biped Simulator Boasts Speed and Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Northwestern University: Nanoscale Technology Helping to Improve Early Detection for Several Forms of Cancer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Ohio University: Cleaning Our Environment with ‘Pee Power’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 About the NAI Fellows Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 NAI Fellows Selection Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 The Pennsylvania State University: Scientist Creates Alternative for Preterm Baby Respiratory Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
University of Central Florida: Crystal Clear Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 University of Colorado-Denver: Dr. Huntington Potter’s Focus and Impact on Alzheimer’s Disease Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 University of Delaware: Infrared Technology Influencing Military, Medical and Environmental Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 University of Florida: Creating a Bright Future for Optoelectronic Devices . . . . . . . . . 44 University of Houston: Inventing a Current-secured Drilling Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 University of South Florida: Medicine ‘MARVEL’ for Minimally Invasive Surgeries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 The University of Utah: Robotic Suit Aids in Heavy Lifting and Military Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 The University of Texas at Arlington: Testing for Sleep Conditions Made Easier with Ultrasonic Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 The University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center: Chemotherapy Patients Receive Physical Relief with Muscle Building Drug. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Wake Forest University: Engineering Tissues and Organs with a Printer . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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Our 2013 meeting included a lively forum on changing the academic culture of tenure and promotion, and featured five top university leaders debating the evolution taking place in the academic world around recognizing the increasing importance of patents, licensing and the commercialization of university research. The panel, which included Mory Gharib, vice provost for Research at California Institute of Technology, Eric Kaler, president of the University of Minnesota, Richard Marchase, vice president for Research and former interim president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Timothy Sands, provost of Purdue University, spawned our first NAI white paper, encouraging the inclusion of patents and licensing as merit, tenure and promotion criteria.
FROM THE PRESIDENT WHEN WE FIRST contemplated establishing the
National Academy of Inventors (NAI), one of our goals was to create an arena where invention and innovation would be recognized and applauded in the academic world. While research and publishing are well established benchmarks for academic tenure and promotion, the commercially viable outcome of that research — a patented invention — has been often overlooked in the climb to the top of the academic ladder. We wanted to create an organization that promoted an entrepreneurial culture at universities and non-profit research institutes and to encourage technology transfer and commercialization of intellectual property. The NAI provides a vehicle whereby our Member Institutions can honor the important contributions made by faculty inventors and entrepreneurs. Our mission created an opportunity, and institutions have aligned with our efforts to honor academic inventors. In 2012 we added another level when we launched the NAI Fellows Program to honor highly prolific inventors and innovation leaders. 101 notable academic innovators were inducted as Charter Fellows of the NAI by U.S. Commissioner for Patents Margaret Focarino at the 2013 NAI annual meeting. Collectively, these distinguished inventors represent 56 prestigious research universities and non-profit research institutes and hold over 3,200 issued U.S. patents. Included in the class were senior leadership of research universities and non-profit research institutes, members of the other National Academies, inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and the U.S. National Medal of Science and Nobel Prize recipients, among many other awards and distinctions. Each year this group of highly esteemed innovators will be inducted by the Commissioner for Patents at the NAI annual meeting, and a plaque listing the name and institution of each NAI Fellow will be on
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Paul R. Sanberg, Ph.D., D.Sc.
President, National Academy of Inventors Senior Vice President for Research & Innovation, University of South Florida display at the United States Patent and Trademark Office federal building. We have been gratified by the enthusiastic response to the program and anticipate an exponential growth in candidates in the future. Our annual meetings serve as our signature event each year and, in addition to celebrating the newest class of NAI Fellows, feature presentations by experts in science, technology, invention and commercialization, sharing their research and insights. Topics have ranged from new disruptive technologies such as wireless technology for medical applications to the complex dance of moving technology from lab to market and from the Affordable Care Act and its potential impact on drug development to “tech transfer from Saturn to your cell phone.”
As the Academy grows and develops, we will continue to seek new ways to recognize and honor academic invention, provide unique opportunities for our Member Institutions, and build strong relationships with innovative groups and companies. There is no doubt that translational technology is critically important; it is the engine that will drive the economies of the 21st century. Our research institutions are growing and through their capabilities, we see a limitless future for our nation and the world. We hope you will join us.
HOW TO JOIN Institutional Membership includes U.S. and international universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions. To join, complete the online membership application found at www.academyofinventors.org
nai ANNUAL MEETING l Held each Spring
l 3rd Annual Meeting – March 6 and 7, 2014 at
the USPTO Headquarters in Alexandria, VA
The NAI annual conference features world-class presentations and networking with renowned inventors from across the U.S. and around the world, representatives from our Member Institutions and conference participants, such as the USPTO, The Lemelson Foundation, Smithsonian-Lemelson Center, AUTM, NCET2, ORAU, NCIIA, UIA, Twenty Million Minds, and NSF, among others. < LEFT: THE 2012 FELLOWS GATHERED FOR A GROUP PORTRAIT AT THE NAI ANNUAL MEETING
< PHOTOS: MORE THAN 200 INVENTORS AND SENIOR LEADERSHIP FROM 60 UNIVERSITIES, RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES GATHERED IN TAMPA, FL, FOR THE 2013 NAI ANNUAL MEETING.
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Auburn University: Biosensor Food Detectors
Save Lives and Money for Millions of Americans
BRYAN A. CHIN, Ph.D., is the McWane Professor of Materials Engineering and director of the Materials Research and Education Center in Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Chin’s work involves the research and development of biosensors for the detection of bacteria, spores and toxins that may contaminate the food system. Currently, Chin serves as the director of the Auburn University Detection and Food Safety Center that funds more than 25 faculty and 60 postdoctoral students, staff and graduate students. Each year the United States imports billions of dollars’ worth of food from around the world while also producing crops domestically. With such a high volume of food, it is very difficult for researchers and food inspectors to detect some of the dangerous bacteria that can be found in some meats, fruits and vegetables. Foodborne illnesses caused by E. Coli and Salmonella from contaminated foods are not uncommon and can cost the U.S. more than $77 billion per year. Fortunately, researchers at Auburn University’s Detection and Food Safety Center are aiming to drastically decrease the number of sicknesses and deaths due to contaminated foods. Under the lead of Chin, these researchers have developed a new technology that will not only monitor and isolate inedible foods but also track the tainted foods to prevent widespread consumption and production.
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Chin has developed a biosensor monitor which can revolutionize the way inspectors test food for biological pathogens that affect one in six Americans per year. The sensors, spanning from the size of a dust particle to an object not seen by the human eye, are able to detect disease-causing bacteria at the source. Experts at the Detection and Food Safety Center are currently creating field-ready test kits that enable rapid screening of tomatoes, lettuce, peanuts and eggs. Past technology made the process of food inspection a long and expensive task. Inspectors were only able to test a few samples in an allotted time, which allowed tainted foods to reach grocery stores and eventually dining room tables. This new technology makes it cost-effective and easier to monitor crops in areas where bacteria and other pathogens are found. Additionally, the device could promote new advancements in biosecurity, home care and more as the sensors are more widely manufactured. Discussions regarding licensing of these sensors are ongoing with companies in the food safety industry. Successful commercialization would enable this small tool to have a huge impact in the U.S. food safety system for many years to come.
ABOUT AUBURN UNIVERSITY Auburn University is one of the largest universities in the South, offering 140 degree options in 13 schools and colleges at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. This comprehensive land-, sea- and space-grant research institution had a fall 2012 enrollment of 25,134 students, showing a continued increase in enrollment over the past four years. The university is located in Auburn, Alabama, on 1,841 acres with 206 academic buildings and the Auburn Research Park and Auburn Business Incubator.
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Boise State University: Protecting
DNA through ‘Bar Codes’
greg hampikian, Ph.D, is professor of Biology
and Criminal Justice at Boise State University and director of the Idaho Innocence Project. He has pioneered the study of the smallest DNA sequences absent from nature, which he termed Nullomers. His inventions include 198 drugs made from Nullomer peptides, which hold promise for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. He also has invented DNA tags, or bar codes, based on Nullomers that are used to mark forensic samples and prevent contamination. His diverse research includes patents granted and pending covering power generation and miniature pumps using magnetic shape memory alloys. Beyond his inventions, he is best known as the volunteer forensic DNA expert on Innocence Project cases worldwide. His work helped free American student Amanda Knox. Hampikian is a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. The use of DNA evidence has proven to be a literal lifesaver in numerous criminal and post-conviction cases. However, there is still room for error, especially contamination. This problem becomes more of a challenge with new extremely sensitive instruments and laboratory techniques that routinely copy a suspect’s DNA billions of times. DNA is invisible to the human eye and easily can be transferred from one item to the next; just a few molecules are enough to produce a DNA profile. These characteristics can lead to unintended transfer in laboratories where DNA from victims, suspects, and evidence are all processed. Fortunately, one Boise State researcher has created a technique that will safeguard DNA from contamination that could otherwise result in false positives on weapons and other
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evidence. Greg Hampikian uses Nullomers, the shortest DNA sequences absent in nature, to create a DNA “bar code.” Criminal investigators often recover a DNA sample from a crime scene and attempt to associate it with a weapon or piece of evidence from the scene. Hampikian’s DNA marker correctly associates the sample with its corresponding reference tag. Hampikian’s outstanding DNA research has been utilized in numerous criminal cases. He is perhaps most widely known for his role in the infamous Meredith Kercher murder case, and the acquittal of prime suspect Amanda Knox. However, his innovation is not limited to crime solving. Hampikian is currently developing new technologies to fight cancer, identify new species, produce micro pumps, and transduce energy from vibration to electricity.
ABOUT boise state university Boise State University is a public, metropolitan research university offering an array of undergraduate and graduate degrees and experiences that foster student success, lifelong learning, community engagement, innovation and creativity. Research and creative activity advance new knowledge and benefit students, the community, state and nation. Boise State aspires to be a research university known for the finest undergraduate education in the region, and outstanding research and graduate programs. With its exceptional faculty, staff and student body, and its location in the heart of a thriving metropolitan area, the university is an engine that drives the Idaho economy, providing significant return on public investment.
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Boston University: New Lubricant Promises Extended Relief for Joint Pain
substance from seeping, but also aids in longer lasting cartilage protection. While comparable liquid lubricant treatments typically last no more than two days, Grinstaff ’s novel invention can provide relief for more than two weeks. People living with osteoarthritis can now live with more convenience and less pain as a result of Grinstaff and his work.
MARK W. GRINSTAFF, Ph.D., is a professor of
Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry at Boston University and Distinguished Faculty Fellow of Engineering. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology. He received the ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award, NSF Career Award, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and Edward M. Kennedy Award for Health Care Innovation. He has published more than 170 articles, is co-founder of four companies commercializing his ideas, and has three medical products sold and used clinically. Current research includes new macromolecule and amphiphile syntheses, self-assembly chemistry, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and imaging. Osteoarthritis sufferers can now enjoy longer lasting relief from joint pain thanks to the work of BU researchers. Grinstaff, a biomedical engineer and his team of researchers have developed a new synthetic polymer supplements synovial fluid that will relieve some of the symptoms affecting many osteoarthritis patients in the nation such as swelling and stiffness. Nearly 200 million people around the world suffer from osteoarthritis, the most common type of joint disease that also leads to disability in many elderly people. Grinstaff ’s innovation will be a key component to expand existing efforts in osteoarthritis treatment. Currently, the best joint fluid supplement provides only temporary relief for pain. It does not, however, offer sufficient lubrication available in the unique polymer. Grinstaff ’s invention prevents further degradation to the cartilage that cushions the joint. The lubricant is a synthetic
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ABOUT boston UNIVERSITY
polymer that supplements synovial fluid, the natural lubricant found in joints. Since osteoarthritis is a joint disease caused by cartilage and synovial fluid degradation, it often results in bone-on-bone abrasion. The new lubricant works like oil to minimize the wear between the two surfaces. It also helps to prevent the uncomfortable symptoms while also slowing the overall progression of the disease. While there is no cure for osteoarthritis, an injection treatment of a polymer proves to be much better and more beneficial than the other leading synovial lubricants. Another advantage of the synthetic biopolymer is its large molecular weight, which stops the liquid from leaking out of the joints. This feature not only prevents the slippery
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized private research university with more than 30,000 students participating in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. BU consists of 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school’s research and teaching mission.
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California Institute of Technology: Handheld 3-D Camera is Changing the Scope of Dentistry MORY GHARIB, Ph.D., is Vice Provost for Research and Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, specializing bio-inspired engineering, biological flows, medical devices, and quantitative visualization techniques. He holds more than 60 U.S. patents in diverse areas of biomedical devices, Nano-Micro devices and imaging technology. He is a fellow of the AAAS, and five other professional societies. He has received five new technology recognition awards from NASA in the fields of advanced laser imaging and nanotechnology. He was recipient of the R&D 100 Award for the design of a 3D imaging system in 2008. Gharib received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tehran University (1975) and then pursued graduate studies at Syracuse University (M.S., 1978, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering) and Caltech (Ph.D., 1983, Aeronautics). After two years as a senior scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/CIT), he joined the faculty of the Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences Department at UCSD in 1985. He became a full professor of fluid mechanics in 1992 and, in January 1993, he joined Caltech as a professor of aeronautics. Gharibâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current research interests include bio-inspired engineering for the development of medical devices, wind energy harvesting systems. His other active projects include the development of advanced 3-D imaging systems, and nano and micro-fluidic devices. His biomechanics work includes
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studies of the human cardiovascular system and physiological machines. Currently, he is working on a manuscript that describes the scientific significance of Leonardoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work in fluid and hydraulic engineering. An expert in biomedical engineering, Gharib built a 3-D microscope in 2006 in order to help him design better artificial heart valves as well as other devices for medical applications. Gharib then redesigned the microscope and thus created an affordable and portable 3-D camera that could do the same thing more expensive dental scanning systems do. The system itself is a camera that fits into a handheld device with three apertures that take a picture of the tooth from different angles at the same time and blended together to create a 3D image. However, Gharib is not settling for dental applications only with the 3-D scanner, this technology is being utilized to allow for better accuracy and precision for robotic and reconstructive surgery as well as many more possible applications such as in consumer electronics and other products that use motion-sensing devices.
About california institute of technology: The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is a world-renowned science and engineering research and education institution, where extraordinary faculty and students seek answers to complex questions, discover new knowledge, lead innovation, and transform our future. At Caltech, discovery knows no boundaries. Research and education are seamlessly integrated as scientists and engineers explore the most challenging, fundamental problems in laboratories, classrooms, and field stations around the world. Caltechâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 124-acre campus is located in Pasadena, California.
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Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth:
Using ‘Yeti’- How Scientists and Students Study Polar Regions from Afar
LAURA R. RAY, Ph.D., is a Professor of Engineering at
Dartmouth. A member of the Thayer School faculty since 1996, Professor Ray’s teaching and research interests focus on the field of Control Theory. This project provides a number of interesting foci for controls research: autonomous guidance and navigation, obstacle avoidance, traction control, multirobot coordination, and power system regulation. Professor Ray’s research interest also includes active noise reduction, intelligent control of distributed systems, and dynamic modeling of complex systems. An author of over 40 peer-reviewed articles, Professor Ray is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Scientists working in the North and South Pole are often prone to dangerous and unknown risks. While they do utilize machinery such as manual ground-penetrating radar surveys, conducting such surveys poses risks to personnel. Ray, along with a team of scientists and doctoral candidate students, have created an autonomous robot, “Yeti”, that is designed to use Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to survey polar shear zones, mapping crevasses that could be hazardous to personnel working in these regions. Yeti is a four wheeled rover that can withstand sub-zero temperatures and is light-weight, only 150 pounds; light enough to not crack any surface ice. Yeti can lead a larger vehicle while a team observes the results from GPR and determines if it is safe to continue on their route. Yeti’s
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development was sponsored by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and numerous deployments of Yeti by the National Science Foundation. Ray’s team of students has also developed the Cool Robot, a solar-powered robot that can roam polar regions while towing an sled containing scientific instruments to study air-snow chemistry and pollutants and snow characteristics and accumulation in polar regions in support of scientific investigation of climate change.
About THAYER SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AT DARTMOUTH Located in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth has one of the oldest professional schools of engineering in the country and features a single unified department of engineering sciences that fosters cross-disciplinary innovation in research and teaching. Graduate programs include the Master of Engineering Management (M.E.M.), M.S., Ph.D., dual degrees with The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and the nation’s first Ph.D. Innovation Program. Dartmouth undergraduates study engineering as part of a liberal arts education leading to the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree; most majors take additional courses leading to the professional Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree.
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Draper Laboratory: Big Data in Small VSS Technology
ABOUT THE CHARLES STARK DRAPER LABORATORY
LIVIA M. RACZ, Ph.D. is a program manager in Special Technical Systems at Draper Laboratory. She previously worked as the division leader for Microsystems Technologies and an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University. Racz studies and develops new paradigms for electronics packaging that enables the world’s smallest multi-material electronic systems.
Draper Laboratory, which celebrates 80 years of service to the nation in 2013, is a not-for-profit, engineering research and development organization dedicated to solving critical national problems in national security, space systems, biomedical systems, and energy. Core capabilities include guidance, navigation and control; miniature low power systems; highly reliable complex systems; information and decision systems; autonomous systems; biomedical and chemical systems; and secure networks and communications.
Racz and a team of engineers at Draper have developed an integrated ultra-high density (iUHD) packaging process. This process uses commercial semiconductor process equipment to create 3D stacked systems that are customizable and compatible with multimedia materials and substrates. At Draper, Vanishingly Small Systems (VSS) utilizes both Multi-Chip Modules (MCM) and iUHD technologies. VSS technologies are usually no bigger than a Scrabble© tile, these devices are small and compact but can collect, analyze and store various kinds of sensor data and communicate back to another device or computer. The devices also run on their own integrated power source and must often work in extreme environments. An iUHD package may be a single layer of the VSS device or may consist of multiple layers itself; layers of metal, silicon, Through-Substrate Vias (TSV), and “bump” layers (essentially cover layers) are customizable for any purpose. Other layers of the VSS device may include antennas, batteries and a power source.
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VSS technology can be used anyplace where small size, lightweight, and low power are key, including implantable medical devices, handheld reconnaissance and navigation systems; and microsatellites.
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Emory University: A Virologist’s
Life-Changing Impact in the Study of HIV/AIDS
RAYMOND F. SCHINAZI, Ph.D., D.Sc. is the Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology. He is a senior research career scientist at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Director of the Scientific Working Group on HIV Reservoirs and Viral Eradication for the Emory University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). Schinazi received his B.Sc. (1972) and Ph.D. (1976) in chemistry from the University of Bath, England.
and therapies that could lead to HIV/AIDS dormancy and consequent elimination. Schinazi is also producing patents for novel treatments of Caliciviridae, Norovirus, and Flaviviridae infections to name a few. Through a multidisciplinary antiviral research approach, Schinazi is aiming to discover new agents that can be used to treat and even cure infections caused by viruses that produce significant morbidity and mortality in humans.
A world leader in the area of nucleoside chemistry and biology, Schinazi is the founder of five biotechnology companies including Pharmasset, Inc. (acquired by Gilead in 2012). Pharmasset developed the drug Sofosbuvir, which is one of the most promising curative therapies for hepatitis C virus infections and should be launched in the U.S. by December 2013. He holds 91 issued U.S. patents, and 265 non-U.S. patents and patent applications. These technologies have resulted in 11 proprietary antiviral drug products marketed throughout the world. More than 94 percent of HIV-infected individuals in the U.S. on therapy, and thousands more around the world, take at least one of the drugs he co-invented with Dennis Liotta, Ph.D. and Woo-Baeg Choi, Ph.D.
ABOUT EMORY UNIVERSITY
During the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s, Schinazi, with his expertise as a virologist working on treating life-threatening infections such as herpes encepha-
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litis, focused his efforts on treating HIV. In the process, Schinazi set up the first HIV lab at Emory, creating a protocol that was replicated in thousands of labs afterwards for its safety and efficacy. Over time, Schinazi’s work led to the creation of drugs that are among the most important in combating HIV/AIDS today. These accomplishments have included commercialized inventions that have revenues of over $2 billion per year. Schinazi continues to contribute to the greater good despite his accomplishments and pushes boundaries to encompass innovative treatments
Emory University is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Emory is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools, and stateof-the-art research facilities. Emory is ranked as one of the country’s top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state’s largest and most comprehensive health care system.
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IHMC: BIOLOGICALLY-INSPIRED Biped Boasts Speed and Efficiency
JERRY PRATT, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Florida
Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), leads a research group concentrating on understanding and modeling walking and running in humans and animals. IHMC researchers apply this knowledge to the fields of robotics, human assistive devices and man-machine interfaces. The team’s current and past projects include the design, construction and control of a bipedal, walking robot; learning humanoid push recovery strategies - a major obstacle for bipedal robots; locomotion of a quadrupedal robot over rough terrain; reconfigurable robots for urban environments; and exoskeletons for assisting people with injuries that interfere with their ability to walk. In June, Dr. Pratt led a 22-member IHMC team to a firstplace finish in the initial stage of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge, besting teams from 26 of the top robotics research groups in the world. The competition focuses on developing technology for advanced humanoid robots for use at disaster sites where human action is limited. Prior to joining IHMC, Dr. Pratt co-founded Yobotics, Inc., where he helped develop the RoboWalker, a powered orthotic bracing system (exoskeleton) intended to enhance
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the gait of disabled individuals or to help someone carry large loads over rough terrain with little effort. Before that he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Leg Laboratory where he designed, built and controlled several bipedal robots. Dr. Pratt earned his Ph.D., master’s and bachelor’s degrees in computer science and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, all from MIT. Pratt and IHMC researchers Johnny Godowski, Sebastien Cotton, Ionut Olaru, Nick Payton, Gray Thomas and Jesper Smith, along with collaborators at MIT, have developed FastRunner, an efficient, high speed running robot. FastRunner is a new bipedal platform modeled on the ostrich, one of the fastest bipeds, capable of speeds up to 50 mph. FastRunner can have multiple military and emergency rescue applications. DARPA funds the project. Research in the field of legged robotics has demonstrated the difficulty in finding a way to balance speed, energy efficiency and stability. However, nature has proven in numerous ways that this balance does exist, so robots should be able to replicate, or at least approach, the capabilities of animals. Pratt’s group has implemented several natural features into the FastRunner architecture, and they have proven in simulation that these features influence performance and are capable of producing efficient running gaits that are self-stabilizing over a range of forward speeds.
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN AND MACHINE COGNITION The Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC) is one of the nation’s premier research organizations with world-class scientists and engineers investigating a broad range of topics related to building technological systems aimed at amplifying and extending human cognitive, perceptual, and physical capacities. IHMC is headquartered in Pensacola, Florida, and in 2010 opened a second research facility in Ocala, Florida.
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Northwestern University: Nanoscale
Technology Helping to Improve Early Detection for Several Forms of Cancer VADIM BACKMAN, Ph.D., is a Walter Dill Scott
Professor and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. Backman conducts research on biophotonic, nanoscale imaging, optical and molecular technologies for cancer research and diagnosis, and cancer biomarkers. Backmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research focuses on optical methods to detect GI cancer at a very early stage without the need for a colonoscopy. He recently discovered optical technology that can be effective in detecting the presence of pancreatic cancer through analysis of neighboring tissue in the duodenum. Researchers hope that this promising new technology could help raise the extremely low survival rate of pancreatic cancer patients by aiding early detection. His studies also include research of the alterations of tissue nano-architecture in carcinogenesis. Early detection is probably the best way to win the war against cancer. Backman has been developing several early detection optics technologies for multiple kinds of cancer that will be cheaper, more accurate, and less invasive. They have shown that nanoscale changes in cells caused by cancer can be detected using optical techniques called partial-wave spectroscopy, low-coherence enhanced backscattering spectroscopy, and four-dimensional elastic light-scattering fingerprinting. Backman and his associate, Hemant K. Roy, MD, chief of the section of gastroenterology at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, have been leading clinical trials, testing the technologies on different forms of cancers, which has yielded promising results.
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about northwestern University
The screening process requires cells collected from respective areas; for example, cheek cells are collected to test for lung cancer, rectum cells are collected to test for colon cancer, and uterus or cervix cells are collected to test for ovarian cancer. Then the researchers shine a light on the collected cells and analyze the signals that the photons give off when they bounce around different structures within the cells. Partial Wave Spectroscopy (PWS) is a very sensitive form of microscopy; it uses light scattering to examine the architecture of cells at the nanoscale and can detect profound changes that are the earliest known signs of carcinogenesis. These changes can be seen in the cells far from the tumor site or even before the tumor forms. These tests would also determine if more invasive tests would be required for the patient. Backman and Roy see PWS to be in clinical use in about five years if this process is commercialized.
Founded in 1851, Northwestern University is one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading private research and teaching universities with an enrollment of approximately 8,000 full-time undergraduate students and approximately 8,000 full-time graduate and professional students and approximately 2,000 part-time students on campuses in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, and Doha, Qatar. Northwestern combines innovative teaching and pioneering research in a highly collaborative environment that transcends traditional academic boundaries. Northwestern provides students and faculty exceptional opportunities for intellectual, personal and professional growth in a setting enhanced by the richness of Chicago.
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PHOTOS: Sally Ryan
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Ohio University: Cleaning Our
Environment with ‘Pee Power’
GERARDINE G. BOTTE, Ph.D., is a Russ Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and serves as the Director of the Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research (CEER) at Ohio University. She is the founder and CTO of E3 Clean Technologies Inc. She holds 10 U.S. and 3 foreign issued patents, has published 46 articles, 5 book chapters and serves as editor for the Journal of Applied Electrochemistry. Botte’s work consists of fundamental and applied research in electrochemical engineering, including power sources and fuel cells, hydrogen generators, numerical methods, mathematical modeling, material science, and electro-catalysis. Her research portfolio includes the design and development of advanced battery systems and how coal and ammonia can be used as hydrogen sources to power fuel cells. Botte is a member of prestigious organizations such as the ECS and the ISE. She is also a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. At Ohio University, Botte invented the “GreenBox™”, a small footprint electrical appliance that is designed to remove ammonia from commercial, municipal, and agriculture wastewater at a lower energy consumption, capital, and operational cost than any other process available. This technology, which produces hydrogen energy as a valuable by-product, has been described as “pee power.” The device works through a patented low-energy electrolysis process that converts ammonia and urea in wastewater to hydrogen, nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide, and pure water. The “GreenBox” can be reconfigured to produce ammonia on demand from urea. This device is known as the “SCR GreenBox™,” which has applications for NOx scrubbing 24
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about OHIO UNIVERSITY The oldest institution of higher learning in the state, Ohio University strives to be the best student-centered, transformative learning community in America, where more than 33,000 students realize their promise. OHIO is committed to fostering, embracing, and celebrating diversity in all its forms. The Athens campus offers students a residential learning experience in one of the nation’s most picturesque academic settings. Five regional campuses serve additional students throughout central and southeastern Ohio, and online programs further advance the university’s commitment to providing educational access and opportunity.
from power plants and diesel vehicles. Both devices, the GreenBox and the SCR Greenbox, will serve the needs of multibillion markets while providing clean water, clean air, and clean energy. In order to commercialize the product, Botte founded E3 Clean Technologies Inc., with the help of Ohio University’s small high-tech business incubator, the Innovation Center. E3’s technology could help a variety of industries
that must deal with the disposal of ammonia, ranging from military and agriculture to wastewater treatment operations to commercial construction companies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers ammonia to be a serious environmental toxin that greatly impacts air quality, surface water, and ground water. This is only the beginning of a company that plans to develop the GreenBox into a larger-scale, commercial prototype that could revolutionize clean energy while generating jobs for people from a variety of fields and education levels—from science and engineering to sales, marketing and manufacturing.
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about the NAI FELLOWS PROGRAM
The NAI Fellows are inducted at the NAI annual meeting each year. Fellows and their institutions are listed on a plaque on permanent display at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, VA.
HOW TO NOMINATE FOR FELLOWSHIP The Charter class of Fellows of the NAI, inducted in 2013, represented 56 prestigious research universities and non-profit research institutes and hold over 3,200 issued U.S. patents. Included in the Charter class were senior leadership of research universities and non-profit research institutes, members of the other National Academies, inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Nobel Prize and the Lemelson-MIT prize, among other awards and distinctions. Nominees must be: l A named inventor on at least one patent issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office l Affiliated with a university, non-profit research institute, governmental agency, or other academic entity.
Nominations are open July 1-November 1 of each year. U.S. COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS, MARGARET A. FOCARINO, DISPLAYS THE FELLOWS PLAQUE AT THE 2013 NAI ANNUAL MEETING.
NAI FELLOWS PROGRAM Election to NAI Fellow status is a high-level professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society. 26
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The following information must be included with the online submission form: l l l l
Nomineeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CV A full list of nomineeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s U.S. Patents Letter of Nomination Two (2) Letters of Recommendation
Submit nominations online at:
academyofinventors.com/fellows.asp
nai fellows selection committee
NAI Fellows are elected by a 13-member Selection Committee. The committee includes NAI Charter Fellows, recipients of U.S. National Medals, National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees, members of the National Academies, and senior officials from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association of University Technology Managers and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Norman R. Augustine, National Medal of Technology & Innovation Recipient and National Academy of Science Anne H. Chasser, former Commissioner for Trademarks, United States Patent and Trademark Office Edward G. Derrick, Chief Program Director, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Elizabeth L. Dougherty, Director of Inventor Education, Outreach & Recognition, USPTO Sean P. Flanigan, President, AUTM, and Assistant Director, Technology Partnerships, University of Ottawa Margaret A. (Peggy) Focarino, Commissioner for Patents, United States Patent and Trademark Office Eric R. Fossum, National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee, National Academy of Engineering, NAI Charter Fellow Morteza Gharib, Vice Provost for Research, California Institute of Technology, NAI Charter Fellow Patrick T. Harker, President of the University of Delaware, NAI Charter Fellow Sir Harold Walter Kroto, Nobel Prize for Chemistry, Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) Sir George Martin, Producer of The Beatles, Oscar速 and Grammy速 Awards, Hearing Research Advocate Robert S. Langer, U.S. National Medal of Technology & Innovation, Medal of Science, National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee, Lemelson-MIT Prize, NAE, IOM, NAS, NAI Charter Fellow Rini Paiva, Executive Director, National Inventors Hall of Fame
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Pennsylvania State University: Scientist Creates Alternative for Preterm Baby Respiratory Support
CHARLES PALMER, M.D., M.B., Ch.B., is a professor of pediatrics at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine. He specializes in neonatal respiratory problems and neonatal neurology. He has seen firsthand that the care infants receive within the first hours and days of life can have immeasurable impact on their survival and healthy development. He uses this experience in his research, which has led to several patents on devices designed to improve health outcomes for high-risk newborns. In order to encourage the creation of new inventions to assist neonatal infants, Palmer founded the Penn State Hershey Pediatric Innovation Program. This collaboration between Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, the University, and industrial partners solely focuses on improving the development of technologies for infants and children. The program provides a forum for clinicians, engineers, and industry to exchange ideas with the goal of innovating clinically relevant technology for rapid translation into clinical solutions. Palmer has had a lot of experience with preterm babies, and his research has led to patents on many devices that are critical to a preterm baby’s health during its first hours of life. One of those devices is the Hug ‘n’ Snug™ Neonatal Chest Splint, a noninvasive plastic device that is applied to the chest of a newborn with respiratory distress. The device is designed to replace the ventilator with a splint that provides external stabilization to the chest of an infant with inward buckling of the soft chest wall, allowing the baby to breathe easier.
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ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY Penn State, a land-grant institution, is a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of the Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago. Based on current Association for Research Libraries investment rankings, The Pennsylvania State University Libraries are ranked among the top ten research libraries in North America. A student survey completed in 2010 found overall student satisfaction with the University Libraries to be at the top of its category. Collections exceed 5.8 million volumes and include more than 102,000 current serial subscriptions. The University Libraries are located at University Park and 22 other locations throughout Pennsylvania, and they serve approximately 6,000 faculty and 44,000 students at University Park, and more than 92,000 students system-wide.
Palmer is still working with industry on new renditions of the Hug ‘n’ Snug that hold promise to enhance the versatility of the device. There has been recent interest from a hospital in India to test the concept of external chest wall stabilization in preterm infants with respiratory distress.
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Purdue University: Printing Solar Cells
— What’s Next for Solar Technology
Rakesh Agrawal, Sc.D., is a Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. A major thrust of his research is related to energy issues and includes novel processes for fabrication of low-cost solar cells, biomass and coal to liquid fuel conversion, hydrogen production from renewable sources and energy systems analysis. Agrawal’s research interests further include basic and applied research in gas separations, process development, synthesis of distillation column configurations, adsorption and membrane separation processes, novel separation processes, gas liquefaction processes, cryogenics, and thermodynamics. He holds 119 U.S. and more than 500 foreign patents. In 2011, he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama. More recently, Agrawal has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joining 10 other Purdue colleagues as members. Rakesh Agrawal is leading the work in Purdue to develop solar cells that can be manufactured and printed on flexible substrates using special ink consisting of nanocrystals made of either copper indium gallium disulfide (CIGS) or copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS). In a recent progress, Agrawal’s lab has demonstrated 15% power conversion efficiency for solar cells printed from CIGS nanocrystal ink. For the CZTS solar cells, which are made from earth abundant elements, his lab was among the first to create CZTS nanocrystals. Agrawal’s group has also produced the second-highest efficient CZTS-based solar cells, at 9.4 percent efficien-
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cy, which is closest to the goal of reaching to 15 percent efficiency or higher for this class of material. The research for these solar cells involves advanced modeling, nanoelectronics and materials science. The researchers will create models showing how to precisely heat nanoparticles so that they are properly sintered, which leads to desired optical and electrical properties. The CZTS project is currently being funded with a $750,000 grant as part of U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative, which includes work to improve solar technologies. The DOE strives to achieve critical requirements not met by other solar technologies; it should be able to be mass-produced at low costs and not limited by the available of material. Further support is being provided from the Purdue Energy Center in Discovery Park.
ABOUT PURDUE UNIVERSITY Purdue University is a vast laboratory for discovery. The university is known not only for science, technology, engineering, and math programs, but also for our imagination, ingenuity, and innovation. It’s a place where those who seek an education come to make their ideas real — especially when those transformative discoveries lead to scientific, technological, social, or humanitarian impact. Founded in 1869 in West Lafayette, Indiana, the university proudly serves its state as well as the nation and the world. Academically, Purdue’s role as a major research institution is supported by top-ranking disciplines in pharmacy, business, engineering, and agriculture. More than 39,000 students are enrolled here. All 50 states and 130 countries are represented. Add about 950 student organizations and Big Ten Boilermaker athletics, and you get a college atmosphere that’s without rival.
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photos: PURDUE UNIVERSITY
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The Smithsonian Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation A Look Into
THE LEMELSON CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF INVENTION AND INNOVATION has led the Smithso-
nian in connecting people to inventions through publications, symposia, exhibitions, and digital media since 1995. The Center’s mission is action-driven and revolves around documenting, interpreting, and disseminating information about invention and innovation. The Center also encourages creativity in youth and fosters an appreciation for the central role that invention and innovation have played in the history of the United States. This program has ambitiously embarked upon its mission through scholarship, fellowships, exhibitions, public programs for both youth and adults, and an annual symposium, New Perspectives on Invention and Innovation. The Lemelson Center recently received a grant of $2.6 million from the National Science Foundation to fund the “Places of Invention” project, centering on a 3,500-square-foot exhibition. Places of Invention will take visitors on a journey through time and place to discover the stories of people who lived, worked, played, collaborated, adapted, took risks, solved problems, and sometimes failed — all in the pursuit of something new — when the exhibition opens at the National Museum of American History in 2015. The exhibition will also be the core of a nationwide network of partnering museums and organizations. There is little in our contemporary world that has not been touched by the creative genius of Jerome Lemelson. Bar code readers and cordless phones, cassette players and camcorders, automated manufacturing systems, even crying baby dolls — these devices and hundreds of others that have shaped our lives derive from the inventions and innovations of this remarkable man. With more than six hundred patents to his name and others still pending, Jerome Lemelson 32
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ABOUT THE SMITHSONIAN LEMELSON CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF INVENTIONS AND INNOVATION
was one of the most prolific American inventors of all time, and in the sheer range of his ideas — from cutting-edge medical and industrial technologies to novelties, gadgets, and toys — Jerome Lemelson was undoubtedly one of the most versatile innovators of his time. The Smithsonian Lemelson Center includes Spark!Lab, a pioneering hands-on invention center at the National Museum of American History. This program targets families and children and introduces visitors to the nature of an inventor’s work. Children use hands-on activities that engage them in the history and process of invention. Spark!Lab involves interdisciplinary activities that appeal to varying learning styles, ages, and abilities. From its inception in 2008 to its closure for renovations in fall 2011, Spark!Lab welcomed over 600,000 visitors. Spark!Lab will reopen to the public in 2015. Spark!Lab is also in the process of establishing a national and international satellite network.
The Smithsonian’s Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation’s activities advance scholarship on the history of invention, share stories about inventors and their work, and nurture creativity in young people. The Lemelson Center embodies a philosophy akin to that of the inventors it studies, of valuing creativity and embracing the potential rewards of intellectual risk-taking. The Center is endowed by the Lemelson Foundation, a private philanthropy established by one of the country’s most prolific inventors, Jerome Lemelson and his wife Dorothy Lemelson. The Lemelson Center is located in the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
ABOVE: Dorothy lemelson and the staff of the lemelson center RIGHT: jerome lemelson and future inventors at the lemelson center
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Texas A&M University: Advanced Flame Retardant
Simultaneously Protects Homes and the Environment
JAIME C. GRUNLAN, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor
and Gulf Oil/Thomas A. Dietz Development Professor at Texas A&M University. He works within the Department of Mechanical Engineering as well as the interdisciplinary Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering. Grunlan’s research is focused on polymer nanocomposites with properties that transcend some materials such as metals and ceramics. He currently directs the Polymer NanoComposites Lab at Texas A&M University. Joint efforts by Grunlan and several other Texas A&M researchers have produced a highly effective flame retardant “nanocoating” that not only protects clothing and humans, but simultaneously offers a nontoxic alternative for the environment. Currently, there are flame retardants products that contain chlorine and bromine, many of which are typically toxic. The environmentally friendly nanocoating, comprised of renewable resources, is a new technology aiming to protect families and homes from fires and toxic chemicals. The innovative nanocoating technique combines two water-soluble polymers (a sulfur-based polymer and chitosan, normally found in shellfish) with opposing charges to create a layer drastically thinner than typical household paint. The thin layer is practically invisible and acts as an additional covering to block fire from coated objects. While some flame retardants may alter the form of fibers, cotton or other materials, the nanocoating adds protection to clothing, furniture and other items without altering its properties. As described by Grunlan, the coating stops oxygen from contacting burning objects, decreasing the spread of fire to other objects or people.
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Though this nanocoating is not 100 percent fireproof, it does prove to be more beneficial than currently used technology in preventing objects from catching fire. According to the U.S. National Fire Protection Association, bedding and upholstery are the first items to catch fire in more than 17,000 annual fires. Grunlan’s hope is to drastically decrease these circumstances using his nanocoating invention. Moreover, this coating diminishes the spread of harmful toxic chemicals found in today’s flame retardants that have demonstrated negative impacts on people and nature in the past. Grunlan and his team have used eco-conscious materials and methods that will positively influence firefighting and prevention for many years to come.
ABOUT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY As one of the world’s leading research institutions, Texas A&M is in the vanguard in making significant contributions to the storehouse of knowledge, including that of science and technology. Research conducted at Texas A&M represents an annual investment of more than $630 million, which ranks third nationally for universities without a medical school, and underwrites approximately 3,500 sponsored projects. That research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting in many cases in economic benefits to the state, nation and world.
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photos: Igor Kraguljac, Š texas a&M university
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University of California, Davis: Scientist Makes Jaw-dropping Discovery in Tissue Regeneration
A. Hari Reddi, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor in the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, Davis and is also director of the Center for Tissue Regeneration and Repair and the Lawrence Ellison Musculoskeletal Research Center. Reddi received his Ph.D. from the University of Delhi in Delhi, India. His research interests include the cellular and molecular basis of cartilage repair and osteoarthritis and tissue engineering of bone and cartilage based on biomaterials. Reddi has studied bone regeneration for more than 40 years and joined the faculty at UC Davis in 1997. His laboratory at the National Institutes of Health was the first to purify bone morphogenetic protein in the 1980s. Orthopedic surgeons are often responsible for the reconstruction of certain bones in the human body, while veterinarian surgeons handle the same responsibilities for domestic animals. Removal of malignant tumors is a common reason for removal of all or part of the jawbone in dogs. Until now, surgeons often had to leave part of the defect in place so that the dog could still use its jaw properly, but this could lead to other problems. UC Davis veterinarians and biomedical engineers have now come up with a new approach based on Reddiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discoveries. They can grow an entirely new jawbone to replace the missing tissue. The technology behind this new procedure makes use of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), originally discovered by Reddi. These proteins initiate, promote, and maintain the development of bone and cartilage.
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the large portion of jawbone, Whiskey is alive and he eats, plays and functions normally. Because the results have been more than promising, the research team at UC Davis hopes to work with and even modify their techniques with larger jawbone defects.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
The surgeons first remove the diseased bone, and screw in place a titanium plate to hold the remaining jaw bone in place. Then they place a sponge-like biomaterial soaked in BMP into the gap. The protein stimulates the growth of new bone cells, which infiltrate into the material and replace it with new, healthy bone that fuses with existing bone. Within a few months the newly formed bone can have similar density to its surrounding bones. UC Davis surgeons have so far carried eight successful operations on dogs with malignant jaw tumors. One particular dog, Whiskey, had a cancerous tumor that spanned nearly two inches wide; about half of his lower right jaw had to be removed in order to perform the procedure accurately. Two weeks post-surgery, doctors could feel the jaw growing in place just by touching the surface of the skin. After three months of growth, the regenerated bone had a similar density to the natural bone. Despite removing
For more than 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has more than 33,000 students, more than 2,500 faculty and more than 21,000 staff, an annual research budget of nearly $750 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.
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PHOTOS: UC DAVIS
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University of Central Florida: crystal clear technology
shin-tson wu, Ph.D., is Pegasus professor at the
high optical efficiency. The white LED backlight commonly employed in iPhones, iPads, and LCD TVs uses a blue LED to pump yellow phosphor. The generated yellow color is relatively broad so that the resultant color gamut is only ~70% of NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard, as depicted in the following figure. Quantum dots are nanoparticles (3-10 nm); their photoluminescence wavelength depends on the diameter of the particles. By using a blue LED to pump green and red quantum dots, Wu’s group produced a white light with highly saturated red, green and blue components. As a result, the displayed colors are vivid and its color gamut reaches ~120% NTSC. The following figure compares the simulated color gamut of iPhone 5 vs. quantum-dot enhanced backlight. In addition to displays, quantum dots can also be used for solid state lighting, which is gradually replacing the Edison light bulbs at homes, classrooms, and streets.
University of Central Florida. He has made pioneering contributions in advanced liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, spatial light modulators for electronic laser beam control, and tunable-focus lenses for eyeglasses, 3D displays and camera zoom lens. He holds 79 U.S. patents and 20 foreign patents that have been licensed to several companies. Prior to joining UCF in 2001, Wu spent 18 years at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. Dr. Wu is a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a Fellow of the IEEE, OSA, SID, and SPIE, and a recipient of SID Slottow-Owaki prize, OSA Joseph Fraunhofer award, SPIE G. G. Stokes award and SID Jan Rajchman prize. He was the founding chief editor of the IEEE/OSA Journal of Display Technology. Liquid crystal displays are ubiquitous in our daily lives, such as smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs, and data projectors. They offer high resolution, high contrast picture and are thin, lightweight, relatively energy efficient, and low cost. However, Energy Star 6 demands much lower power consumption for eco-friendly environment, while keeping vivid colors and crisp images. The Photonics and Display group at CREOL: The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida has developed two innovative approaches to significantly reduce the power consumption and achieve radiant colors of advanced LCDs. To reduce power consumption, Wu’s group invented a low voltage polymer-stabilized bluephase liquid crystal display. The U.S. patent was grated earlier this year. This self-assembled smart soft matter
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eliminates the need of surface alignment layers, which greatly simplifies the manufacturing process. On the other hand, nano-scale liquid crystal domains lead to submillisecond response time, which not only suppresses image blurs but also enables color sequential displays using red, green and blue LEDs (light emitting diodes). By eliminating the spatial color filters, both optical efficiency and resolution density are tripled. The dawn of blue phase LCD has finally arrived. To achieve vivid colors, Wu’s group proposed a quantum-dots-enhanced backlight and simulated its color performances. This quantum-dots-LCD exhibits three distinctive features: highly saturated colors, wide color gamut, and
about the university of central florida 50 Years of Achievement: The University of Central Florida, the nation’s second-largest university with nearly 60,000 students, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013. UCF has grown in size, quality, diversity and reputation, and today the university offers more than 200 degree programs at its main campus in Orlando and more than a dozen other locations. Known as America’s leading partnership university, UCF is an economic engine attracting and supporting industries vital to the region’s success now and into the future.
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University of Colorado, Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus: Dr. Huntington Potter’s Focus and Impact on Alzheimer’s Disease Research
HUNTINGTON POTTER Ph.D., is Professor of
Neurology and Director of Alzheimer’s Disease Research in the Department of Neurology and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome at the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus. He discovered and is devoted to studying the mechanistic relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. Recognizing that these disorders are two sides of the same coin and studying them together will best hasten the development of new treatments for both. Prior to joining CU Denver|AMC, Potter studied, researched and taught for 30 years at Harvard University. He received his AB Cum Laude in Physics and Chemistry and his MA and PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology before spending 13 years on the Faculty of the Neurobiology Department. In 1998, he joined the Faculty at the University of South Florida as the Eric Pfeiffer Chair for Research on Alzheimer’s disease. He designed and directed the NIA-designated Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at USF and was elected President of the Faculty at the College of Medicine, and President of the USF Tampa Faculty Senate. From 2004-2008, he was CEO and Scientific Director of the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer’s Center & Research Institute, during which time the Institute built the largest free-standing Alzheimer’s disease research institute in the world and developed 7 new potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease in preparation for human trials.
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Potter is credited with the first demonstration of the Holliday intermediate in genetic recombination, the perfection of electroporation for gene transfer, and the discovery of the essential role of inflammation and the amyloid-promoting activity of apoE-4 in Alzheimer’s disease. He also discovered that Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome, which invariably leads to Alzheimer’s by age 30-40, are mechanistically related to each other and to cancer through the development of cells with abnormal numbers of chromosomes. He is author of over 100 scientific articles and books, holds 15 U.S. and foreign patents, has sat on scientific advisory and review committees in academia, industry and government, and has received numerous awards for his work. In 2010, Potter was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and in 2012 a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. His electron micrographs of DNA are on permanent exhibit in the National American History Museum of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER | ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS Comprehensive in scope, entrepreneurial in spirit and innovative at heart, CU Denver|Anschutz offers more than 130 degree programs in 13 schools and colleges, earned more than $421 million in sponsored research awards (FY 10-11), educates students on two campuses, online and in programs and centers across the state, awards more graduate degrees than any other Colorado university and attracts students from 50 states and 134 countries. Inventions by CU Denver | Anschutz researchers have led to the formation of 114 new companies—ultimately leading to more than $5.6 billion in financing.
RIGHT: Huntington Potter (left) and postdoctoral trainees in the lab.
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University of Delaware: Infrared Technology Influencing Military, Medical and Environmental Systems
JOHN RABOLT, Ph.D., is a Karl W. and Renate Böer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware. Rabolt, who joined UD in 1996, led the materials science program to departmental status as chairperson of the program. Rabolt’s current research interests include polymer deformation, organic thin films, Planar Array Infrared (PA-IR), FT-Raman and FT- IR spectroscopy of polymers and biomolecular materials for tissue engineering scaffolds. As a UD researcher and former IBM scientist, Rabolt created groundbreaking technology that can have a major, positive impact in various industries around the world. The Planar Array Infrared (PA-IR) Spectroscopy was developed in Rabolt’s lab and uses a dispersive spectrograph and a focal plane array to study “real-time” Langmuir film compression, liquid crystal reorientation, and cyclic elastic deformation of polymer films. In other words, this unique invention can make breakthroughs in a laundry list of services and usage including early detection of diseases, chemical weaponry, environmental hazards and more. In 2005, Rabolt, along with Bruce Chase (now an ex-DuPont scientist), founded a start-up company, PAIR Technologies LLC, in order to commercialize the analytical tool with the potential to contribute substantial and important benefits to society through a wide variety of military, environmental, and industrial applications. PAIR has licensed two UD patents, U.S. patent numbers 6,784,428 and 6,943,353, through UD’s Technology Transfer Center, a unit of the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP). Rabolt is one of three
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to detect small amounts of protein and/or lipids in a person’s teardrop then it could also be potentially used to diagnose other systemic diseases such as Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease. The possibilities of the PA-IR tool seem to be endless.
ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
inventors on the patents. The other inventors are Mei-Wei Tsao and Douglas Elmore. PA-IR spectroscopy is described as an additional area of research that has evolved over the last decade using an infrared technique that promises to change the time scale (< 1ms) for observing new phenomena (fast reactions, polymer fracture, irreproducible events, etc.) in materials. The invention stands out amongst the current technology, which was designed four decades ago. It is an instrument that can operate in the lab as well as in the field. The PA-IR technology has no moving parts, which allows it to be portable as well as durable. Additionally, the PA-IR technology can detect chemical agents in solids, gases or liquids in milliseconds. Today’s devices take about ten minutes; slowing down results and creating a bigger clean up afterwards, in some cases. The PA-IR technique also has medical applications; this technology could be a diagnostic tool for those who are suffering from or developing evaporative dry eye (EDE). If the PA-IR device is able
Tracing its heritage back to 1743, the University of Delaware is a state-assisted, privately controlled institution with an enrollment of more than 16,000 undergraduates, 3,500 graduate students and 1,000 professional and continuing education students. The University offers degrees in a broad range of disciplines across seven colleges and is a land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant institution. The University is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a research university with very high research activity – a designation accorded to fewer than 3 percent of U.S. colleges and universities. For more information, visit www.udel.edu. About the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP): OEIP is a unit of the University of Delaware. Since its formation in 2008 under the leadership of former DuPont vice president for research and development, David Weir, OEIP has worked with the state of Delaware, Delaware Technology Park, and numerous researchers and companies to stimulate economic innovation and partnership development and to create a culture in Delaware where innovation and entrepreneurship can thrive. Visit udel.edu/oeip.
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University of Florida: Creating a Bright Future for Optoelectronic Devices
FRANKY SO, Ph.D, is the Rolf. E. Hummel Professor
of Electronic Materials in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. So received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and his research interests are in the area of organic and quantum dot optoelectronic devices. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Materials Science and Engineering Reports, an Associate Editor of IEEE Journal of Display Technology, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Journal of Solid State Lighting and SPIE Journal of Photonics for Energy. So has over 100 journal publications, 70 issued patents and over 30 patent applications pending and has received many awards and recognitions for his accomplishments. He has been selected as the IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Lecturer, and he is a Fellow of IEEE, OSA and SPIE. So’s research focuses on flexible optoelectronic devices based on organic materials and these devices include organic light emitting diodes, or OLEDs which can be used for smart phone and tablet displays as well as flat screen TVs. OLEDs can also be used for high efficiency, high quality lighting devices that will one day replace conventional light bulbs. OLED technology is viewed as the efficient successor to LCD flat panel displays that will conserve energy while offering better image quality. In addition to OLEDs, he is also working on low-cost, high efficiency flexible polymer solar cells that can be printed by roll-to-roll process; and low-cost nanocrystal devices for UV and infrared sensors.
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ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA UF is a major public, land-grant, research university. The state’s oldest and most comprehensive university, UF is among the nation’s most academically diverse public universities. UF is the state’s flagship institution and has a long history of established programs in international education, research, and service. It is one of only 17 public, land-grant universities that belongs to the prestigious Association of American Universities. UF enrolls nearly 50,000 students and is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. UF is consistently ranked among the nation’s top universities: No. 17 in U.S. News & World Report “Top Public Universities” (August 2012); No. 2 in Kiplinger “Best Values in Public Colleges” (2012); and No. 7 in the Princeton Review “Best Value Public Colleges” (2012). UF has 4,215 faculty members with distinguished records in teaching, research, and service, including 40 eminent scholar chairs and 28 faculty elections to the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, or the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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University of Houston: Inventing a
Current-Secured Drilling Device
BENTON F. BAUGH , Ph.D., P.E. is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston and is President of Baugh Consulting Engineers, Inc., which provides oilfield- related consulting, patent licensing, and expert witness work. He is a registered Professional Engineer, having earned a BSME degree from the University of Houston as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Kennedy Western University. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. In offshore oil production, strong ocean currents can push the drilling riser up against the rig, making it impossible to retrieve it from the water. This can cause damage to the rig and the riser itself, and is especially critical in pre-hurricane situations. A drilling riser is a conduit that provides a temporary extension of a subsea oil well to the surface drilling facility (i.e. a floating drilling rig). The drill pipe is run through the drilling riser and carries the drilling mud down to the drill bit. The drilling mud and cuttings travel back up to the surface in the annular area outside the drill pipe and inside the bore of the drilling riser. With Baughâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Drilling Riser Centralizer system, the riser is more stable and is recoverable in currents of speeds up
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to 2.5 knots (approximately 2.88 miles per hour). This not only reduces the risk to the riser and rig, but can significantly reduce the number lost drilling days due to bad weather conditions by providing subsea drilling equipment with added security in the stronger currents. The device provides a sort of cushion to the workers on the oil rig by allowing them more time to retrieve the riser if the water current approaches an unsafe speed. In the case of a moored drilling system, the ability to recover during pre-hurricane conditions can make the difference in drilling during the Gulf of Mexico hurricane season by preventing the loss of three months of drilling time. The device can be modified to fit any specific requirements or dimensions. The Drilling Riser Centralizer weighs approximately 250,000 pounds and is made up of two components: the Drill Floor Centralizer and the Moon Pool Centralizer. The Drill Floor Centralizer is landed on the rotary table and counters the forces caused when the Moon Pool Centralizer pulls the riser into the proper position for retrieval. The Moon Pool Centralizer contains 64 internal rollers that encircle the riser, position it, and hold it in place to neutralize the effects of the wind, waves, and currents as the riser is pulled from the ocean floor about 6,000 feet or more below the rig.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 40,700 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.
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University of South Florida: Medicine ‘MARVEL’ for Minimally Invasive Surgeries
RICHARD D. GITLIN, Sc.D., is a State of Florida 21st Century World Class Scholar, a Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering, and the Agere Systems Chair at the University of South Florida. He has over 40 years of leadership in several fields such as digital communication, wireless systems, data networking, and most recently bio-medical networking. Prior to his position at the University of South Florida, he worked for 32 years at Bell Labs and co-invented the widely used DSL technology. At his retirement he was Senior VP for Communications and Networking. Gitlin holds 47 patents, has published over 100 papers and co-authored a graduate textbook on data communications that was popularly utilized in academic institutions for over a decade. As a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the IEEE, Gitlin continues to make huge impacts in the research world today. The likelihood of intelligent, wirelessly networked devices creating a paradigm shift in medicine and minimally invasive surgery is becoming more of a reality with Gitlin’s breakthroughs in biomedical engineering research. Gitlin and his collaborators, the surgeons Drs. Alexander Rosemurgy and Sharona Ross, have invented a scalable network architecture and a set of devices, tools, and protocols that is expected to allow physicians to perform minimally invasive surgeries (MIS) faster, more cost effectively and
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safer. The first of these devices, the MARVEL (Miniature and Anchored Remote Videoscope for Expedited Laparoscopy) camera module (CM), has been successfully tested in several vivarium experiments on porcine subjects. Wirelessly controlled motors in the CM enable 180 degree pan and tilt movement of the MARVEL CM. The CM wirelessly transmits the video steam to an external node. The CMs may be attached in multitude and networked inside the abdominal cavity wall through one incision site without occupying a trocar port. During MIS procedures, such an array of CMs can provide a wide-angle view with high resolution and minimize interference with traditional laparoscopic instruments and increases the safety of the procedure with the CMs providing a broad field of view. With all of these benefits, it is expected that the MARVEL system will facilitate a fundamentally new distributed-networking approach to MIS. MARVEL technology not only ensures a shorter duration surgery but also realizes efficiency in its configuration. Because the CM includes light sources, a camera and a wireless transceiver, surgeons are able to operate with an extra surgical tool with one more available port. These benefits related to MARVEL will hopefully lead to faster, cheaper, and safer minimally invasive surgery.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA The University of South Florida is a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. USF ranks 50th in the nation for federal expenditures in research and total expenditures in research among all U.S. universities, public or private, according to the National Science Foundation. Serving more than 47,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.5 billion and an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.
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University of Utah: Robotic Suit Aids in Heavy Lifting and Military Applications
STEPHEN C. JACOBSEN, Ph.D. is a distinguished
professor and director of the Center for Engineering Design at the University of Utah. He received his Ph.D. from MIT and was mentored by Robert Mann and Willem Kolff, father of artificial organs, with whom he led the development of the wearable kidney. He founded multiple companies and currently leads Sterling Technologies. He holds over 200 patents and led more than 359 projects including the Utah Arm, considered the world’s finest artificial limb. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine. Awards include the Leonardo da Vinci Award (ASME), Pioneer of Robotics Award (IEEE) and Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology. Jacobsen had previously developed devices such as the world’s leading powered prosthetic arm and the dancing fountains of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, all using the most advanced robotics technologies available. Jacobsen, through his founded Salt Lake City-based company Sarcos, built a robotic suit called “Exoskeleton” which allows it’s wearer to carry massive loads repetitively and for long periods of time. The outfit could enable soldiers to haul heavier equipment over greater distances, allow rescue workers to safely carry survivors, and eventually help disabled people maneuver around. The futurist-looking, full-body exoskeleton has been designed to allow the person wearing it to easily carry heavy boxes of ammunition and wounded soldiers, by using the added exterior frame to boost body strength. It lessens the wearer’s physical burden by using sensors in the frame to monitor the soldiers’ movement,
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and then transfer those movements to actuators, but the suit is also agile enough to allow the wearer to play soccer, hit a punching bag and even climb several flights of stairs. The Exoskeleton has many applications; one in particular is the military. The Exoskeleton can be designed for various specific tasks, like outfitting a jet with missiles, or loading a truck with heavy equipment, it could even be equipped with weapons and used in combat or it could be outfitted to stand chemical and biological agents.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH RESEARCH The University of Utah (The U) is the flagship institution for higher learning in Utah. The U is the top ranked university for creating start-up companies from university research, according to the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). Utah’s Technology Venture Development Office and related departments are dedicated to growing a “Culture of Innovation.” They do this by collaborating across the campus, state, nation and world to build the connections needed to drive sustained innovation. The university’s external research funding in 2011 generated $597 million in gross state product, 8,538 Utah jobs with total wages of $311 million, and $31.9 million in state and local tax revenue.
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University of Texas at Arlington: Testing for Sleep
Conditions Made Easier with Ultrasonic Sensors
expected to make the detection of disease more affordable and allow more people to be diagnosed. In its final production form, the device could be a simple collar that a patient wears around the neck — enabling the patient to sleep in the comfort of his or her own home as opposed to the cumbersome detection methods used in a sleep laboratory.
KHOSROW BEHBEHANI, Ph.D., serves as Dean of
the College of Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington. He is a leading innovator in developing methods and devices for detection and treatment of sleep-disordered breathing, which is a chronic pulmonary disease. He is the recipient of The University of Texas System Chancellor’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award, and holds nine U.S. patents, some of which are internationally registered. More than a million patients have been treated with devices designed using his bioengineering innovations. He is a Fellow of both the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Sleep apnea is a chronic interruption of breathing that can lead to hypertension, heart failure, and even brain damage and affects an estimated 15 percent of adults nationwide. Tests for sleep apnea are cumbersome and expensive and after a long night of being attached to wires and experiencing restless sleep, tests are sometimes inconclusive and might require another night’s stay. Behbehani and a team of bioengineers at The University of Texas at Arlington, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and medical specialists from Sleep Consultants Inc. in Fort Worth Texas have recently developed an ultrasonic device that can detect whether a person suffers from sleep apnea. This device can ultimately be applied without the inconvenience or higher cost associated with an overnight stay at a sleep center.
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ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON
The device uses ultrasonic sensors attached to a patient’s neck during sleep. Non-audible sound waves are sent across the neck to detect whether the patient’s airway is open to allow airflow to the lungs. Dean Behbehani’s previous sleep apnea invention was developed and licensed in the 1990s. The “smart” sleep apnea machine uses a pressure sensor and continuously monitors and adjusts the level of air pressure that pumps into a patient’s airway, keeping it open and regulating the airflow. More than half a million patients who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea have benefited from this device alone. The new system promises a speedier path to diagnosis and relief. Unlike the current diagnostics tests that can total $2,000, thus creating barriers for patients who are suffering, the new system is
About The University of Texas at Arlington: The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive research institution of nearly 33,800 students and more than 2,200 faculty members. UT Arlington is the second-largest member of The University of Texas System and generated $71.4 million in research expenditures last year, a sum that has tripled over the past decade. UT Arlington has increasing expertise in bioengineering, medical diagnostics, micromanufacturing, and defense and Homeland Security technologies, among other areas.
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The University of Tennessee Health Science Center:
Chemotherapy Patients Receive Physical Relief with Muscle Building Drug
DUANE D. MILLER, Ph.D, is the Harriett S. Van Vleet
Professor and Department Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy. He received a B.S. in pharmacy at the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Washington in Seattle. His research interests include new methods to treat muscle weakness (cachexia), antiandrogens drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer, and new anticancer agents for melanoma and glioma. He is also interested in drugs for treating diabetes, obesity and diabetic retinopathy. He has found some of the first radiation mitigation agents in collaborations with Gabor Tigyi, Ph.D., M.D. For cancer patients, the disease itself is only one of several battles. Many patients have to deal with the challenges of daily or weekly chemotherapy and radiation sessions. During chemotherapy, cancer patients suffer from severe symptoms that take a toll on their everyday lives. Some are able to walk without assistance; others are not. Moreover, these patients have to deal with a change in physical appearance as well as lack of strength. About 30 percent of these cancer patients suffer from cancer cachexia, a condition that progressively deteriorates a person’s nutrition status. Anorexia, muscle waste, fatigue and impaired immune response are often signs of cancer cachexia. Dr. Miller has developed a drug that counteracts the effects of cancer cachexia, called Enobosarm, which is currently the first drug of its kind. Enobosarm is not a
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treatment for cancer, but rather a treatment that can help prevent the wasting of body muscle and bone loss.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE System
Enobosarm is the first in a new class of drugs called Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs), which was discovered by Drs. Miller and James Dalton, who currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for GTx. SARMs serve as a non-steroidal muscle builder that does not have the dangerous side effects, , such as prostate cancer or liver toxicity, found with traditional steroids. In addition to that factor, SARMs can be taken orally. The ability of SARMs to pinpoint and provide androgens to specific cells in the body is ideal for many cancer patients. Their ability to maintain muscle mass throughout the chemotherapy process could prove to be beneficial to their overall health and well-being post-cancer.
About the University of Tennessee: As a premier, research-extensive institution, our students — undergraduate and graduate — delve further into subjects they may have only dreamed about.
While Dr. Miller’s development of Enobosarm was originally intended to help cancer victims, it can be used to address many other medical issues. Through clinical testing, Dr. Miller believes it can be useful for men who have undergone andropause, a male version of menopause, and the general treating of muscle and bone loss that comes with aging. Enobosarm is currently undergoing clinical trials by the Food and Drug Administration and the co-inventors are hoping this new drug will be placed on the marketplace in the near future.
UT’s partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory allows our students to work beside some of the world’s renowned scientists in areas like electrical engineering, microbiology, polymer science, and ecology. Teams in architecture and engineering are working on innovations in zero-energy housing and other areas of ecologically sustainable design. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center is Tennessee’s only public, statewide academic health system. Each year, on average, UTHSC faculty and staff receive about $100 million in external funding, including support from National Institutes of Health, other federal and state grants, and private foundations. For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.
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Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center: Engineering Tissues and Organs with a Printer
ABOUT WAKE FOREST INSTITUTE FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
ANTHONY ATALA, M.D., is the director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the W.H. Boyce Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. He has received the Christopher Columbus Award, World Technology Award in Medicine, Samuel Gross Prize, Barringer Medal, and Gold Cystoscope award. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine. His medical breakthroughs have been featured in various media, including Time magazine and U.S. News & World Report. Atala is one of the pioneers of regenerative medicine and focuses on growing new human cells, tissues and organs. Atala is also a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. In 1999, Atala’s team was the first in the world to engineer organs in the lab that were implanted in patients. Bladders — made from patient’s own cells — were implanted into children and adolescents with spina bifida. With the goal of making the process more precise, Atala’s team has built a one-of-a-kind printer that can literally “print” new tissues and organ prototypes. The concept is very similar to how a home or office printer works except that rather than ink, the printers uses cells and biomaterials. Just like the hand-made bladder that was engineered in the lab, a printed organ or tissue would be implanted in the body — nature’s incubator — where it would continue to develop and integrate with the body’s own tissues. Another project that Atala’s team is working on is printing skin cells onto burn wounds. For example, a patient is in need of a skin graft because of a serious burn but does not
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The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (www.wfirm.org) is an established center dedicated to the discovery, development and clinical translation of regenerative medicine technologies by leading faculty. The institute has used biomaterials alone, cell therapies, and engineered tissues and organs for the treatment of patients with injury or disease. The Institute is based at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (www.wakehealth.edu), an academic medical center located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Wake Forest Baptist’s clinical programs have consistently ranked as among the best in the country by U.S .News & World Report for the past 20 years.
have enough healthy skin to harvest. Atala’s team is developing a system to print cells directly onto burn wounds to promote the formation of new skin. In an effort to give back to the veterans who have been horribly affected by war injuries, Atala co-leads the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM), a federally funded program to apply regenerative medicine to battlefield injuries. Atala, holding many patents in organ reconstruction and tissue engineering, works in collaboration with more than 30 AFIRM institutions in tackling a science that is ahead of its time.
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PHOTOS: WAKE FOREST BAPTIST MEDICAL CENTER
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Visit Offices of the National Academy of Inventors are located at the USF Research Park of Tampa Bay mail National Academy of Inventors 3702 Spectrum Boulevard, Suite 165 Tampa, FL 33612 USA Info@academyofinventors.org
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(813) 974-5862