Boston University Innovator of the Year Award
The BU Innovator of the Year Award recognizes an individual who translates his/her world- class research into inventions and innovations that benefit humankind.
The BU Innovator of the Year is awarded to one outstanding BU faculty member, who in the past year has:
- Conducted peer recognized world-class research;
- Has translated this research by developing IP protected product(s) or process(es) of significant value to society;
- Which has(have) been adopted for practical use, or has(have) a high probability of being adopted.
The BU Innovator of the Year Award seeks to highlight the critical importance of translational research at Boston University. The award serves to recognize an entrepreneurial faculty member and the potential for commercialization and wider adoption of their inventions.
2011: Avi Spira
Dr. Avrum Spira is Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor of Bioinformatics at the Boston University School of Medicine.
“Professor Spira is an entrepreneurial scientist, whose practical approach to science has led to the formation of Allegro Diagnostics, a startup company intent on producing beneficial molecular diagnostics for detecting lung cancer,” said Morrison. “His accomplishments in the past year include 14 peer-reviewed papers published, one invention disclosure, two patent filings, over $3.5 million in NIH funding and $8.9 million invested in Allegro Diagnostics.” -Jean Morrison, Provost of Boston University
Avrum Spira serves as Director of the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program at the Boston University School of Medicine’s Pulmonary Center. He is an attending physician at the Medical Intensive Care Unit and with the Pulmonary/Critical Care Interventional service at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Spira’s laboratory research interests focus on applying high-throughput genomic and bioinformatic tools to the translational study of lung cancer and emphysema. He is funded as a Principal Investigator through the NIH and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Dr. Spira received his medical degree from McGill University and did his internship and residency at the University of Toronto. He did his fellowship with Boston University. Dr. Spira received a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics from the College of Engineering at Boston University. (Source)
2010: Mark Grinstaff
Mark W. Grinstaff is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry at Boston University and a College of Engineering Distinguished Faculty Fellow.
“Professor Grinstaff is an entrepreneurial scientist, whose practical approach to science has led to the formation of three companies producing beneficial products,” said BU President Robert Brown, who presented the award. “His accomplishments in the past year include 15 peer-reviewed papers published, two invention disclosures, a patent filing, and more than $1 million invested in Flex Biomedical.” -Robert A. Brown, President of Boston University
Mark received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois under the mentorship of Professor Kenneth S. Suslick and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology with Professor Harry B. Gray. Mark’s awards include 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 125 peer-reviewed manuscripts and given more than 200 oral presentations. His students and fellows have presented more than 80 talks and 225 posters. He is co-founder of three companies that are commercializing his ideas and has four medical products being used in the clinic. His current research activities include new macromolecule and amphiphile syntheses, self-assembly chemistry, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. (Source)