Innovative research at the College of Medicine is leading to important discoveries and potential new ways of approaching the fight against disease and injury. On Nov. 17, the Office of Research honored five College of Medicine faculty members and staff during the Sixth Annual Florida State University Innovators Appreciation Ceremony. They were recognized, along with other university researchers, for their roles in inventions, patents and entrepreneurship.

Professor Michael Blaber, Associate Professors Branko Stefanovic, James Olcese and Xian-Min Yu and post-doctoral staff member Kate Calvin were recognized with the 2010 Innovator Award for varying degrees of progress in the patent application process.

During the event, University Vice-President for Research Kirby Kemper presented pocket sundials to principal investigators who have worked to commercialize their inventive and creative ideas during the 2009-2010 fiscal year by having Florida State license or option their technology, or by winning a Grant Assistance Program (GAP) award.
 

The sundial is one of the oldest known scientific devices for measuring time and direction - two of the hallmarks of the technology-transfer process.

Blaber received three U.S. patents in 2010 for his work with mutant forms of human proteins that have been shown to help the human body grow new blood vessels to restore blood flow in damaged areas of the heart.

Calvin and Yu both filed application submissions in 2010. Blaber, Olcese and Stefanovic all submitted disclosures.
 

“Research in any field has the potential for useful intellectual property, but the traditional responsibilities of faculty do not historically include training or preparation in thinking along such lines,” Blaber said. “Not all intellectual property will ultimately prove useful of course, but intellectual property that does can have a major impact upon improving people’s lives, as well as the economic health of the university and local community.”

Blaber noted that faculty members more often are being asked to consider how their research programs might generate intellectual property.

“It’s exciting, but also quite daunting,” he said. “A major challenge is to understand the language of patents, finding the time to devote to due diligence in patent preparation, and making contacts with potential corporate partners or venture capitalists – and to achieve these things while also performing the traditional duties of teaching, research and service.”
 

Each of the recipients works in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the College of Medicine.

“Sometimes, the best part of my job is to able to sit back and bask in the reflected glory of the achievements from my department,” said Richard Nowakowski, department chair. “With five honorees from biomedical sciences, the reflected light in this particular instance was quite bright!”
 

Additional information about the award recipients and their work is available at http://www.research.fsu.edu/techtransfer/innovatorsreception2010.html