Call for Nominations – 17th Annual UHN Inventor of the Year (2019)
*DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: Friday, August 21st, 2020*
UHN’s Technology Development and Commercialization office (TDC) announces the call for nominations for the 2019 UHN Inventor of the Year Award. UHN has had a record year in commercialization success and is proud to support this special award.
Every day, new discoveries are made across the UHN campus that will impact the lives of both Canadians and the global community. UHN is committed to supporting promising new technologies for commercialization by moving these discoveries through the development pipeline; the annual UHN Inventor of the Year award is raised in this spirit. TDC, as UHN’s steward for research commercialization, supports UHN investigators in commercializing their innovations.
The Inventor of the Year award recognizes the inventor or team that has made a substantial and noteworthy contribution to the advancement of commercializable healthcare innovations.
If you believe you, or someone you know, has made such a contribution, please refer to the criteria and nomination instructions below.
UHN INVENTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD OBJECTIVES:
- Recognize outstanding inventiveness and commercialization effort with TDC as a close partner by UHN researchers
- Promote an entrepreneurial culture at UHN
- Highlight the importance of commercialization at UHN in contributing to a healthier world
NOMINATION CRITERIA:
- Must currently work at UHN
- Must have created and/or advanced a substantial innovation while working at UHN, but not necessarily only in the past year
- The innovation must include development of UHN intellectual property (IP) that is either patented, potentially patentable, protected by copyright or can be suitably commercialized by industry through formal IP agreements
Nominations may be made by anyone at UHN.
SELECTED CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT:
Inventiveness
- Creativity
- Degree of advancement over the current state of science/technology
Commercialization potential of inventions
- Market suitability
- Commercial potential
Commercialization ability, efforts and achievements of the Nominee
- Ability to bridge the gap between research and development
- Diligence in assisting with IP protection and commercialization
- Number of patents filed/licensed
- Financial commercial success
Impact
- Proven or potential impact on patient quality of life and care
- Impact on social and economic development
TO NOMINATE:
Please email tdc@uhnresearch.ca with the name(s) of the inventor(s)/team and a description of the invention(s), along with a summary of how they meet the nominating criteria.
DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS:
Friday, August 21st, 2020.
Previous Inventor of the Year awardees include:
- Drs. Shaf Keshavjee and Marcelo Cypel (2018) for their pioneering work in developing the Toronto Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) system
- Drs. Gordon Keller and Michael Laflamme (2017) for their pioneering research and study of stem cells and in the field of Regenerative Medicine
- Dr. Christopher Paige (2016) for his work in immune-oncology, a promising therapeutic approach based on the premise that a patient’s own immune system has powerful cancer-fighting capabilities if correctly activated and targeted
- Drs. Hisham Alshaer, T. Douglas Bradley and Geoff Fernie (2015) for developing BresoDx®—a device that can be used to diagnose sleep apnea at home
- Dr. Milos Popovic (2014) for his ground-breaking neurorehabilation research which led to the creation of a new product called MyndMove(tm)
- Dr. Tak Mak and The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research Therapeutics Group (2013) for the team’s creation and development of a novel first-in-class cancer therapeutic (CFI-400945), and the further achievement of a successful IND and associated launch of a clinical trial
- Dr. Ralph DaCosta (2013) for his development of a hand-held fluorescence imaging device for real-time wound care monitoring and assessment, and its ongoing successful commercialization through the creation of the company MolecuLight Inc.
- Dr. Thomas Purdie (2012) for his role in developing software that has significantly improved the way cancer radiation therapy is delivered
- Dr. Aaron Schimmer (2011) for pioneering work in the area of re-positioning anti-infective drugs for the treatment of leukemia
- Dr. Gang Zheng (2010) for his work in the development of novel nanoparticle formulations which have enabled new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of cancer
- Drs. Mohammad Islam and Michael Sharpe (2009) for their inventions which make radiation therapy safer, more effective and more efficient
- Drs. Ming-Sound Tsao, Frances A. Shepherd, and Igor Jurisica (2008) for developing ground breaking prognostic genomic analysis for early stage no n-small-cell lung cancer
- Dr. David Jaffray (2007) for his creativity in bringing cutting-edge physics and engineering to the integration of imaging and radiation therapy in the cancer clinic
- Dr. Andres Lozano (2006) for his ingenuity in using deep brain stimulation – a technology that selectively modifies neurotransmission activity– to treat depression, anxiety, cognitive disorders and Parkinson’s disease
- Dr. Joe Fisher (2005) for his invention of many exciting medical technologies including a non-invasive system to measure heart health, a portable device that allows the rapid treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning and an oxygen delivery mask that can help prevent spread of respiratory diseases such as SARS or Avian Influenza in hospitals
- Dr. Dan Drucker (2004) for inventions targeted towards treating patients with diabetes, Short Bowel Syndrome and Crohn’s disease. A number of these products have already reached Phase II or III clinical trials, or are awaiting FDA approval
- Dr. Kevin Kain (2003) for his discovery of new medications for the treatment of malaria including a treatment for the most severe and frequently fatal form of the disease
Looking forward to your nominations!
Technology Development & Commercialization