Awards: Researchers honoured for innovation milestones

Multiple researchers from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry were honoured at this year’s WORLDiscoveries Vanguard Awards for achieving market-readiness milestones for their innovations.

A partnership between Western University, Robarts Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, WORLDiscoveries is a business-arm that draws upon industry connections and development expertise to help local researchers and inventors commercialize their discoveries.

Started in 2015, the annual Vanguard Awards celebrate significant business achievements of local researchers.

“Recognizing success in commercialization and entrepreneurship-related endeavours is a key element to building and sustaining a culture of innovation across our research enterprises in London,” said Lisa Cechetto, Executive Director, WORLDiscoveries.

This year, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry had multiple recipients of the License Agreement Awards and Patent Issued Awards.

License Agreement Awards honour researchers who have had technology licensed by an industry partner. Congratulations to:

Steven Laviolette, PhD, Associate Professor, Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Marta De Felice, Postdoctoral Fellow:

  • Technology: A Novel L-Theanine and 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol formulation for the reduction of cannabis-induced neuropsychiatric side-effects

Gyoung Kim, PhD, Research Associate, Microbiology & Immunology; Kunyu Wu, PhD Research Associate, Microbiology & Immunology; and Hwayong An, PhD, Research Associate, Microbiology & Immunology:

  • Technology: Development of Human Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine Using Genetically Engineered Vesicular Stomatitis Viruses
  • Technology: Construction of Universal Vector for Recombinant Virus Vaccines and Protein Expression
  • Technology: Modified Matrix proteins of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus
  • Technology: Development of antiviral vaccines using genetically modified avirulent vesicular stomatitis viral vectors

Caroline Schild-Poulter, PhD, Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Scientist at Robarts Research Institute:

  • Technology: RanBPM shRNA Hela Cells

Maria Drangova, PhD, Professor, Medical Biophysics and Scientist at Robarts Research Institute; Dr. Allan Skanes, Professor, Medicine; and Daniel Gelman, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Robarts Research Institute:

  • Technology: Contact-Force Regulating

Patent Issued Awards are given to researchers who have had an innovation patented in the last fiscal year. Congratulations to:

Gregor Reid, PhD, Professor, Surgery and Microbiology & Immunology; Jeremy Burton, PhD, Assistant Professor, Surgery and Microbiology & Immunology; Jordan Bisanz, PhD’15; and Marc Monachese, MSc’12:

  • The Use of Food Grade Bacteria to Detoxify and/or Sequester Mercury, Mercury-containing, Lead and Cadmium Compounds

Aaron Ward, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical Biophysics; Sarah Mattonen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Medical Biophysics; and Dr. David Palma, Assistant Professor, Oncology:

  • A Software System for Early Prediction of Tumor Recurrence Based on Computed Tomography Texture Changes after Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for Lung Cancer