University Times

Faculty, staff and students who fueled Pitt’s record-breaking year of innovation were honored in the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute’s 2017 Celebration of Innovation on Nov. 29. The annual event recognizes innovators whose discoveries have been licensed or optioned from the University and students who have launched startups based on their own ideas with the help of the Innovation Institute’s programming.

“We’re here to celebrate our faculty, students and staff whose imagination and ingenuity and hard work have taken an idea and turned it into a reality, taking it to the market,” said Chancellor Patrick Gallagher in his welcoming remarks at the event. “Not every idea comes to fruition. It’s an enterprise that’s filled with risk but also with great reward when an idea is transformed into something of greater value,” he said.

“The innovators that we honor tonight have translated their research into new therapies, diagnostics, processes and products that have not only crossed the finish line but actually do have the power to change people’s lives for the better,” said Gallagher.

Special honors went to:

Joseph C. Glorioso, an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of herpes simplex virus gene vectors and founder of the School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, received the 2017 Marlin Mickle Outstanding Innovator Award. Glorioso’s discoveries have led to four startups, 15 patents, 16 licenses executed and 48 invention disclosures. He is co-founder and scientific adviser for Oncorus Inc., which has licensed oncolytic viruses developed in his lab at Pitt to treat brain cancer. Another startup, SwitchBio, has licensed Glorioso’s herpes simplex virus gene vectors to develop treatments for chronic pain.

Lumis Corp. CEO Douglas Nelson, Jr. (A&S ’09, ENGR ’09, ENGR’17G) and uTranslated founders John Frazier (GSPIA ’15) and Nicole Xu (GSPIA ’16), winners of student innovator awards.

Denny Wist (KGSB ’78), who was presented the inaugural James “Chip” Hanlon Volunteer Mentor Award, named in memory of Hanlon (ENGR ’80), one of the Innovation Institute’s first and most dedicated entrepreneurs-in-residence. A retired steel executive and business owner, Wist mentors innovation teams through the Pitt Ventures First Gear program.

Evan Facher, interim director of the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute, welcomed guests to the Nov. 29 Celebration of Innovation in Alumni Hall. “We can’t do what we do without the support of a large number of people on campus,” he said.

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher talks with John Frazier and Nicole Xu, winners of the Student Innovator Award, Student Intellectual Property. Their concept for improving translation services, initially pitched at a 24-hour Startup Blitz, formed the basis for their business, uTranslated.

Douglas Nelson Jr., winner of the Student Innovator Award, Pitt Intellectual Property, developed BodyExplorer, an augmented reality-enhanced simulated patient designed to train healthcare students. He is now CEO of Lumis Corp., which licensed the technology and is working to develop it commercially.

“It’s very important that these connections are made and that the University continues to be an open book to new businesses and will help us grow Pittsburgh,” said Joseph C. Glorioso (left), faculty member in the School of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and recipient of the 2017 Marlin Mickle Outstanding Innovator Award. “The University and the city have changed enormously and it’s been very effective.”

“To have an award with my name next to Chip’s is probably one of the greatest compliments I could get,” said Innovation Institute mentor Denny Wist, recipient of the inaugural James “Chip” Hanlon Volunteer Mentor Award. Wist poses with his family at the Celebration of Innovation.