A team of oncology and cardiovascular medicine researchers is one of two groups selected by Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) to receive a 2017 WARF Innovation Award for outstanding technical achievements. The awardees (pictured from top to bottom at right) include Peiman Hematti, MD, professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care, Amish Raval, MD, associate professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, Eric Schmuck, PhD, associate scientist, Cardiovascular Medicine, and John Kink, PhD (not pictured), senior scientist, UW Carbone Cancer Center.

Their invention disclosure, entitled "Generation of therapeutic cells using extracellular components of target organs," described the development of cells capable of being used for tissue-specific repair.

The award was announced in a formal ceremony on October 17, 2017. An independent panel of judges selected the Innovation Award winners from a field of six finalists drawn from approximately 400 invention disclosures submitted to WARF over the past 12 months. The winning inventions each received an award of $10,000, with the funds going to the UW–Madison inventors named on the breakthroughs.

A second 2017 WARF Innovation Award also went to a team from UW School of Medicine and Public Health. David Jarrard, MD, professor, Department of Urology, and Bing Yang, researcher, Department of Urology, for their work predicting prostate cancer in tissue biopsies.

Resources:

• "WARF announces annual grant figures and Innovation Award winners," UW-Madison News, October 18, 2017