Christopher Batich

2020 Inductees

Christopher Batich

Christopher Batich, Ph.D.

Professor
Biomedical Engineering
University of Florida

56 U.S. Patents

Christopher Batich is a professor at the University of Florida (UF) and inventor of Bioguard®, a groundbreaking anti-bacterial surface treatment material that is being used as the standard of care for advanced wound dressing and bacterial barrier in burn units and nursing homes throughout the United States. During his career at UF’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, from 1997 until 2002, he was the founding director of the Graduate Biomedical Engineering (BME) Program and, from 2008 until 2010, the founding associate director and chief operating officer of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The major focus for both groups was to leverage the science and engineering at UF to carry out research leading to improved patient care by healthcare professionals. As a result, Batich has been involved in research related to the creation of new drugs and biomedical devices in numerous collaborative projects with the Jacksonville UF Health Center. He worked with surface modification and analysis of polymeric materials as well as drug delivery for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. He also expanded on drug delivery methods to create devices to protect against disease carrying mosquitoes in conjunction with the UF Entomology Department and the local United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). More recently he collaborated with the Cardiology Department at the Jacksonville UF Health Center to develop a device being tested with Johns Hopkins to prevent some of the possible complications associated with cardiac ablation. Batich is a fellow of the AIMBE and holds 56 U.S. patents.

A MENTION ABOUT INVENTION
3 Questions for the Inventor

Q   Of your patents/inventions, which one is your favorite and why?

Bioguard is my favorite since it led to a truly new kind of antimicrobial surface as well as brought me into contact with a very collegial group of people that have been a pleasure to work with. The FDA had a meeting about advanced wound dressings in 2016 and every one of the several hundred products on the market released something into the wound. Several of the agents released had a negative effect on wound healing, and Bioguard was the only one which killed bacteria on contact without releasing anything. Some earlier technologies could also do that, but they were inactivated by proteins released in a wound. We found that Bioguard did not have that limitation. I learned a lot about regulations with this also since the FDA had stricter requirements for really new devices (de novo clearance) instead of devices similar to a device already on the market (the 510(k) process).

Q   What inspired you to become an inventor/innovator?

Every time one walks through a hospital or attends a seminar at a health center, that person can see the technology needs. The field of health care is very complex and full of problems that are amenable to engineering solutions if you can find a health care professional who can work with you on understanding the problem and finding ways to evaluate possible solutions. UF is rich in such professionals, and not just in the hospital. The UF entomology program is ranked number one in the world and joint projects have led to interactions with a wonderful group of people. They also work closely with the US Department of Agriculture in Gainesville on joint projects and again have people who are a real pleasure to work with.

Q   Do you have a personal process that you follow when inventing?

The first exposure to a problem which looks interesting and promising to investigate usually occurs by attending a seminar, reading, conversation or via an email from someone. The major next step is to find a collaborator who is expert in the area and has the time, interest, and collegiality to work with me. Some clinicians just do not have the time to communicate regularly on progress or express little interest. After some reading and learning, I try to find a student who would like to work on the project in a consistent way. The student provides regular communication, and they go into the lab to carry out the work. We then investigate the likely patent situation since results are more likely to be further developed if there is a possible profit eventually. I also try to work on some very promising projects that would not involve patents but finding interest and funding for them is much more difficult.

Nicholas Bodor

2020 Inductees

Nicholas Bodor

Nicholas Bodor, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO
Bodor Laboratories
Graduate Research Professor Emeritus
University of Florida

170+ U.S. Patents

Nicholas Bodor is founder and CEO of Bodor Laboratories in Miami, Florida and Graduate Research Professor Emeritus (active) at the University of Florida (UF), College of Pharmacy who is recognized internationally as a leader in drug discovery, design, and delivery. Bodor invented revolutionary retrometabolic drug design concepts that have improved the ratio of therapeutic effect and safety of medication. These concepts strategically combine chemical and enzymatic (metabolic) processes to achieve drug targeting, thereby producing safer drugs and safer environmental chemicals. The two major classes of retrometabolic drug design concepts contain chemical drug targeting systems (CDS) and the soft drugs (SD). The design concepts incorporated in the soft drug approaches were used by Bodor to develop a general and comprehensive program, including a computerized expert system, which can identify potential and possible metabolites and the corresponding safe active soft drugs or chemical delivery systems. A soft steroid, Loteprednol Etabonate, created by Bodor to treat ophthalmic infection and allergies is on the market in the U.S. and other countries. During his tenure at UF, he served as chair of the Medicinal Chemistry Department and was promoted to Graduate Research Professor in 1983. He later became the Executive Director of the college’s Center for Drug Discovery, founded by him in 1986. Bodor supervised the training of more than 50 doctoral students and 100 postdoctoral level research associates and fellows at UF before taking a leave of absence to accept a position at IVAX Pharmaceuticals in Miami. He is an AAAS Fellow and a named inventor on over 170 U.S. patents.

A MENTION ABOUT INVENTION
3 Questions for the Inventor

Q   Of your patents/inventions, which one is your favorite and why?

Interesting questions, not easy to answer. But here it is:

N.Bodor “Soft Steroids Having Antiinflammatory Activity” U.S. Pat. 4,996,335, February 26,1991. It is my first favorite, simply, because it covers my first drug that got to the market (in 1998). The active compound, named Loteprednol Etabonate, is now the active component of some eight or nine drug products, marketed by different companies. It is a very successful drug, as indicated by an article published by T.L. Comstock and J.D. Sheppard “Loteprednol Etabonate for inflammatory conditions of the anterior segment of the eye: twenty year of clinical experience with a retrometabolically designed corticosteroid” Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 2018, 19:4, 337-353. Another favorite is: N.Bodor “Brain Specific Drug Delivery” U.S. Pat. 4,479,932; October 30, 1984, since this a very general patent describing a very novel and general chemical-enzymatic way to specifically target drugs to the brain. When we filed it, it was more than 450 pages long, and we have a large number of follow up patents.

Q   What inspired you to become an inventor/innovator?

I am a scientist, driven by interest to find novel stuff. Many of these findings I published in some 500+ research articles. However, some of the useful new ideas can only be developed, if protected by intellectual property, that is patents. Patenting is a very different field than publications, but they are critical in drug discovery.

Q   Do you have a personal process that you follow when inventing?

This is a very complex question. I feel that I work constantly, some ideas and questions are always in the back of my mind. Solutions come unexpectedly and sometimes unrelated to the very scientific fields, reading a novel, practicing sport, watching a show, etc. could trigger the answers. Most solutions are not simply logical. The other important aspect is to work simultaneously on a number of different projects, something will always work, thus the interest and progress can be maintained.

Harvey Firestone

2020 Inductees

Harvey Firestone

Harvey Firestone

Founder
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

1868–1938

4 U.S. Patents

Harvey Firestone, innovative businessman and founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was a pioneer in the rubber industry who did much to advance scientific research in Florida. He acted as a tireless booster for the state, purchasing a winter estate on the east coast where he hosted companywide retreats and promoted the area to all who visited. Most notably, Firestone collaborated with Thomas Edison and Henry Ford as co-founder of the Edison Botanic Research Corporation. Together, their groundbreaking search for a domestic source of natural rubber led to botanical and chemical advancements, helping to pass the Plant Patent Act of 1930 through Congress. Firestone’s contributions to this endeavor were critical as he utilized his international business and political connections to advance the project while contributing crucial scientific knowledge regarding the chemistry of rubber. Today, the Edison Botanic Research Corporation Laboratory, located at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, has been designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark. Firestone also utilized his substantial political clout to encourage the passage of bills which furthered rubber research in Florida, benefiting sites like Chapman Field in Coral Gables. Firestone tires later became synonymous with automotive racing, which took root in Florida beginning in the 1930s, earning the area national renown. Firestone’s contributions to the automotive industry are plentiful and his impact on the state of Florida may be equally important. Today, his legacy lives on as his former east coast home is now the site of the celebrated Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. In 2006 he was elected into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He holds 4 U.S. patents.

A Mention about Invention

Harvey Firestone was born on December 20, 1868 in Columbiana, Ohio, the second of three children (all sons) of Benjamin and Catherine Firestone. He grew up there on the family farm, attending school in a one-room schoolhouse, graduating from high school, and completing a business-college course in Cleveland. He worked two years as a bookkeeper for his uncle, head of the Columbus Buggy Company; by 1892, he was in charge of the entire Michigan district. In November 1895, he married Isabelle Smith of Jackson, Michigan.

When his uncle’s company went into receivership, Harvey drove a buggy with rubber-tired wheels for the receiver. An idea came to him, as he later put it: “My future was right on the wheels of my buggy.” He and an acquaintance established a company in Chicago in 1896; after three years it was sold to a competitor, with Firestone receiving $41,666.67 in cash. He relocated to Akron, Ohio, where the big tire-making companies were located. On August 3, 1900, he organized the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company; by putting in his own patent and money, he acquired half the shares of the $50,000 corporation. After 1903, when it began to manufacture its own products, the company prospered.

The beginning of a long and important business relationship, which also led to a personal friendship, occurred in 1906 when Henry Ford placed a large order with him. Firestone, Ford, and Thomas Edison later joined in summer camping trips (1915-24) that won national attention.

In 1907, he offered a “dismountable rim” which permitted a spare to be substituted. His tires became popular because of their use by automobile race winners. By 1913, the company’s annual sales were $15,000,000. Firestone, Goodyear, Goodrich, United States Rubber, and Fisk were the “big five.”

The 1920-21 depression left the company with a $43,000,000 debt. Firestone immediately cut prices, increased sales, and paid off the debt by 1924. He also cut wages and was able to forestall organized labor until the mid 1930s. In 1923, Firestone introduced the balloon tire, soon to become standard for most types of motor vehicles. Firestone made it through the 1929 depression without suspending dividend payments and continuing his position in the trade.

In 1932, Henry Ford’s V-8 engine meant Firestone had to develop a new tire; then he demanded it be at the same price Ford was initially paying. His Ground Grip tire, put out in 1935, used a new tread design that became widely successful.

In 1937, his company was showing profits of $9,000,000 — and was supplying approximately one-fourth of all the tires in the United States. The company had expanded its manufacturing facilities and had 12 additional U.S. and eight overseas factories devoted to steel, rubber, and textile products.

Firestone used “consensus management” by getting opinions of his management staff and having them come to obvious decisions. He also avoided bureaucratic hierarchy. His forty managers sent monthly reports to him. He also had a genius in choosing the right person for the right job. “My most valuable executives have picked themselves by their records. People prove themselves at lower levels.”

Real keys to his leadership were his ability to delegate responsibility — and to know men. At the Firestone Company, there was a tremendous commitment to getting the job done. He was one of the first in the country to offer company stock to his employees at reduced rates, so that they could be part of the operation. He was sad to see unions come in because he lost personal contact.

Credit: Edison and Ford Winter Estates

Les Kramer

2020 Inductees

Les Kramer

Les Kramer, Ph.D.

Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing
TaiLor Made Prosthetics

17 U.S. Patents

Les Kramer is the Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing at TaiLor Made Prosthetics, LLC in Orlando, and a board member of the University of Central Florida’s College of Sciences and Nanoscience Center who created a remarkably advanced carbon fiber composite prosthetic foot that has improved the lives of many amputees. Accepting a job at Lockheed Martin, Kramer moved to central Florida in 1985, where he started changing the technology of composite materials by improving properties and producing carbon nanotube structures to encourage morphing and multifunctional material behaviors. Later, he produced light weight carbon nanotube/foam core composites with outstanding structural performance that were held together by advanced adhesives. Kramer’s research in adhesives technology transferred into Steam Turbine blade repair and later technology licensed for upgrading Florida phosphate pump repairs. Additionally, maintenance of his composite materials, which contain embedded sensor suites led to many of Kramer’s inventions becoming key technologies for improvised explosive device (IED) detection as well as remote sensing for the military. In 2010, he retired from Lockheed Martin and co-founded TaiLor Made Prosthetics to focus on providing amputees with improved foot prosthesis performance and comfort. His prosthetic foot design returns energy sequentially to the wearer’s heel and toe, has 100% replacement of components, and is totally customizable. Hundreds of people including Boston Bombing victims and Wounded Warrior® amputees, have confirmed its unique performance that allows walking backwards as well as smooth action on stairs and ramps. Kramer is a named inventor on 17 U.S. patents.

A MENTION ABOUT INVENTION
3 Questions for the Inventor

Q   Of your patents/inventions, which one is your favorite and why?

Actually, I have two favorite inventions for two different reasons.

There is no doubt in my mind that the comfort and control benefits received by lower limb amputees when using the TaiLor Made Prosthetic Foot™ have been a life-changing experience for these people. To date, we have approximately 2,000 amputees using my invention including two Boston Marathon bombing victims. Because of its unique modular design, the foot can be reconfigured to meet the specific needs of the owner from normal walking and running during daily life to athletic pursuits from golf to playing soccer, rock climbing, and competitive skateboarding. This prosthetic foot has an energy return system that helps the amputee obtain a near perfect walking gait while not having to drag their foot vertically when walking up stairs or losing control when negotiating ramps. When I meet the amputees that wear my prosthetic foot, it is not unusual that I get thanks and hugs for increasing their freedom of mobility.

My second favorite invention is ABEST™ (Adhesive Bonding Erosion Shield Technology) and was a process I developed to simultaneously cure an adhesive and a seal surrounding the adhesive in order to provide an environmentally impervious adhesive joint. The initial application for this technology was to avoid welding or brazing of steam turbine erosion shields that were difficult processes as field repairs and could potentially damage already installed turbine blades. The low-cost, speed of installation, and low risk of damage were all significant commercial advantages to electric power companies in order to shorten turbine outages. This entire process was developed in my garage in Longwood, Florida and was tested at a power plant in Huntley, New Zealand. This invention taught me many important lessons about becoming an entrepreneur. But the most important lesson was not to give up on a good idea because initial trials fail. You see, after two field trials in New Zealand, my idea for steam turbine erosion Shield applications did not work after an extended period of time. Fortunately, I met the President of the Florida Phosphate Council during a chance encounter at the University of Florida and learned that phosphate rock impact damage was a big problem for the pumps that provide the feedstock to Florida fertilizer factories. After several discussions with a major phosphate pump manufacturer, I found that my adhesive bonding erosion shield technology would work perfectly in this device. For several years, I ran a small business repairing phosphate mining pump components with the ABEST™ patented technology. As a side benefit of this work, I was able to take a wonderful extended vacation in the beautiful country of New Zealand and develop a long-term friendship with my customer.

Q   What inspired you to become an inventor/innovator?

I grew up on the south side of Chicago. During World War II, my Dad had two years of engineering courses at Armor Institute of Technology (i.e., now IIT) before the program was terminated at war’s end. He returned to the family paint store for the rest of his career. Fortunately for me, he had learned basic engineering skills in college and hands-on skills (i.e., lab skills) at the paint store that he taught me. He was a wonderfully skilled HO gauge train model maker and taught me how to use hand tools at an early age. By age 8, I had won my first award from the local hobby shop for a “stick and tissue” built model airplane. When I wanted to enter a 1 tube regenerative radio receiver in my school science fair, he taught me how to solder and fabricate sheet metal. When I wanted to build a “Giant Repulsion Coil” that would levitate an aluminum ring due to induced eddy currents, he located and bought me the double cotton covered No. 12 copper wire and transformer laminations. Unfortunately, we destroyed my mother’s dining room table pad in the act of winding the coil, but the device worked beautifully and was exhibited at the Chicago Science Fair. My Dad gave me the skillset and mental tools required to develop an inventor’s mindset.

While I could do some chemical experimenting in my Chicago apartment such as using lemon juice as “Invisible Ink” and exploring high speed photography in our apartment “Darkroom”, I really needed a collaborator with “lab space” (i.e., a basement with a workbench and tools). Fortunately, I had a friend, Sy, who lived in a house next to my apartment building and had similar interests. Together, we built some Heathkit electronics and other devices. One day, we decided to build a robot from an old garbage can mounted to downspout legs. The legs were mounted to a base containing the drive wheels. The wheels were belt driven directly by a large AC electric motor mounted in the garbage can. The initial “prototype” had no provision for speed control (it was on or off) or steering. Just as we plugged the robot’s motor into the electrical socket, Sy’s mother came down the basement stairs with a plate of cookies. The robot wheels “peeled” tire tracks in the linoleum floor and aimed directly toward Sy’s mother – the cookies went flying!! Needless to say, no one was hurt, but my robot building ceased immediately. A year later, Sy and I constructed a device to make time lapsed movies of Morning Glories that were growing on his garage. For one month during the summer, we hauled a war souvenir Nazi electric movie camera, a large Lionel train transformer, and a crude but effective timing device to activate the camera onto the garage roof. The resulting color movies of morning glories opening and closing each day were unbelievably detailed considering the home-made nature of the equipment. So, invention inspiration also requires the ability to conduct experiments. The presence of a willing colleague and a large working space is a good adjunct as well!!

Q   Do you have a personal process for inventing?

Obviously, you need to identify an intriguing problem that needs to be solved by an invention as a first step!!  When I first recognize the need for the invention, I may have some initial potential solutions “pop into my mind”, but I never initially act on these ideas at first. Rather, I “sleep on it” and find that my mind subconsciously works to resolve my important vexing technical problems. Sometimes, a particularly difficult problem requires many nights of thought, but often in the morning, I wake up with a clearer understanding of the problem solution. During my patent productive years at Lockheed Martin, I used to say that I thought up most of my patentable ideas while shaving!! 

A few of my patents are “Gedanken Experiments” (Thought Experiments) that have proven to work in my mind but are unproven by experiment. One of my foot patents is an example of this approach where the patent describes a Bluetooth enabled microprocessor prosthetic foot that has not been reduced to practice, but I know must work because of the underlying maturity of the components and of the software.  Evidently USPTO agreed!!

No matter how a patentable idea is conceived, there needs to be supporting testing, standards compliance, manufacturing considerations, quality control methods, and a host of other requirements to prove that the invention is worthy of commercialization investment and efforts.

Israel Morejon

2020 Inductees

Israel Morejon

Israel Morejon

President
Integrated Engineering Technology

28 U.S. Patents

Israel Morejon is president of Integrated Engineering Technology in Tampa and a University of South Florida graduate. A prolific inventor with 29 years of combined experience in the military, medical, consumer, industrial, and Research and Development (R&D) fields, Morejon is most known for inventing state-of-the-art LED lighting technologies and cutting edge HVAC Load Reduction technology. He began his career in the defense industry designing missile guidance and control systems. Then he founded an engineering design and consulting firm, where he developed application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) for digital video encoding and compression, universal lighting dimming controllers, hearing aids, kidney dialysis systems, robots, and the core waveguide technology used in speed guns. Morejon later joined a major health care company and designed multi‐platform acute care patient monitoring products. Subsequently, he served as Director of R&D and later Chief Technology Director for a multinational design and manufacturing company, overseeing global product development. Through the years, he created solutions for a diverse group of products including automotive, wireless, storage, computing devices, laptop docking stations, camera modules, PDAs, and smartphones, pioneered the last mile wireless technology and optical tomography cancer systems, and developed an LED Rear Projection TV, LED edge emitting LCD Back Light, and Nano projectors. Afterwards, Morejon founded LEDnovation, Inc., an innovative technology and product company in the emerging solid state lighting market that launched multiple products. He also served as the Chief Technology Officer of enVerid, a company revolutionizing the HVAC field. Morejon is an NAI Fellow and has 28 U.S. patents.

A MENTION ABOUT INVENTION
3 Questions for the Inventor

Q   Of your patents/inventions, which one is your favorite and why?

There is not one favorite design, some were very profitable, others serve humanity and others were game changers in their field. For example, docking stations for laptops were very profitable. Optical Tomography for breast cancer detection, medical monitors, dialysis and hearing aids were good for humanity. And Solid-State lighting lamps and Air Cleaner solutions define their field. All were unique and favorite in a very special way.

Q   What inspired you to become an inventor/innovator?

To answer to this question, I have to go all the way back to my childhood. I was eight years old, and my first design was a maneuverable long-board like apparatus. We used it to race down the hill. I took two large pieces of wood and configured them in a T shape structure, with a pivot at their junction made from bolts, nuts and washers. I then took roller skates split them apart and used them as the wheels. The brakes were made from square cutouts of old tires and affixed by nails to the front axle where the rider’s feet would rest. To break the rider would simple bring the back of their feet down. The steering was done with a rope tied to each end of the front axle, and you pull to the desired side, using your feet for feedback greatly made the design very maneuverable. This experience was transformative, it is an incredible joy to see designs take shape. I was hooked, I knew without any doubt that creating was my calling then, and I still feel that way now, in fact I am passionate about it…that’s why I chose engineering.

First Design
(First Design)

Q   Do you have a personal process that you follow when inventing?

I have a great deal of experience and large organized library of articles, books and previous designs. A well-equipped home lab allows for quick test of ideas.

Wall of Electron Parts
(Wall of Electron Parts)
Lab Bench
(Lab Bench)

Joshua Rokach

2020 Inductees

Joshua Rokach

Joshua Rokach, Ph.D.

Professor
Director of the Claude Pepper Institute of Aging and Therapeutic Research
Florida Institute of Technology

63 U.S. Patents

Joshua Rokach is a professor and director of the Claude Pepper Institute of Aging and Therapeutic Research at Florida Institute of Technology. His research in bioorganic chemistry received worldwide recognition for the first syntheses of major mediators responsible for asthma, allergies, and inflammatory bowel disease. Rokach has received a number of awards for his groundbreaking research and his accomplishments are many including the creation of Blocarden® for treatment of angina and hypertension, which led to the development of Timoptic® that successfully treats glaucoma. Equally monumental, Rokach’s research on the nervous system developed the highly effective back pain medication Flexeril® that functions as a muscle relaxant without sedative properties. Perhaps the most significant outcome of Rokach’s work was identifying a potent leukotriene receptor antagonists and synthesis inhibitors for the treatment of asthma. These efforts resulted in the creation of Singulair®, which when approved for clinical use 20 years ago was among the top 10 pharmaceuticals under patent protection, generating over $5 million annually. Singulair® has greatly improved the lives of millions of asthmatic patients and allergy sufferers world-wide. Most recently, at Florida Tech, Rokach’s research focused on anti-inflammatory applications has been licensed to Fairhaven Pharmaceuticals and is moving into human clinical trials. In 1988, Rokach received the Xerox Lecturer award for the most innovative research in the industry and still today his discoveries continue to impact major health issues affecting both young and elderly populations in Florida and around the world. He holds 63 U.S. patents and is an NAI Fellow.

Jean-François Rossignol

2020 Inductees

Jean-François Rossignol

Jean-François Rossignol, Ph.D., MD

Chief Scientific Officer
Romark Laboratories
Professor
University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine

50 U.S. Patents

Jean-François Rossignol is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Romark Laboratories in Tampa as well as a professor of Medicine and Infectious Disease at the University of South Florida (USF). Born in France, Rossignol is a scientist, medical chemist, and physician who developed groundbreaking treatments for parasitic diseases and, in 1974, discovered a new class of broad spectrum antiviral drugs. After completing his medical training, he worked for the Division of Parasitic Diseases at the World Health Organization. Subsequently, he pursued a career in academia and pharmaceuticals, discovering and developing drugs such as halofantrine for the treatment of resistant falciparum malaria as well as albendazole and nitazoxanide to treat intestinal protozoan and helminthic infections. Later, while working at Stanford University, he uncovered nitazoxanide’s antiviral activity against the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Additionally, nitazoxanide, was the first treatment for cryptosporidial diarrhea and viral gastroenteritis, caused by norovirus and rotavirus, found safe enough to be given to infants. This led to the development of a new class of antiviral drugs known as thiazolides that stimulate immune cells, activating gene pathways that block viral transformation. Romark Labs have initiated the synthesis of second generation thiazolides and established new derivatives that are now entering clinical development in the treatment of rotavirus and norovirus, influenza and influenza like illnesses as well as chronic HBV and HCV. Rossignol holds 50 U.S. patents and is a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. In 2016, he received an honorary MD from the University of South Florida.

A Mention about Invention
3 Questions for the Inventor

Q   Of your patents/inventions, which one is your favorite and why?

According to the Merck Index, which is listing more than 20,000 chemicals, drugs and biologicals used mostly in medicine, a drug inventor could be the chemist who synthesized the molecule, the pharmacologist who first discovered the activity of the new compound in vitro and in vivo and finally the physician who first gave the drug to human subjects showing its efficacy. While I was one of the three in the three drugs today on the market, the discovery of nitazoxanide, listed me in the three categories, the chemist who synthesized the drug, the microbiologist who discover the activity of the drug against bacteria and parasites and the clinician who first gave the drug to human subjects. Later I also discovered that the drug was antiviral with a broad range of antiviral activity and its mechanism of action in targeting cell energy metabolism by modulating mitochondrial activity of the cells. The results of this research were the subject of 30 United States Patents, 27 were awarded a three are still pending.

Q   What inspired you to become an inventor/innovator?

Upon the completion of my undergraduate degree in chemistry at La Sorbonne of the University of Paris, I joined the Radium Institute to undertake my graduate education in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry of the Institute toward my doctorate degree in chemistry. Created in 1909 for Marie Curie, the Radium Institute was the Division of Radiobiology and Cancer Research of the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The Institute was located in the heart of the Latin Quarter surrounded by the majority of the most prestigious scientific institutions in France where significant discoveries were made over the last two centuries such as the Ecole Normale Supérieure where Pasteur worked for many years discovering among other things the rabies vaccine, the College de France, the Ecole Polytechnique and many more. At the Radium Institute in 1965 the shadow of Marie Curie was still with us along with those of her husband, Pierre, her daughter Irene and her husband, Frederic Joliot, who all won four Nobel Prizes between 1903 and 1935 for their research on radioactivity. There was also the Curie Foundation, today the Curie Institute, which was a part of the Radium Institute and a leading cancer hospital in France. The proximity of the hospital and my contacts with the physicians working there were directly responsible for my decision to study medicine and to become a physician. The Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the Radium Institute was the continuation of the eponym department at the Pasteur Institute where before WWII, the first antimicrobial sulfonamides were co-discovered with the Germans by Ernest Fourneau and his team of chemists and the pharmacologist Daniel Bovet who later received the Nobel Prize in 1957. Finally, in 1965 Jacques Monod, André Lwoff and François Jacob won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis. Surrounded by so many discoverers the new generation had to discover and some of us did. For me as a medicinal chemist and a physician it would be in the treatment of infectious diseases mainly in tropical countries and cancer.

Q   Do you have a personal process that you follow when inventing? 

Drug discovery is a very risky, challenging, yet intellectually rewarding business. The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts recently showed that it takes the testing of an average of 10,000 chemical compounds to identify 250 (2.5%) with a good activity in preclinical studies. Only 5 (2%) of these 250 molecules will be tested in clinical trials but only one will eventually be approved and commercialized, which means 1 compound out of 10,000 chemical products originally screened. The screening of a large number of chemical compounds was requiring a large organization such as those in Germany before WWII working under Paul Ehrlich and later under Gehrard Domagk both at Elberfeld, which would ultimately lead to the discovery of Salvarsan® and Prontosil® respectively both considered the birth of chemotherapy. The Radium Institute and myself in particular had to find a way to discover an active molecule without synthesizing 10,000 compounds, which would have taken me more time than my entire life! I had to follow a different way to discover active molecules. We were only ten chemists in my laboratory, and we were two medicinal chemists. I had to look around on the St Genevieve Hill to see what my illustrious predecessors have done, and I came across the work of the famous chemist Marcellin Berthelot who worked next to the Institute at the College de France in Paris (1827-1907). Berthelot concentrated his research in studying the importance of composition and connectivity in chemistry assembling molecules from simpler type to reach relatively simple final compositions. It was the application of an old concept to a new application in medicinal chemistry, which lead to the discovery of nitazoxanide, which only required the synthesis of 27 molecules. Making nitazoxanide was the simple combination of aspirin chloride and a single heterocyclic ring and the resulting compound was a new molecule modulating mithocondrial activity in human cells regulating energy metabolism in the entire body. The new drug was targeting the cells infected by a pathogen, mainly a parasite or a virus, or more generally cancer cells, all of them requiring additional energy in order to survive. Therefore, reducing the energy in the cells on a physiologically accepted manner was a new way to block the replication of many pathogens and consequently to treat viral infections such as the new emerging coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 causing Covid-19.

Christine Schmidt

2020 Inductees

Christine Schmidt

Christine Schmidt, Ph.D.

Pruitt Family Professor and Chair
J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Florida

19 U.S. Patents

Christine Schmidt is professor and chair of the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida (UF), known for her prominent contributions to biomaterials science and cellular/tissue engineering. Schmidt’s research and unique approach to neural regeneration resulted in the creation of a biochemically-processed nerve graft, which was licensed to AxoGen, Inc. in Alachua, Florida and commercialized as AVANCE™. The AVANCE™ nerve graft is available to centers and hospitals throughout the world. To date, more than 5,000 AVANCE™ nerve grafts have been successfully implanted into patients with peripheral nerve injuries at over 250 medical centers in the United States. AVANCE™, predominantly used to treat injury to the cavernous nerve after prostate cancer surgery, injury to nerves in the hands and fingers resulting from machine-induced accidents, and traumatic injuries to nerves in the face, legs, and arms resulting from military warfare and automobile accidents provides a much needed option for nerve injuries suffered by over 10,000 people annually. Schmidt’s research with hyaluronic acid-based materials is also proving to have an impact on post-surgical wound care management. Her novel technique being tested at the UF Schmidt Lab has created mechanically robust and elastic hyaluronic acid hydrogel films that can be easily handled, sutured, and delivered laparoscopically. Recognized as a leader in her field, Schmidt holds 19 U.S. patents and is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the National Academy of Inventors.

A MENTION ABOUT INVENTION
3 Questions for the Inventor

Q   Of your patents/inventions, which one is your favorite and why?

My favorite invention is “Cell-free tissue replacement for tissue engineering” (US Patent #s 7,402,319), with Terry Hudson. This patent was licensed to AxoGen for use in their AVANCETM Nerve Graft product. This is my favorite innovation because the licensing of this patent has resulted in impacting the lives of thousands and thousands of patients already. Helping the human condition is the major motivation for those in the biomedical engineering field, so having a technology move from the research labs into patients is the ultimate dream. In addition, the need for the technology seemed, in a sense, so obvious at the time. Terry Hudson and I started working on decellularizing nerve tissue after learning about decellularized dermal products to help those with major skin injuries and wondering why something similar did not exist for repairing injured nerves. It seemed like there should be something out there for nerve, but there was not. The research to find a way to decellularize the nerve without destroying its intricate structure and organization, something that was not an issue with dermis, was tedious but ultimately gratifying!

Q   What inspired you to become an inventor/innovator?

I really enjoy fixing things and solving problems. It is completely natural to learn about a medical problem in my area of expertise and be able to use our research to address the problem, and ultimately innovate a solution that solves the problem.

Q   Do you have a personal process that you follow when inventing?

I like to focus on the problem, with input on what is needed or usable in the clinic and with an eye to simplicity (less to go wrong and easier to navigate the FDA to move to the clinic). There are many ways to solve problems, but if the invention is not actually used, then there is no value added. Thus, it’s important that what we are inventing in the lab is something that would be used in the clinic by the physicians.