Five scholars from Washington University in St. Louis have been appointed senior members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Included among the newly appointed senior members are three scholars from the School of Medicine: Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD, Aaron DiAntonio, MD PhD, and John DiPersio, MD, PhD; alongside Sophia Hayes, a professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, and Srikanth Singamaneni, the Lilyan & E. Lisle Hughes Professor at the McKelvey School of Engineering. They are part of the 162 new senior members who will be honored at NAI’s annual gathering this June.

Rajendra Apte

Apte serves as the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and holds the position of vice chair for innovation and translation in the Department of Ophthalmology. Apte’s investigations focus on the immune system and metabolism’s roles in managing pathogenic angiogenesis and neurodegeneration inherent in certain visual ailments.

He possesses 28 patents related to treatments or preliminary tests for various eye conditions. Apte established Mobius Scientific, a WashU startup aimed at developing therapies for retinal disorders. Additionally, he is a co-founder of Metro Biotech International, which is working on treatments for aging-related diseases and disruptions in the metabolic system.

Aaron DiAntonio

DiAntonio, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Developmental Biology, is honored for his exceptional contributions to neuroscience, particularly for demonstrating how nerves react to injury and illness, and for creating methods to safeguard them from degeneration.

In the aftermath of injury and during certain illnesses, axons — the lengthy fibers of nerve cells dispersed throughout the body — trigger a self-destruction process that hinders communication in the nervous system. This phenomenon is prevalent in various neuronal injuries and conditions, unveiling potential therapeutic opportunities for multiple disorders.

In collaboration with WashU’s Office of Technology Management (OTM), DiAntonio co-founded Disarm Therapeutics, a startup dedicated to developing medications that prevent axonal loss and combat a variety of diseases, which has since been acquired by Eli Lilly.

John DiPersio

Oncologist DiPersio, the Virginia E. & Sam J. Golman Endowed Professor of Medicine, is recognized for his pivotal contributions to the comprehension of blood cancers and for devising new strategies to enhance therapies for such conditions, including leukemia and lymphoma.

DiPersio provides treatment at the Siteman Cancer Center, affiliated with Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine. His research is focused on improving stem cell transplants and formulating innovative cell-based immunotherapies. Alongside OTM, he co-founded Wugen, a WashU startup that is developing investigational cellular immunotherapies. He has also developed “universal” CAR-T cell therapies, which do not necessitate matching immune systems between donors and recipients.

Furthermore, DiPersio is working on small-molecule medications designed to facilitate the easier collection of healthy stem cells from donors, thereby enhancing the chances of successful transplants.

Sophia Hayes

Hayes holds the position of vice dean for graduate education within Arts & Sciences, overseeing graduate studies across 22 PhD and 16 master’s degree programs. Under her guidance, new training initiatives for graduate students incorporate themes surrounding technology transfer, commercialization, and effective communication of research to broader audiences.

Hayes has led initiatives to enhance innovation and technology transfer on a larger scale, fostering a research culture with commercial potential that can be utilized for public benefit.

As a professor of chemistry and an authority in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Hayes is also a principal investigator for WashU’s National Science Foundation research traineeship program, LinQ: Linking Quantum Sensing Technologies across Disciplines.

Srikanth Singamaneni

Singamaneni, the Lilyan & E. Lisle Hughes Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, is an international leader in the innovation, synthesis, and biomedical applications of plasmonic nanostructures.

His research fuses nanotechnology and biomaterials to produce groundbreaking products applicable from diagnostics to wastewater management.

His laboratory has pioneered the creation and synthesis of ultrabright fluorescence nanolabels and developed techniques to preserve biomolecules in extreme conditions. He holds multiple U.S. patents and licenses the core plasmonic fluors technology to Auragent Bioscience, where he is co-founder and chief scientific officer.

The article Five named National Academy of Inventors senior members originally appeared on The Source.