Panelists:

Gang Bao, Georgia Tech Gang Bao applies nanotechnology to the tiny world of genes and proteins.

Bao, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, uses molecular beacons, nano-sized biomarkers that seek out certain disease-indicating genes and glow when they find them, to create new methods for early disease detection, imaging and drug delivery.

These beacons can be used to detect disease in its earliest stages and give doctors a much better understanding of how genes contribute to illness. Because the dots glow with a spectrum of bright, fluorescent colors, it is hoped they will improve the sensitivity of diagnostic tests for molecules that are difficult to detect, such as those in cancer cells.

A Georgia Tech and Emory University research group lead by Bao was recently awarded $11.5 million to establish a new program focused on creating advanced nanotechnologies to analyze plaque formation on the molecular level and detect plaque at its early stages. The group will study ways to use molecular beacons and other nano-sized markers to predict and study cardiovascular disease by detecting minute amounts of plaque along artery walls and even cells that may eventually foster plaque buildup.

Bao received his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Shandong Polytechnic University, his master's in applied mechanics at Shandong Polytechnic University and his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Lehigh University. (Source)

Mark Bohr, Intel After earning his master's degree at Illinois, Mark T. Bohr joined Intel Corporation and initially worked on charge coupled device (CCD) memories at Intel's Santa Clara, California facility. In 1978, he transferred to Portland, Oregon to become one of the founding members of Intel's Portland Technology Development group. Since then, he has been the architect and innovator for every Intel CMOS logic technology for SRAM and microprocessor products since the dawn of high performance CMOS in the early 1980s. He was the early development program manager for Intel's 45nm microprocessor technology featuring revolutionary high-k + metal gate transistors and is presently directing early development activities for the 22nm generation microprocessor technology.

For more than 25 years, Bohr has shared his innovation and knowledge with the technology community worldwide through many courses inside of Intel, presentations at major IEEE conferences, and numerous publications. His inventions have been documented in 50 patents on integrated circuit processing, and in 2002 he was elected to the position of Intel Senior Fellow, one of only four in the corporation at the time.

Bohr is a Fellow of IEEE, the recipient of the 2003 IEEE Andrew S.Grove Award, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He served for many years on the UIUC ECE Alumni Advisory Board and received the ECE Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1998. He has presented several technical seminars at Illinois, including a short course on advanced integrated circuit processing in fall 2007, sponsored by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Source)

Lesley Millar, Director, Office of Technology Management, University of Illinois Lesley Millar, Director Lesley Millar has served as the Director of the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 2006; she originally joined the Office in 2002 as an Engineering Technology Manager. As Director, Ms. Millar leads a team of more than 20 professionals responsible for engaging with faculty, staff, corporations, and venture groups to commercialize the intellectual property arising from the more than $500 million in research conducted on campus. She also works with a wide range of campus, corporate, and community partners, furthering the office's mission to encourage innovation, enhance research and facilitate economic development. Prior to joining the OTM, Ms. Millar had an extensive career in government in England where she worked in consulting, contract and small business management, strategic planning, and policy development.

Ms. Millar is a frequent speaker at technology transfer seminars and professional meetings. She is on the Board of Governors of Certified Licensing Professionals Inc.(http://www.licensingcertification.org/), a member of the LES IP100 Advisory Board, on the Editorial Advisory Board of Intellectual Property Marketing Advisor Publication, a member of the Board of Managers of Illinois Ventures LLC (http://www.illinoisventures.com/) and is a regular contributor to articles and webinars for Technology Transfer Tactics. She is a member of both the Licensing Executive Society and Association of University Technology Managers. A native of Scotland, Ms. Millar has a B.Ed. an M.Ed and an MBA. She is also a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP). (Source)

Ben Barbieri, ISS, Inc. Beniamino Barbieri is the president of ISS, Inc. Since 1984, ISS has been committed to the development and design of highly sensitive scientific instrumentation for research, clinical and industrial applications. Over the years, our innovations introduced to research-grade fluorescence instrumentation generated a second product line for medical applications. In 1992, ISS started a project with the research group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign headed by Prof. Enrico Gratton and aimed at understanding the behavior of fluorophores in scattering and turbid media; the goal was the development of an instrument suitable for the non-invasive measurements of metabolites in the human body. As a result of this collaboration, ISS introduced a non-invasive Tissue Oximeter for the measurement of the absolute oxygen concentration in tissues, called OxiplexTS. The first prototype of the instrument was completed in 1998; about one hundred units of OxiplexTS have been installed worldwide so far. A second instrument, Imagent, utilized for the mapping of activated brain areas, was added in 2001. Both products have been developed with the generous contribution of The National Institutes of Health through the SBIR program and today they are successfully marketed worldwide by our division ISS Medical, fully dedicated to the development of instrumentation for medical applications.ISS instruments are installed in universities and corporations worldwide. Our customers include several major universities, corporations, hospitals and research institutions across the globe, including, in the United States, The Mayo Foundation, the VA Administration, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, The National Institutes of Health, Oak Ridge National Laboratories and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (Source)

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Gang Bao, Mark Bohr, Lesley Millar, Beniamino Barbieri (2013), "[Illinois] CNST 2013: Nanotechnology Research: Academia-Industry Partnership for Innovation," https://nanohub.org/resources/18143.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. CNST
2. CNST Workshop 2013
3. Illinois
4. NanoBio Node at Illinois
5. nano technology