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University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships
University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships
Awards

Distinguished University Innovator of the Year Award (DUIA)

The Distinguished University Innovator of the Year Award honors faculty who have made important and lasting contributions to society by developing novel ideas and insights through their research and then translating them to practice. The Award was established in 2007 by the Office of the Vice President for Research and is supported by endowments from the U-M Office of Research and the Stephen and Rosamund Forrest Family Foundation.

2023 Distinguished University Innovator Award

For their work to bring histotripsy to the clinic to address human disease, the winner of the 2023 Distinguished University Innovator Award is the Histotripsy team from University of Michigan Biomedical Engineering, the College of Engineering and Michigan Medicine.

Histotripsy team. From Left to Right: J. Brian Fowlkes, Timothy Hall, Jonathan Sukovich, William Woodruff Roberts, Zhen Xu


Histotripsy, a term coined by University of Michigan (U-M) researchers, is a technique that uses sound waves to break down diseased tissue. Designed as a noninvasive alternative to surgical procedures, the novel technology uses focused ultrasound to mechanically disrupt target tissue, as opposed to thermal ablation. 

The Distinguished University Innovator of the Year Award honors faculty who have made important and lasting contributions to society by developing novel ideas and insights through their research and then translating them to practice. The Award was established in 2007 by the Office of the Vice President for Research and is supported by endowments from the U-M Office of Research and the Stephen and Rosamund Forrest Family Foundation.

This years’ winners were honored and presented with their award at Celebrate Invention on Tuesday, September 14. 

 

 

In addition to the Distinguished Innovator of the Year award presentation, this year Celebrate Invention also featured a panel discussion on histotripsy titled “Histotripsy: Non-Invasive Cancer Research from Discovery to the Clinic”.

Panelists:

Jim Adox, Executive Managing Director, Venture Investors; Chairman of the Board of Directors, HistoSonics

Vikas Gulani, Fred Jenner Hodges Professor of Radiology; Chair, Department of Radiology; Professor of Radiology, Michigan Medicine

Ganesh Palapattu, Department Chair, George F. and Sandra G. Valassis Professor of Urology, Michigan Medicine

Zhen Xu, Lead Investigator, Histotripsy team; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan

Moderator:

Kelly Sexton, Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation Partnerships, University of Michigan

The panel discussion can be viewed below:

 

About The Award

Eligibility

A current member of the tenure/tenure track, research, or clinical faculty, or a team of up to five faculty members. Nominations of outstanding women, minorities and members of other groups historically underrepresented in their disciplines are encouraged.

Award

An honorarium of $5,000 to the individual recipient or shared by the team recipients.

Award Criteria

The Distinguished University Innovator(s) will have accomplished one or more of the following:

  • Developed a breakthrough idea, process, or technology and demonstrated its transformational potential relative to an otherwise conventionally accepted practice or market;
  • Taken a significant innovation developed in the University through to market-readiness, either through partnership with a commercial enterprise, licensing a patent, or by starting a company;
  • Demonstrated a new method or means for moving innovations from the University into the private sector through the establishment of partnerships or other relationships that promote the strategic or economic position of the region, state or nation.