Skip to main content

April 2012 – Lola Reid will be the second recipient of the Office of Technology Development’s “Innovator of the Year Award” for her contributions to innovation at UNC.

image2
Lola Reid, PhD

April 2012 – The Office of Technology Development (OTD) at UNC has selected Professor Lola Reid as the recipient of its Innovator of the Year Award for her accomplishments as an innovator, her experiences interfacing with private industries, and her contributions to research at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Henry Nowak, Assistant Director of OTD explained that in selecting an honoree, “We look for people who have taken ideas outside the academic realm and moved them to market.” Dr. Reid’s lab is poised for a New Drug Application (NDA) filing this summer on transplantation of human hepatic stem cells in the treatment of patients with various liver diseases, which would be the first such drug approval application at UNC.

Dr. Reid said that there are many challenges in interfacing with industries, but there are also many benefits. One particularly important benefit is that industry funding makes possible research investigations that incur prohibitive costs, such as those focused on human tissues. Participation in translational research that can result in novel commercial and clinical programs is another major benefit.

OTD will present the award during its Celebration of Inventorship on Thursday, May 3, 2012. They will also honor other campus innovators who have had U.S. patents issued during the past year. Dr. Reid will share an overview of her work and the ongoing developments in the commercialization of her research findings.

Following the ceremony, snacks and drinks will be provided, along with the opportunity to chat with honorees and other attendees.
The entire event, including the ceremony, will be held in the Great Room of Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery. Please register for this event at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/7envo6h

Additional information is available at the OTD website: http://otd.unc.edu/carolina_innovations_seminar.php