Three named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

Helen Blau

Three School of Medicine faculty members have been named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors.

This year’s recipients were selected based on their “innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and welfare of society,” according to the academy.

The Stanford recipients are:

• HELEN BLAU, the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Professor and a professor of microbiology and immunology. She directs the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology. Her research has uncovered regulatory networks controlling nuclear reprogramming and therapeutic agents to enhance muscle regeneration in aging and dystrophy.
• STANLEY COHEN, the Kwoh-Ting Li Professor and professor of genetics. His research helped spawn the revolution in genetic engineering. His lab currently studies mechanisms that affect the expression and decay of normal and abnormal mRNAs, and also RNA-related mechanisms that regulate microbial antibiotic resistance.
• H. TOM SOH, professor of radiology and of electrical engineering. He has devised sensors capable of continuously monitoring specific biomolecules in vivo and a control system for achieving real-time, closed-loop controlled drug delivery in live animals.

The new members will be inducted in a ceremony on April 5 in Washington, DC. The NAI was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.