September 5, 2007

SIU Med School Inventions Helping Advance Health Care

New medical discoveries by research scientists and physicians at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine are helping improve health care around the globe.  Faculty members from both the Springfield and Carbondale campuses have invented a number of applications and devices that could eventually be used to treat a variety of medical conditions. 

Medical school faculty members hold 13 U.S. patents and 34 foreign patents on their inventions.  Other inventors have patent applications pending.  Most of the projects are not currently used by patients, but several are currently being tested or used as research tools.

"The process of moving a scientific invention from discovery in the research laboratory bench to the patient bedside involves working with the federal government as well as private companies to bring a product to market,” said Robert Patino, a patent attorney and director of the Office of Technology Transfer at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.  The office guides researchers through the processes that can take years and involves the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The medical school’s Office of Technology Transfer works on behalf of the School, the inventor and, ultimately, the patient.  “We currently have several existing license agreements for inventions and are working with other industry partners to license additional discoveries.  We hope we will be successful in moving more of the discoveries to the marketplace,” said Patino.

Medical school faculty members whose inventions have been patented or are in the patent application process include –

Dr. Dean K. Naritoku, professor of neurology and director of SIU’s Center for Epilepsy, is a co-inventor of various applications for the vargus nerve stimulator, a pacemaker-like device implanted in the chest to help prevent epileptic seizures.  Approved by the FDA in 1997, it is currently being tested for use for treatment of traumatic head injuries such as those occurring in the Iraq war.  Douglas C. Smith, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), and other faculty members are co-inventors on the patent.

Gregory J. Brewer, Ph.D., professor of neurology and medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology, has developed a combination of chemicals that can keep nerve cells alive for weeks in refrigeration.  The discovery, which enables collection and preservation of live brain tissue from rats, has been licensed to BrainBits LLC of Springfield and Invitrogen Corporation of Carlsbad, Calif.  BrainBits, a local company started by Brewer in 2003, supplies the tissue to neuroscientists throughout the world for use in discovering and evaluating new drugs.   BrainBits is located in the Illinois Medical District at Springfield and employs a staff of four.

Kathleen C. M. Campbell, Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery and director of the division’s audiology research, has discovered that D-methionine, an amino acid, is effective in reducing hearing loss and other side effects of chemotherapy and radiation cancer treatments.   In animal models this compound has been shown to prevent hearing loss caused by noise exposure or aminoglycoside antibiotics, which are used for moderate to severe infections.  Campbell’s patents are licensed by Molecular Therapeutics, Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich.  The company is conducting clinical trials to test its effectiveness for preventing severe oral mucositis, a common side effect of radiation therapy in head and neck cancer patients.

Kounosuke Watabe, Ph.D., professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology, and Dr. Carl Lawyer, a community physician in Springfield and an SIU volunteer faculty member, have discovered a new broad-range antibiotic that works against both bacterial and fungal infections.  A licensing company is being sought to take their invention to the testing phase.

Dr. Bradley F. Schwartz, associate professor of urology and director of the urology division’s center for laparoscopy and endourology, has two patent applications pending on a laser-resistant basket device to improve the surgical procedure for removing kidney stones and their fragments.  Schwartz and Ajay M. Mahajan, professor of mechanical engineering and energy processing at SIUC, are co-founders of the Biomedical Research Initiative, a collaboration between SIU medical school and SIUC engineering department.  They are developing a prototype, which they hope to license to a company for further development.

Jeremy G. Turner, Ph.D., a part-time faculty member in surgery, has applied for a patent on a tinnitus testing device, which he developed in partnership with Michael Kinder, president of Hamilton-Kinder Behavioral Testing Systems in Poway, Calif.  They are building a prototype and software that is needed to objectively measure tinnitus, a ringing in the ears that occurs in animals and humans.

Patino says that he hopes some of the projects will stay in the local community to help spur new business development and job creation in the new medical district.  To encourage investor interest in some of the new technologies, the School is developing an equity policy that will be applicable to start-up companies.  Profits that may eventually arise from the patents are shared by the inventor and the medical school.

Anyone interested in learning about opportunities to partner with the SIU Office of Technology Transfer can contact Patino at 217-545-8168 or via their Web site at www.siumed.edu/adrfa/techtransfer.html.

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