Julio Palmaz, M.D., accepts The University of Texas System Chancellor’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award flanked by Chancellor Mark G. Yudof and Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte.
Printer Friendly Format

Julio Palmaz, M.D., Ashbel Smith Professor at the Health Science Center, was one of three winners of the inaugural University of Texas (U.T.) System Chancellor’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award, presented by Chancellor Mark G. Yudof Feb. 28 in Austin. Palmaz received a $10,000 prize.

Dr. Palmaz’s invention of the intravascular stent was recognized as the most noteworthy development to come from a U.T. researcher. The stent – a device surgically implanted into damaged arterial vessels to keep them from collapsing – is used in patients suffering from cardiovascular disease. Besides being credited with saving countless lives, the stents have helped reduce the number of costly open-heart surgeries.

Stents have been widely used since the 1990s, and an estimated 2 million of the devices are implanted each year in patients who have diseased blood vessels in their hearts and legs.

Former faculty member also honored
The other award was presented jointly to Dr. Steven Norris of the UT Health Science Center Houston and Dr. Alan Barbour, formerly of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, for their collaborative effort to create a diagnostic test for Lyme disease. Dr. Barbour now is professor of microbiology and molecular genetics and medicine at the University of California, Irvine.

Their research on a specific protein and its affect on immune responses led to the development of the test, which since has been patented and licensed to 11 companies for use both domestically and internationally. Norris and Barbour shared a $15,000 cash prize recognizing research developed at multiple institutions.

“These three scientists epitomize entrepreneurial and innovative excellence and we are fortunate to have them in the UT System family,” said Yudof said. “They already have set a high standard for this inaugural award and it is our goal to recognize future recipients who produce equally impressive innovations in their research capacities.”

For decades, UT System institutions and their scientists have been pioneers of cutting-edge technology, and in fiscal year 2006 they generated more than $1.8 billion for research, helping create 14 start-up companies and accounting for 117 U.S. patents that year.

Over the past five years, UT System institutions and their researchers have launched 66 new companies and secured 553 U.S. patents.

In 2006, the UT System ranked first in the country in the number of issued patents related to biotechnology, and fourth in total patents in 2005, according to the Milken Institute and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Also that year, The Scientist magazine described the UT System as a “patent powerhouse,” and ranked it second in the nation in terms of quantity and quality of patents.

###

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $536 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14.3 billion biosciences and health care industry, the leading sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, click on www.uthscsa.edu.