Marc D. Feldman, M.D., professor in the Janey and Dolph Briscoe Division of Cardiology (center), receives the 2010 Chancellor’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award from Keith McDowell, Ph.D., (left) UT System vice chancellor for research and technology transfer, and UT System Regent James D. Dannenbaum, P.E.
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SAN ANTONIO (April 1, 2010) — Four faculty members from the UT Health Science Center San Antonio were honored recently by The University of Texas System for their efforts to create biomedical innovations and translate them to lifesaving products for humanity.

Professor Marc D. Feldman, M.D., of the Janey and Dolph Briscoe Division of Cardiology in the Health Science Center School of Medicine, won the 2010 Chancellor’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award with his collaborator, Tom Milner, Ph.D., of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UT Austin.

OCT shows cardiologists where repairs are needed
Drs. Feldman and Milner developed a novel imaging approach applied to cardiovascular imaging to assist cardiologists in better treatment of patients suffering from coronary artery disease. The approach, called optical coherence tomography, or OCT, can identify diseased regions of coronary arteries that can be targeted for therapy using treatments such as stents.

Spinoff company generated 500 percent return
The team formed a spinoff company, CardioSpectra, and raised $5 million, including a $1 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund grant. CardioSpectra was remarkably successful and was acquired by Volcano Corp. in 2007, resulting in an immediate 500 percent return on the team’s investment. A return of 1,200 percent is expected with the completion of future milestones.

A second Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award went to the UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The winners were among 23 nominees from 12 UT System institutions vying for this year’s awards. UT System Regent James D. Dannenbaum, P.E., and Keith McDowell, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and technology transfer, presented the awards in a ceremony at The University of Texas at Arlington.

Additional Health Science Center nominees
A.P. “Pete” Shepherd Jr., Ph.D., retired professor of physiology; John Steinke, Ph.D., formerly of the physiology faculty; and Guangming Zhong, M.D., Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology, were recognized as Health Science Center nominees for the awards.

Dr. Shepherd retired in August 2009 after 35 years on the Department of Physiology faculty. He and Dr. Steinke invented blood oxygen analyzers that are used throughout the world by physicians and scientists. Dr. Shepherd in 1976 founded a San Antonio spinoff company called A-VOX Systems that sold hundreds of the analyzers to hospitals in at least 18 countries. In October 2006, A-VOX Systems became a subsidiary of International Technidyne Corp., a division of Thoratec Corp.


Vaccine against Chlamydia
Dr. Zhong is collaborating with Bernard Arulanandam, Ph.D., M.B.A., and Ashlesh Murthy, Ph.D., from The University of Texas at San Antonio to develop a vaccine for the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia. In April 2009, the Health Science Center and UTSA entered an exclusive license and sponsored research agreement with Merck & Co. Inc. to develop the vaccine.

“These outstanding faculty members have earned the gratitude of thousands of patients who have benefitted from their innovative research and our admiration for the honor and recognition they bring to the UT System,” Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., said. “We are very proud of their work and the remarkable improvements these advances have made to patient care.”

Transferring discoveries into practice
The recognition program was established to promote a culture of entrepreneurship throughout the UT System by recognizing researchers who exemplify ingenuity, creativity and innovation in translating research into useful products and services. Awards acknowledge commercialized research that has had a profound impact on the citizens of Texas and on all of society. The awards were distributed for technologies developed at a single institution and cross-institutional collaborative teams.

Information compiled from External Affairs files and a UT System press release.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 2 percent of all U.S. institutions receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled a record $259 million in fiscal year 2009. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced 27,000 graduates. The $753 million operating budget supports six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.