Saltzman Elected Fellow of National Academy of Inventors

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has elected Mark Saltzman, Goizueta Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemical & Environmental Engineering, & Physiology, as a 2013 NAI Fellow.

NAI Fellow status recognizes academic inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made what Anne Chasser, former U.S. Commissioner for Trademarks at the USPTO and chair of the NAI Fellows Selection Committee, describes as “outstanding contributions to innovation and discovery, in ways that have had a significant impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.”

Saltzman’s innovations in drug delivery, multifunctional nanoparticles, and biomaterials—in addition to being described in more than 200 research papers—have been the basis for 15 patents that address areas such as adaptable vaccines, tissue engineering, and brain tumor treatment. Recent patented work uses polymeric microparticles to deliver donor DNA molecules that can induce gene expression in targeted cells; Saltzman’s delivery method significantly increases the likelihood of DNA uptake and expression.

Along with his NAI Fellow status, Saltzman is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering; he has also previously received the Allan C. Davis Medal as Maryland's Outstanding Young Engineer, the Controlled Release Society Young Investigator Award, and the Professional Progress in Engineering Award from Iowa State University. His teaching has been honored with awards from Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and Yale, as well as the Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society, and he has authored the textbooks Biomedical Engineering, Tissue Engineering, and Drug Delivery.

Saltzman’s NAI Fellow election follows closely on two other significant awards. Earlier this fall, Yale’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, of which Saltzman is the founding chair, received a five-year $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish an interdisciplinary postdoctoral training program in diabetes research. Additionally, last month Saltzman was awarded the Iowa State University 2013 Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering.

“The 2013 NAI Fellows and their creative accomplishments showcase the continued excellence of academic innovation and invention," said NAI President Dr. Paul R. Sanberg. “Their work has brought great benefit to the world and we are proud to honor them as Fellows.”