Nephrologist Ying (Maggie) Chen, lead inventor of the patented biomarkers, and Holden Thorp, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
The Division of Nephrology congratulates Assistant Professor of Medicine Ying (Maggie) Chen, MD, PhD, and Yeawon Kim, who were among the Washington University innovators and inventors honored at the 2nd Annual Celebration of Inventors on May 7, 2019, at Innovation Hall in the Cortex Innovation Community. The event was sponsored by the Office of Technology Management (OTM).
Recognized at the celebration were a total of 117 faculty members who were awarded patents during 2018 as well as the founders of eight faculty start-ups. In addition, special honors went to two faculty members who were selected as National Academy of Inventors fellows, and two faculty members who were named senior members of the group.
Photo: Jennifer Korman
Dedric Carter, Vice Chancellor of Operations and Technology Transfer, and Holden Thorp, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, were on hand to greet and congratulate the inventors.
Dr. Chen and Ms. Kim were issued a patent in December 2018 for their discovery of noninvasive biomarkers that have the potential to help diagnose certain human kidney diseases in their earliest stages of development. The biomarkers will also help predict high-risk patients as well as monitor both disease progression and treatment response. The title of their patent is “Urinary Biomarkers for Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress-related Kidney Diseases.” See here for a more thorough discussion of the patent.
The Annual Celebration of Inventors event honors those inventors and entrepreneurs who engage in technology transfer in order to benefit society through a commercial manifestation of their research.
“We will continue to work with WU OTM to launch marketing so that the patent can be licensed to a company and be implemented in clinical practice one day,” says Chen.
Please visit the Y. Maggie Chen Lab website to learn more about her research.