Biodesign Institute Leadership Honored by Arizona BioIndustry Association

Kimberly Ovitt, Director of Communication & Institutional Advancement
(480)727-8688 | kimberly.ovitt@asu.edu
April 1, 2005

Geoge Poste, Director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, was named Bioscience Leader of the Year by the Arizona BioIndustry Association. The award was presented March 29 at a dinner held in conjuction with Arizona Bio Expo 2005, a two-day conference in Phoenix devoted to furthering the state's emerging biotech industry.

Poste was honored for outstanding leadership contributing significantly to Arizona’s progress in biotechnology and the life sciences. The ceremony was attended by researchers and industry representatives from both inside and outside of Arizona. “Remarkable things are happening in this State, and I hope we’ll all be back next year in even larger, more buoyant fashion,” he said.

Frederic Zenhausern, director of the institute's Center for Applied NanoBioscience, was also honored. He accepted the award for Startup Life Science Company of the Year on behalf of NanoBiomics Inc. Zenhausern co-founded the company with Jeffrey Trent, president of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). NanoBiomics has agreements to license diagnostic products and treatment technologies developed by TGen, ASU and other research facilities and help bring them to market.

Other awards included Medical Device Company of the Year, given to Kinetic Muscles, Inc. This Tempe company makes bionic muscles to help people recover from neurological injuries and is currently collaborating with the institute’s Center for Neural Interface Design to develop a robotic device to assist with rehabilitation of hand function in stroke survivors.

Robert Penny, president of the Molecular Profiling Institute, took home the Bioindustry Executive of the Year award. The institute was formed in December to help translate discoveries made by the Human Genome Project into practical applications that can improve the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Isotechnika Inc., a Canadian biopharmaceutical company, was named Biotechnology Company of the Year. The firm is focused on the development of immunosuppressive therapies that are safer than current treatments. The company was drawn to Arizona by the state's aggressive efforts to develop and stimulate biotech industries.