Multiple units within the University of Southern California’s (USC) Office of Research and Innovation (OORI) worked in tandem to support the nomination of qualified faculty members at USC to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Senior Member Program, which resulted in the successful election of multiple individuals to this years Senior Member class. NAI Senior Members are active faculty, researchers, and scientists with measurable success in patents, licensing, and commercialization – the current Senior Member pool boasts 429 individuals spanning 100 institutions, with upwards of 5,800 U.S. patents across those elected.
In a cross-unit endeavor, USC Stevens Center for Innovation personnel worked to identify qualified, competitive candidates for Senior Member recognition. Of the 11 elected faculty members, 8 were identified by USC Stevens, those of whom were then engaged by the Office of Research Strategy & Development (RSD) to coordinate the completion of their nomination package for submission. RSD worked to streamline the submission process and ensured potential nominee’s packages were both reflective of their accomplishments and in alignment with NAI objectives. As a result, USC had the most new senior members elected out of any institution this year – USC more than doubled its Senior Member representation as a result of the 2024 class. “USC Stevens is thrilled to see so many new USC faculty members receive recognition from the National Academy of Inventors,” said Dr. Erin Overstreet, Executive Director of USC Stevens, “we are excited to keep this tradition going, and look forward to continuing our collaborations with Research Strategy & Development.”
“The NAI nomination process gave us the opportunity to show support to our faculty at USC who have had great successes in research commercialization – the outcome, with 11 nominees being elected as Senior Members, strongly affirms the innovative, impactful work that our faculty are conducting,” said Dr. Steven Moldin, who submitted the nominations in capacity as the Interim Executive Director of USC Stevens, “this is a path we want to continue on – this was the largest class of USC faculty members elected to NAI to date, and we hope to build off of this trajectory in future years.”
The 2024 NAI Senior Member Class from USC is as follows:
Peter Beerel, PhD – Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Yang Chai, DDS, PhD – University Professor, George and Mary Lou Boone Chair in Craniofacial Molecular Biology, Associate Dean of Research, Herman Ostrow School Of Dentistry of USC; University Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School Of Medicine of USC
Denis Evseenko, MD, PhD – J. Harold and Edna La Briola Chair in Genetic Orthopaedic Research, Vice Chair for Research, Director of Skeletal Regeneration and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School Of Medicine of USC
Qiang Huang, PhD – Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, USC Viterbi
Justin Ichida, PhD – John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Endowed Professor in Regenerative Medicine, Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Keck School of Medicine
Bart Kosko, JD, PhD – Professor of Electrical And Computer Engineering, USC Viterbi; Professor, USC Gould School of Law
Peter Kuhn, PhD – Dean’s Professor of Biological Sciences, USC Dornsife; Professor of Medicine and Urology, Keck School of Medicine; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace, and Mechanical Engineering, USC Viterbi; Director, Convergent Science Institute in Cancer, USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience
Daniel Lidar, PhD – Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy, USC Viterbi
Andrew Mackay, PhD – Gavin S. Herbert Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, USC Alfred E. Mann School Of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Wei-Min Shen, PhD – Associate Professor of Computer Science Practice and Research Associate Professor in Computer Science, Director of Polymorphic Robotics Laboratory, USC Viterbi; Associate Director of the Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems at USC
Travis Williams, PhD – Professor of Chemistry, USC Dornsife