FAU Professor Named Charter Fellow of National Academy of Inventors
Herbert Weissbach, Ph.D., director and distinguished research professor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science’s Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at Florida Atlantic University has been named a charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
“I am indeed honored to be elected a charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a group of very distinguished scientists,” said Weissbach. “Our research here at FAU has concentrated on the role of oxidative damage in aging, especially with regard to how cells protect against this damage and the differences between normal and cancer cells. We hope that this basic research can be translated into new therapies for age-related diseases and novel approaches to develop drugs that will specifically kill cancer cells, but not normal cells.”
Weissbach has had a prominent career in biochemistry and molecular biology, receiving a number of awards and honors including the American Chemical Society Enzyme Award. He also was listed as one of the top 300 most cited authors (1961-1976), the Townsend Harris Medal from City College of New York and the George Washington University Distinguished Alumni Award.
“I cannot think of a better individual to be elected as a charter fellow to the NAI,” said Gary W. Perry, Ph.D, dean of FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “Professor Weissbach has a distinguished career as a biochemist, an acute awareness of potential intellectual property and licensing issues regarding drug discovery. He holds several patents on his inventions at FAU and we are proud of him serving in this capacity.”
Election to NAI fellow status is a high-professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. The 98 innovators elected to NAI fellow status represent 54 universities and nonprofit research institutes. Together, they hold more than 3,200 U.S. patents.
The NAI charter fellows will be inducted by the U.S. Commissioner for Patents, Margaret A. Focarino, from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, during the second annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors, on Friday, Feb. 22 in Tampa.
Caption
Dr. Herbert Weissbach
