About_accomplishments

Accomplishments

The accomplishments of the Biodesign Institute encompass operational successes and contributions to a well-prepared workforce as well as significant research strides.

The Biodesign Institute has met or exceeded all of the business goals set in mid-2003 and endorsed by the Arizona Board of Regents and provided a significant return on TRIF investment. Biodesign has attracted more than $300 million in external funding since inception, including competitive grant awards and support from philanthropic sources.

The Biodesign Institute researchers generated significant proposal activity, with more than $200 million in proposals advanced in the past FY2011 alone. This ensures a strong leveraging of TRIF investment. In the face of the expiration of stimulus funding and a challenging economic environment, Biodesign received $30 million in sponsored research awards this year.

Research Activity

  • Identified 28 blood biomarkers for the early detection of breast cancer and collaborated to find a novel biomarker for ovarian cancer
  • Established the only DNA repository of its kind in the Southwestern United States available for international distribution housed in state-of-the-art 855,000-sample automated freezer and handling system
  • Received national attention for the launch of the Timetree Smartphone application, with 70,000 downloads
  • Collaborated with the National University of Singapore to apply mass spectrometric immunoassay toward the diagnosis of adverse cardiovascular events
  • Advanced research in mitochondria function, including the identification of multifunctional radical quenchers that preserve cells with dysfunctional mitochondrial and designed mitochondrial therapeutic candidates based on vitamin E function
  • Reported a novel strategy to design and construct 3-D DNA nanostructures with complex curvatures, mimicking the elaborate curvatures in naturally existing structures. This finding was featured on the cover of April 15 issue of Science

Translational Activity

  • Filed 49 invention disclosures, 24 provisional patents, 16 U. S. applications, 15 foreign applications, 18 patent cooperation treaty applications and issued 5 patents
  • Licensed next-generation respiratory sensor technology to a European medical device developer
  • Executed an exclusive license agreement for DNA sequencing technology to Roche. The agreement includes a sponsored research agreement to develop devices in collaboration with Roche and IBM
  • Launched two Biodesign Impact Acceleratory companies

Faculty Achievements

  • Stuart Lindsay received White House honors for innovative "Recovery Act" research
  • Bruce Rittmann earned the 2011 Excellence in Environmental Engineering Award for the American Academy of Environmental Engineers
  • Joshua LaBaer elected chair of the National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network Executive Committee and co-chair of the Steering Committee
  • Charles Arntzen named chair-elect of Agriculture, Food and Renewable Resources for the American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Rolf Halden was recognized by the journal Chemosphere for one of the most-cited studies published from 2005-2010

Initiatives

  • Established collaboration with C-Path for qualification of lung cancer biomarker EML4-alk
  • Achieved NASA designation for Biodesign as No. 1 university customer becoming first in line for zero-gravity experiments at the International Space Station
  • Launched the Biosignature Initiative, an effort to build on Arizona's strengths to form a central resource for biosignature discovery, clinical validation, standardization and qualification for healthy patient outcomes
  • Executed MOUs with key partner organizations Chang Gung University in Taiwan and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China to launch Global Biosignature Centers under the guidance of Lee Hartwell

Administration

  • Gained Flinn/Battelle Biosciences Roadmap support of the biosignatures as the No. 1 priority for Arizona
  • Named the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, a joint center led by Bruce Rittmann between the Biodesign Institute and the Global Institute of Sustainability endowed by a gift from Brian Swette
  • Completed an affiliation agreement between Mount Sinai Medical Center and ASU
  • Increased Biodesign's recycle rate to 30 percent (exceeding ASU's rate of 15 percent)