ASU appoints pioneering innovator Alan Nelson as director

Arizona State University has appointed pioneering scientist and entrepreneur Alan C. Nelson, PhD, as director of the Biodesign Institute. This transdisciplinary research facility on ASU’s Tempe campus brings together hundreds of scientists who are pursuing projects ranging from personalized medicine and new vaccines to alternative fuels and cleaning the environment.

Dr. Nelson is the developer of a number of medical innovations, including a landmark technology that dramatically improved detection of cervical cancer. He is currently President and CEO of VisionGate, Inc. in Washington State, which is developing a screening test for lung cancer.

ASU President Michael M. Crow said that the appointment will enable the Biodesign Institute to continue its positive trajectory in terms of both critical research advances and economic returns. “Last year, the Biodesign Institute generated more than $60 million in external funding and disclosed 50 new inventions. These tight economic times make it more important than ever for us to preserve and diversify programs that have a proven ability to generate revenue and that ultimately will have a profound benefit to society,” said Crow.

Nelson succeeds Dr. George Poste, who, last summer, was tapped to head ASU’s new Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative. In his new role, Poste has been charged with enhancing the quality and competitiveness of research programs across ASU using the successful concepts he established at the Biodesign Institute. Poste has continued to serve as the Institute’s director while a replacement was sought.

“Dr. Nelson brings the right balance of scientific innovation and operational acumen to lead the Biodesign Institute,” said Poste. “He will be able to further amplify the rapid trajectory of Biodesign as a world-class research institute.”

Nelson’s background includes both academic and entrepreneurial efforts. In addition to leading the Biodesign Institute, he will have an academic appointment as professor of bioengineering in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.

Nelson’s current company, VisionGate, uses proprietary technology that provides detailed 3-D images of cell structures, enabling lung cancer to be detected much earlier than current technology. Both the 3-D platform and the lung cancer test are in the process of being commercialized, and Nelson’s company has attracted several potential acquirers.

Previously, Nelson founded NeoPath, Inc. to automate cervical cancer screening for faster, more accurate cancer detection. As President and CEO of the company, he completed an IPO in 1996.

Concurrent with these innovations in cancer detection, Nelson has retained academic roles throughout his career, including professorships at the University of Washington, Harvard and MIT. He holds 45 patents and has published more than 100 scientific papers.

Located on ASU’s Tempe campus, the Biodesign Institute takes a distinct approach that has enabled the five-year-old, 600-person institute to rapidly become successful in terms of both funding and discovery, according to ASU’s Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs, Dr. R. F. “Rick” Shangraw, Jr.

The Institute identifies large-scale problems and then assembles teams including bioscientists, engineers and computing experts to address multiple aspects of the challenge. “This approach has brought increased success in securing large grants enabling Arizona State University researchers to address grand challenges in the biosciences and other areas. Biodesign is responsible for the majority of multi-million grants currently being generated at ASU and, more important, it is advancing science in ways that truly benefit all of us,” said Shangraw.

In just five years, Biodesign’s success in competing for federal funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health has far outpaced the national average. Its funding comprises 24 percent of ASU’s annual research awards, which now total more than $230 million.

Among the Biodesign Institute’s most well-funded efforts are a $15 million vaccine project to prevent pneumonia in newborns, which is slated to enter human clinical trials this spring, an $8 million program to develop a highly novel vaccine to prevent cancer that is being pursued in partnership with the Mayo Clinic, a $45 million personalized medicine initiative and a multi-million dollar project for a renewable biofuel for conventional car engines funded in part by Science Foundation Arizona. Overall, the Biodesign Institute has more than 25 major research projects underway, which span personalized medicine and diagnostics, vaccine development, alternative energy, environmental sustainability and national security.

Nelson received his PhD in biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1980. He also holds a master’s degree in geophysics from the same university. He simultaneously held professorships in nuclear engineering at MIT as well as the W.M. Keck Foundation’s Endowed Chair in Biomedical Engineering at Harvard from 1980-1986. He was a visiting fellow to the British Royal Society in the U.K. and Northern Ireland in 1985-1986, and held a professorship in bioengineering at the University of Washington from 1986-1991. He founded and served as President and CEO of NeoPath, Inc., which merged to become TriPath, Inc. and was acquired by Becton-Dickinson in 2000. He founded VisionGate, Inc. in 2001 and has served as its president and CEO.

Nelson’s professional service includes advisory panels for the National Cancer Institute, science advisor to the Swedish Embassy’s Office of Science and Technology, editor of the Scanning Electron Microscopy Journal, and reviewer for several professional journals. He has been elected to several Boards including the Technology Alliance of Washington where he headed the state ethics law review and subsequent enactment of a new state ethics law. He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.