Board Members

President and Founder of National Academy of Inventors

Dr. Paul R. Sanberg is the former Senior Vice President for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Enterprise at University of South Florida, and currently Distinguished University Professor of Medicine, Engineering, and Business, and Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair.

His innovations have been instrumental in translating new pharmaceutical and cellular therapeutics to clinical trials and commercialization for Tourette syndrome, stroke, ALS, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease.

He is an inventor on 167 U.S. and international patents; author of over 700 scientific articles and 14 books, with over 40,000 citations. He has served on editorial boards for numerous scientific journals, is co-editor-in-chief of NAI’s journal Technology and Innovation, and has received numerous scientific awards, including the AIMBE Advocate Award; Australian Alumni Award (ANU); Bryden Alumni Award (York U); Fulbright Specialist; McGovern Science & Society Award (Sigma Xi); Ove Ferno Prize; IEEE George F. McClure Award; Florida Academy of Sciences Medalist; Florida Inventors Hall of Fame inductee and Pioneer Award recipient; Fellow of AAAS, ACNP, AIMBE, BMES, IEEE, Sigma Xi, the Royal Societies of the Arts, Biology, Chemistry, Medicine and Public Health; AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador; and  Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars inductee.

He served twice on the nomination evaluation committee for the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation; and advisory board for the APLU Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness, and Economic Prosperity. He was the first in his family to graduate college, and has been an airplane enthusiast most of his adult life, becoming a master flight instructor and  Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He is a NAI Charter Fellow.

President, Director, and CEO Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics

Howard J. Federoff, M.D., Ph.D., received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Following clinical training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology/Metabolism and a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular neurobiology at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital he joined the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

In 1995 he joined the University of Rochester faculty. During his tenure at Rochester, he founded the Division of Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy, the Center for Aging and Development and also served as Senior Associate Dean for Basic Research.

In 2007 he joined the Georgetown University Medical Centers as Executive Vice President of Health Sciences and Executive Dean for the School of Medicine. His research is on novel treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. He serves on four editorial boards, two foundation boards, has chaired NIH Study Sections, was a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, was a member of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Scientific Advisory Committee, Co-Chaired the NINDS strategic planning process, and was Chair of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.

He has published numerous papers, chapters and editorials and received a number of awards including the Arthur Kornberg Research Award, Society for Neuroscience Grass Lectureship, Abreu Memorial Lectureship, induction into Alpha Omega Alpha, Bernard Sandberg Award, and election to the AAAS. He has co-founded two biotechnology start-up companies and has been awarded numerous patents.

He and his wife Wendy Solovay, an immigration attorney, reside in Irvine California. Their two daughters, Allison and Monica, are pursuing careers in law and medicine, respectively. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

President University Research Strategies, LLC

Ken Blank is a demonstrated innovative and effective academic leader in building high impact, sustainable use-inspired research programs that result in practical solutions to critical national problems through technology development and commercialization.He has a proven ability to engage industry, mission oriented government agencies, and universities in productive collaboration. These key alliances increase funded research to support the development of new emerging technologies and contribute to successful technology commercialization, technology park development and workforce-related programs. Blank has served as Vice Provost for Research at Drexel University, Northeastern University and Temple University as well as Founding Senior Vice President for Health Sciences at Rowan University. Each of these institutions successfully increased metrics in research revenue and technology commercialization during his tenure. He serves on the Board of Directors of The University City Science Center (Philadelphia, PA) and the New Jersey Innovation Institute (Newark, NJ) and is a Fellow of The National Academy of Inventors and The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Blank is presently the President of University Research Strategies, LLC and a Senior Advisor with Command Strategies, LLC.

Interim Chief Executive Officer, NextGA,; Harbor Lights Endowed Chair, Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery University of Georgia; AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador

Honored with a 2022 U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring for her work with underrepresented groups to develop fully the Nation’s human resources in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Karen J.L. Burg is the interim Chief Executive Officer of NextGA, a National Science Foundation Engine-in-Development, and is the Harbor Lights Chair of Biomedical Research in the Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery and Professor of Chemical, Materials, & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Georgia. Burg is an internationally recognized biomaterials educator, inventor, and researcher for her work to inspire equitable innovation in biomedicine and biomedical education. Her body of published work initiated and elucidated critical processes and technologies that have led to the current state of commercial tissue fabrication. Her 3D tissue fabrication cultureware and methodology was the impetus for the launch of functional precision oncology company Kiyatec, Inc., which has demonstrated the utility of her technology in multiple clinical trials, evaluating patient-specific predictor tests for improved response to cancer therapies. Dr. Burg’s research and innovation has inspired hundreds of mentees now working in industry, academia, and government; her research mentoring efforts are most recently visible in the National Institutes of Health’s National Research Mentoring Network Launching Research course series, which she authored. Honors to Karen include the inaugural Swiss AO Research Prize, recognition as an MIT TR Young Innovator, an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, an American Council on Education Fellow, a Biomedical Engineering Society Fellow, an American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering Fellow, a National Academy of Inventors Fellow, a Presidential Early Career Awardee for Science & Engineering, an International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering Fellow, and an American Association for the Advancement of Science-Lemelson Invention Ambassador. A tireless innovator with passion for leadership, she has served as vice president for research at Kansas State University and the University of Georgia and as vice provost for research and innovation and dean of of the graduate school at Clemson University.

Research Biologist Center for Species Survival D.V.M., Veterinary College of Alfort; M.S., Université de Paris VI ; Ph.D., Université de Tours

Pierre Comizzoli Ph.D., D.V.M. is a scientist at the Smithsonian Institution and Senior Program Officer for Science in the Office of the Under-Secretary of Science and Research. He began his career as a veterinarian in French Guyana studying the seasonal reproduction of different mammalian species. In 2002 he joined the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute at Washington, DC ‘s National Zoological Park as a staff scientist developing cryo-banking on gametes and gonadal tissues from rare and endangered species. In addition to 15 years of studies funded by National Institutes of Health grants, Dr. Comizzoli has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters, He has also received several distinguished awards including the Smithsonian Secretary’s Research Prize and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for his innovative work on fertility preservation. More recently, he has received the Innovation Award from the National Research Council of Thailand with his Thai colleagues.

Senior Vice Provost for Research, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Atam P Dhawan is senior vice provost for research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). He is a tenured Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Executive Director of the Center for Translational Research, and Executive Director of Undergraduate Research and Innovation.

Dr. Dhawan is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE), Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE) for his contributions in medical imaging and image analysis, and healthcare innovations. His research interests lie in medical imaging, medical image analysis, point-of-care technologies, pattern recognition and computer-aided-diagnosis. Dr. Dhawan has received more than $82 million in research grants and contracts as Principal Investigator or Co-PI. He has published over 216 research papers and book chapters. He has also authored and co-authored several books in medical imaging, and image analysis. He holds several patents, three of which have been commercialized or licensed.

Dr. Dhawan pioneered low-angle trans-illumination technology and first demonstrated its application in skin-cancer imaging and specifically diagnostic screening of skin-cancers in 1984. His invention, patented as Nevoscope, established the ffeasibility of point-of-care (POC) in-situ diagnostic evaluation of skin-lesions,creating the field of dermatoscopy for effective early detection of skin-cancers. His optical imaging cornerstone technology led to two successful medical companies (Translite and 3GEN) for manufacturing and marketing of Veinlite and Dermlite devices, which respectively are being used in the interventional treatment of spider-vein diseases and early diagnosis and clinical management of skin-cancers, specifically malignant melanomas.

Dr. Dhawan chairs the NIH Point-of-Care Technology Research Network (POCTRN) Independent Expert Board. He is a recipient of numerous awards including Martin Epstein Award (1984), NIH FIRST Award (1988), Sigma-Xi Young Investigator Award (1992), IEEE EMBS Early Career Achievement Award (1995), Doermann Distinguished Lecture Award (1999), EMBS Distinguished Lecturer award (2012-2013) and IEEE EMBS William J. Morlock Award in Excellence in Biomedical Technology (2021). He served as the Conference Chair of the IEEE 28th International Conference of Engineering in Medicine and Biology (EMB) Society (2006) and conference co-chair IEEE 42nd International Conference of Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (2020). He has organized and chaired the NIH-IEEE-EMBS International Conferences on Point- of-Care Technologies and Healthcare Innovation in Bangalore, India (2013), and in Seattle (2014), co-chaired the NIH- IEEE Strategic Conference on Point-of-Care Technologies for Precision Medicine in Bethesda (2015), co-chaired IEEE-NIH Conference on Healthcare Innovation and Point-of-Care Technologies in Cancun (2016) and co-chaired 2017 IEEE-NIH Special Topics Conference on Healthcare Innovation and Point-of-Care Technologies in Bethesda. Dr. Dhawan served as the founding Editor-In-Chief of the IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine (2012-2018), and the founding chair of the IEEE EMBS technical committee on Translational Engineering and Healthcare Innovations (2014-2018). He also served as the Senior Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Editorial Board Member for International Journal of Pattern Recognition, and steering committee member for IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. Dr. Dhawan has chaired numerous NIH special emphasis and review panels, and site visit & review panels for NIH BTRR P41 program (1990-present). From 2008-2011, He chaired the NIH Chartered Study Section on Biomedical Computing and Health Informatics.

Dr. Dhawan obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, and Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba, all in Electrical Engineering. From 1985-2000, he held faculty positions in Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Radiology departments at University of Houston, University of Cincinnati, University of Texas at Arlington, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and University of Toledo.  From 2000-2009, He served as the Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and Associate and Interim Dean of Albert Dorman Honors College (2009-2014).

Eastern Region Outreach Director Office of the Under Secretary and Director U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Elizabeth Dougherty is the Director of Inventor Education, Outreach, and Recognition in the Office of Innovation Development at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this capacity, she develops, implements and supervises programs that support the independent inventor community, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and the intellectual property interests of colleges and universities; she supervises the development of outreach programs to women, minority and other underserved communities; she also builds and maintains relationships with state and local governments to promote local programs that support invention and innovation in the United States. Ms. Dougherty has spearheaded a number of special projects with such organizations and oversees a portfolio of ongoing and future initiatives designed to assist independent inventors, entrepreneurs, and minorities.

CEO Quantum Vector Inc. 

Anna has >35 years of experimental physics research and development engineering in cryogenic and superconductor materials, devices and electromagnetic systems. She founded the Cryogenic Exploitation of Radio Frequency (CERF) Laboratory at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, creating a group of innovative scientists and engineers who publish and patent prolifically. Technical breakthroughs and technology transition into the Naval Fleet at CERF brought national attention at every level of the DoD. To continue to push technology in new ways, since retiring from Federal Service in 2022, she is serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence for the UC San Diego Office of Innovation and Commercialization and founded Quantum Vector Inc.  She is a Board Member for Ambature, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a Senior Member of the IEEE with 22 patents and 57 publications.  She serves her community as member of several technical committees and boards including the Superconductivity Global Alliance, the Applied Superconductivity Education Foundation and the National Academy of Inventors.

Current President’s Distinguished Chair in Physics Former Vice Chancellor for Research at University of Missouri Former Senior Vice President for Research at Texas Tech University

Robert V. Duncan, Ph.D., is the Current President’s Distinguished Chair in Physics at Texas Tech University (TTU). He formerly served as vice chancellor for research at the University of Missouri (MU). He was the Gordon and Betty Moore Distinguished Scholar in the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Caltech in 2004–2005. He has published extensively in low-temperature physics, and he chaired a panel of the National Academy of Sciences on the Future of Fundamental Physics in Space in 2011. He holds 10 U.S. patents with multiple international filings. In 2004, Duncan co-invented a less-invasive type of percutaneous and intravascular cryosurgery that is currently in human clinical trials and which is based upon a genuinely new cryogenic technology. As an administrator, Duncan has supported innovation broadly within academia, and has started new student entrepreneurial programs at both TTU and MU. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

University Professor & Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery University of Connecticut NAI Fellow

Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. is the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Connecticut. A surgeon-engineer-scientist, he is Professor of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering at UConn. He serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, at UConn Health. He earned his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his M.D., Magna Cum Laude, from the Harvard Medical School, and his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Laurencin has produced seminal research and technologies on nanotechnology and tissue regeneration, polymer/ceramic systems for bone regeneration, and biomaterials for soft tissue regeneration.

Dr. Laurencin is a pioneer of the field of Regenerative Engineering. He received the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Grant Award for this field. For his work he has received singular honors including the American Association for the Advancement of Science Philip Hauge Abelson Prize given ‘for signal contributions to the advancement of science in the United States’, the Simon Ramo Founder’s Award from the National Academy of Engineering and the Walsh McDermott Prize from the National Academy of Medicine.

He is the first in history to win all three of these awards. Dr. Laurencin is a world leader in invention and innovation, and he is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, America’s highest award for technological achievement, award by President Barack Obama in ceremonies at the White House.

Former Director of Media and Marketing, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Paul Rosenthal was the Director of Media and Marketing at the USPTO. He was responsible for the development and implementation of strategic communications for the USPTO in coordination with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the White House, and he supported and advised the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. He directed a team of media relations, speechwriting, social media, public affairs and audio-visual design professionals focused on promoting the agency’s goals and objectives. He also oversaw the USPTO’s partnership with the National Inventors Hall of Fame and management of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, which is issued by the president in a ceremony at the White House. With more than 30 years’ experience in the communications field, Mr. Rosenthal joined the USPTO in 2010 and was charged with developing and growing the agency’s social media presence and improving agency outreach through online means. He was promoted to his role in 2013. Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Rosenthal worked for the Smithsonian Institution, as a Public Affairs Specialist for the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History and as Web Content Manager at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He has additional related experience from the United States Postal Service and from non-profit organizations. He is a former broadcast news journalist. Mr. Rosenthal earned a bachelor’s degree in public communication from The College of Saint Rose.

Chair and Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering Associate Vice-President for I-CORPS Programs University of South Florida

Sudeep Sarkar, Ph.D., is a professor of computer science and engineering and is the associate vice president for research & innovation at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering, on a University Presidential Fellowship, from The Ohio State University. He is the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 1994, USF Teaching Incentive Program Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence in 1997, Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1998, and Theodore and Venette Askounes-Ashford Distinguished Scholar Award in 2004. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR), and a charter member of the National Academy of Inventors.

He has 25 year expertise in computer vision and pattern recognition algorithms and systems, and holds three U.S. patents and has published high-impact journal and conference papers.