With more than 90 inventions to his credit, two U.S. patents secured and another five pending, CTO Dr. Thanh Nguyen claimed the coveted Faculty Entrepreneur distinction at the Research Innovation Awards, presented by UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office for University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He was also welcomed to its first cohort of 13 Innovation Ambassadors.
Lauded by the organization as “the most prolific inventor in UNeMed history,” Dr. Nguyen was recognized for his work in building two startups: University Medical Devices and HemaGlobal.
University Medical Devices, UNeMed’s 2023 Startup of the Year, is the developer of MicroWash — a revolutionary nasal lavage specimen collection device co-invented by Dr. Nguyen and Michael Wadman, MD, FACEP. The device provides a highly comfortable patient experience, up to 49% greater sample sensitivity than nasal swabs and is currently in clinical use.
Dr. Nguyen also drives health-tech advancements with HemaGlobal, which is commercializing RapidSmear as the world’s first portable blood smear preparation system that allows clinicians to quickly prepare blood and bone marrow samples for microscopy examination.
This accolade comes on the heels of Dr. Nguyen recent recognition with the University of Nebraska System’s Faculty Intellectual Property Innovation and Commercialization Award (FIPICA), one of three esteemed President’s Excellence Awards honoring faculty members who have nurtured significant new intellectual property from concept to licensing.
UNeMed’s annual Research Innovation Awards celebrate outstanding faculty, students and staff who invented new technologies, licensed an invention or secured intellectual property rights during the previous fiscal year.
Read the full release and learn more about Dr. Nguyen.
