Each year, the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization (CTTC) recognizes excellence in innovation through its Master Innovator Recognition Program. The yearly recognition program acknowledges Vanderbilt’s top innovators and entrepreneurs for their contributions to the creation, development, and commercialization of intellectual property. Awardees have demonstrated excellence in a select number of key commercialization categories, including new inventions disclosed, patent applications filed and issues, new companies formed, technology licenses executed, commercialization revenue generated, and products on the market - all based on the candidate’s innovations created at Vanderbilt. Awardees are memorialized as a member of the CTTC Innovators’ Hall of Fame.
This year we are recognizing Richard Caprioli, C. David Weaver, Susan Eagle, and Franz Baudenbacher as Master Innovators at Vanderbilt.
Dr. Richard Caprioli has paved the way for advancements in personalized medicine, drug discovery, and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer by developing innovative imaging techniques in the field of mass spectrometry. In Richard’s spare time apart from creating, funding, and managing the nationally recognized Vanderbilt Mass Spectrometry Research Center, he is an inventor on forty US patents and applications, leading to ten licenses of his technology to the public sector.
Dr. C. David Weaver has been exceptionally productive in research in the field of pharmacology. Dr. Weaver’s groundbreaking work has significantly advanced our understanding of drug discovery and development, particularly in the area of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Dr. Weaver’s research activities have led to forty-one US patents and applications, resulting in twenty licenses, including to several startup companies.
Dr. Susan Eagle, Professor of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, possesses a wealth of clinical knowledge and practical experience, which she applies to the development of innovative medical technologies. Dr. Eagle has co-founded several companies, and has been named on twenty-two US patents and applications, leading to ten technology licenses. Dr. Eagle has shared her innovation and entrepreneurship journey with the Vanderbilt community in our From Concepts to Commercialization lecture series (co-sponsored with the Brock Center and VBS).
Dr. Franz Baudenbacher, through his research in the field of biomedical engineering and physics, has made significant contributions to healthcare technology. Part of Dr. Baudenbacher's work focuses on developing innovative solutions to advance the field of cardiac electrophysiology, microfluidic, biosensors and instrumentation. This has led to the launch of several companies he co-founded with Dr. Eagle, including InvisionHeart LLC. Dr. Baudenbacher’s research activities have led to forty-two US patents and applications, resulting in twelve technology licenses.
Learn more about the program here.
Richard Caprioli with Karen Rufus, Franz Baudenbacher, Susan Eagle, and C. David Weaver with Tom Utley