National Academy of Inventors, MUSC recognize new fellow
February 9, 2017
Craig Beeson, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy professor and metabolics core director, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Election to NAI fellows status is a high professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society. The 2016 fellows will be inducted on April 6, 2017, as part of the Sixth Annual Conference of the National Academy of Inventors at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, MA.
Beeson is a member of the self-described “mitochondriacs,” who are scientists specializing in the roles of mitochondrial function in physiological homeostasis and disease. His lab focuses on structure-based drug design and the regulation of cellular energy metabolism. Beeson’s research has resulted in more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and in 2009 he co-founded MitoHealth Inc., which offers services to assess mitochondrial function. In 2011, he co-founded MitoChem Therapeutics Inc., which is developing small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of retinal degenerative pathologies. The two companies have raised more than $5 million to support their research and development efforts.
Beeson received the MUSC Inventor of the Year award in 2015, recognizing the three patients, 22 patent applications and six technology licenses that have resulted from his work.
He obtained his doctorate in synthetic and physical organic chemistry from the University of California at Irvine. He continued his studies with postdoctoral research in biophysics and immunology at Stanford University, and subsequently began his academic career at the University of Washington in Seattle in the departments of chemistry, biochemistry, and immunology. He was recruited to the MUSC Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences in 2002.
Beeson joins more than 750 NAI fellows, representing 229 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. The 2016 fellows are named inventors on 5,437 issued U.S. patents, bringing the collective patents held by all NAI Fellows to more than 26,000.
About MUSC Foundation for Research Development
FRD has served as MUSC’s technology transfer office since 1998. During that period, FRD has filed patent applications on more than 400 technologies, resulting in over 150 U.S. issued patents. Additionally, FRD has executed more than 150 licenses and spun out more than 50 startup companies. MUSC startups have had products approved by the Food and Drug Adminstration and acquired by publicly traded corporations while attracting substantial investment dollars into South Carolina. Innovations from
MUSC, including medical devices, therapies and software, are positively impacting health care worldwide. Please visit us online at frd.musc.edu.
About MUSC
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the South. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research, and patient care. MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and residents, and has nearly 13,000 employees, including approximately 1,500 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer in Charleston, the university and its affiliates have collective annual budgets in excess of $2.2 billion. MUSC operates a 700-bed medical center, which includes a nationally recognized children’s hospital, the Ashley River Tower (cardiovascular, digestive disease, and surgical oncology), Hollings Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute-designated center), Level I trauma center, and Institute of Psychiatry. For more information on academic programs or clinical services, visit musc.edu. For more information on hospital patient services, visit muschealth.org.
About NAI
The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member organization comprising U.S. and international universities, and governmental and non-profit research institutes, with over 3,000 individual inventor members and fellows spanning more than 240 institutions, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.
