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Pitt Faculty Cui and Pearlman Named Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Mike Yeomans

NAI Senior Members Tracy Cui and Jonathan Pearlman

University of Pittsburgh Professor of Bioengineering Tracy Cui and Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Science and Technology Jonathan Pearlman, have been named Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

NAI Senior Members are active faculty, scientists, and administrators from NAI Member Institutions who have demonstrated remarkable innovation producing technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society. They also have growing success in patents, licensing, and commercialization, while educating and mentoring the next generation of inventors.

“Pitt innovators are constantly pushing the boundaries of science to not only create new knowledge, but to translate discoveries into innovations that can improve people’s lives. Drs. Cui and Pearlman are emblematic of that relentless quest for impact at Pitt, and we congratulate them on this well-deserved recognition,” said Evan Facher, Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Associate Dean for Commercial Translation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

In Dr. Cui’s lab, the primary research focus is on the interactions between neural tissue and smart biomaterials. Dr Cui’s research interests lie in neural engineering with special focuses on neural electrode-tissue interface, neural tissue engineering, central nervous system drug delivery, and biosensors. She is part of a multi-disciplinary Pitt team that is conducting groundbreaking research to help give people with paralysis the ability to control robotic arms solely with their brain. In 2019 she received a $2.9 million NIH grant to reduce inflammation around electrodes inserted into the brain by coating the electrodes with biological molecules that can strengthen the connection between the brain implants and computers while protecting the neurons around the electrodes.

She created and nurtured the curriculum for the neural engineering track at the Swanson School of Engineering, growing the track to 30 participating faculty and graduating 97 neural engineering PhD students. Other programs in her lab focus on on-demand drug delivery in the nervous system; implantable biosensors for cytokines and neurochemicals; control of neural stem cell growth and differentiation via surface and electrical cues; and smart coatings for magnesium-based implants.

Four of her patents have been licensed, with the most significant resulting in a startup company in Pittsburgh created by two of her former students. Interphase Materials is a bioengineering company producing anti-fouling materials keeping underwater surfaces clean for power plants, oil and gas exploration, and HVAC systems and more.

Dr. Pearlman’s track record of commercialization is impressive and continually expanding. Some of his licensed technologies include a compression system to prevent deep vein thrombosis, an adjustable backrest for wheelchair users, a caster system for wheelchairs, an active stability system for wheelchairs, a pneumatically powered wheelchair, an integrated weight scale for use on beds to allow disabled people to weigh themselves and a system for assessing the accessibility of sidewalks.

The latter technology was licensed by two of Dr. Pearlman’s students to form a startup company, PathVu Inc. To date, PathVu has secured contracts to evaluate the accessibility of more than 4,700 miles of sidewalks and over 22,000 curb-ramps in 11 cities, and make that information available through a mobile app. PathVu has contracts for an additional 5 cities for 750 miles of sidewalks and 6,500 curb-ramps. This innovation is making it easier for people with disabilities to plan outings in municipalities who have adopted the system.

Dr. Pearlman is leading the University of Pittsburgh IMPACT Center (www.idea2impact.org). This is a multi-year initiative to support product innovation supported by the Association for Community Living. So far, the center has supported 32 innovation teams across the nation as they commercialization their innovations.

Dr. Pearlman’s latest endeavor is overseeing the university’s Healthy Home Lab. The university purchased an older home near its campus earlier in 2022 that is being used as a living laboratory for making homes safer and more livable for the elderly and people with disabilities who want to remain in their homes as long as possible.

Dr. Pearlman takes his role as an educator and mentor to heart. Students are co-inventors on eight of his patent filings. He has mentored 12 master’s 9 doctoral and 5 post-doctoral students, primarily regarding product innovation.

This latest class of NAI Senior Members, at 95, the largest to date, demonstrates a shared commitment to celebrate the diversity of the academic ecosystem, with 48 outstanding female and/or minority academic inventors included. Hailing from 50 NAI member institutions and research universities across the nation, members of this class are named inventors on over 1200 issued U.S. patents with many of those being licensed and commercialized.

“I’m delighted to see how this program has expanded in just a couple years’ time,” said Paul R. Sanberg, FNAI, President of NAI, “It really reflects the shift we are seeing at universities where invention is not only being recognized but prioritized as well.”

A full list of NAI Senior Members is available on the NAI website.

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