AZBio Awards Dinner honors the state

October 25, 2012

By hammersmith

The seventh annual AZBio Awards Dinner celebrated and recognized the state’s leading bioscience educators, innovators, and companies while providing the opportunity for an industry and student discovery showcase.

The Oct. 23 event at the Phoenix Convention Center attracted hundreds of people from the state’s growing bioscience industry as well as top elected officials and dignitaries.

The keynote speaker was John D. Carroll, editor since 2003 of FierceBiotech, which monitors the biotech industry and has more than 101,000 subscribers.

In addition, a proclamation from the Office of the Governor was read that proclaimed October 23, 2012 as “Arizona Bioscience Day.”

Here is a list of the 2012 winners:

Centennial Award: U.S. Senator Jon Kyl

Pioneer Awards:

  • David S. Alberts, M.D., Director of the Arizona Cancer Center and Regents Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, Nutritional Science, and Public Health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine
  • Raymond L. Woosley, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chairman of the Board for AZCERT, Inc., and founder and retired President and CEO, Critical Path Institute

2012 Public Service Award: Richard Myers, President, Arizona Board of Regents

Michael A. Cusanovich Bioscience Educator of the Year: Jennifer Kehlet Barton, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research and Professor, Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona

2012 Bioscience Researcher of the Year: Paul Keim, Ph.D., Cowden Endowed Chair of Microbiology at Northern Arizona University and Director of Pathogen Genomics at the Translational Genomics Research Institute

Jon W. McGarity Bioscience Leader of the Year: Harry George, co-founder of Solstice Capital, a venture capital fund

Fast Lane Awards:

  • The Critical Path Institute (Tucson): Improves efficiency of the development of drugs, diagnostics, and medical devices by creating new data standards, measurement standards, and methods standards to streamline the regulatory submission process.
  • Global Cancer Diagnostics (Tempe): Formed to commercialize the first low-cost, early detection blood test for lung cancer.
  • Ulthera, Inc. (Mesa): A medical device company with a therapeutic ultrasound platform technology that lifts, tones, and tightens loose skin.

Bioscience Company of the Year:

Cord Blood Registry (Tucson): Stores cord blood and tissue for more than 400,000 children, and helps clients use their cord blood stem cells in treatment.

Finalists:

  • Brain State Technologies (Scottsdale): Uses a non-invasive process to help people overcome cognitive, emotional and physical challenges including sleep disorders, alcoholism, meth addiction, and PTSD.
  • Flagship Biosciences (Flagstaff): Provides quantitative tissue analysis services for pharmaceutical and medical device development.

AZBio—the Arizona BioIndustry Association—is a not-for-profit trade association promoting the growth of Arizona bioscience companies. The association is comprised of member organizations in business, research and education, economic development, government, and other professions involved in the biosciences.