Dr. Joseph M. DeSimone, a University of North Carolina at Chapel chemist and polymer expert with a prolific record of bringing his innovations from the lab to the marketplace, has won the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Prize. Dr. Robert S. Langer, the MIT professor who nominated DeSimone for the $500,000 prize, called him “one of the most inventive researchers in all of science.” Among his most recent innovations, DeSimone blended polymerization methods with supercritical fluid extraction, yielding a breakthrough in “green” or environmentally sustainable manufacturing. He invented a process in which supercritical carbon dioxide — CO2 that has gas and liquid properties — can replace the environmentally persistent material perfluorooctanoic acid in the production of high-performance plastics known as fluoropolymers. The “greener” process is used to produce a material used in wire and cable insulation and jackets, flexible tubing, and industrial films. Dupont has licensed the process. Nandan S. Rao, Dupont’s Global Technology Director, said DeSimone’s technologies “are truly revolutionary and represent dramatic departures from what others have pursued.” Another big commercial winner in his portfolio is a bioabsorbable, polymer-based stent. Guidant, now part of Abbott, purchased the technology — the first of its kind to enter clinical trials, which are now under way. DeSimone and his team have now turned their attention to using fabrication processes from the microelectronics industry to create nanocarriers in medicine. His PRINT® (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates) technology can, for the first time, manufacture highly customizable and controllable nanobiomaterials for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, with promising applications in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. His start-up, Liquida Technologies, is working on commercializing the technology. In DeSimone’s own words, his career and success in translating research into commercial products hold an important lesson for other scientists: “You can do all the innovating you want in the laboratory, but if you can’t get it out of the university walls you do no one any good.” Go to: PR inside and WRAL LocalTechWire

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