Nanogen, Inc., developer of advanced diagnostic products, announced today that it has agreed to provide $300,000 of funding over a two-year period to support the nanotechnology research of Michael Heller, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and cofounder of Nanogen. Dr. Heller's research under this grant will focus on exploring further use of electric field-based technology for nanofabrication and assembly of nanostructures as well as the integration of nanostructures with other devices. The funding will be used to advance nanotechnology and nanofabrication applications that are related to the intellectual property position held by Nanogen and UCSD while the company focuses its internal efforts on commercial products for medical diagnostics.
“This agreement allows us to support the pioneering work of Dr. Heller and the University,” said Howard Birndorf, chairman and chief executive officer of Nanogen, Inc., who further stated his belief that, “Nanotechnology applications will be the key to future advances in medical research. We believe that development of nanotechnology will enable highly sophisticated, cost efficient point-of-care diagnostics.”
“I am very pleased that Nanogen has agreed to provide this two-year funding to support the nanotechnology research of Dr. Michael Heller,” said Shu Chien, M.D., Ph.D., chair of UCSD’s Department of Bioengineering, professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, and director of the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering. “The Department of Bioengineering is interested in fostering innovative research that can be translated to industrial or clinical applications. Dr. Heller is doing cutting-edge research that will advance our knowledge in the frontier areas of nanotechnology and nanofabrication, and I look forward to seeing the fruits of this academia-industry partnership, which will generate significant knowledge in science and valuable benefits to people.”
Dr. Heller’s ongoing research is based on Nanogen’s electric field-based technology to demonstrate the application of this unique platform in nanofabrication of precision nanoparticles. Nanogen’s patent portfolio currently includes over forty U.S. patents and patent applications based on intellectual property developed by Dr. Heller; over ten of those relate to work on nanofabrication he conducted while he was employed by the company. Nanogen will have a priority position to obtain any intellectual property rights developed under this current research agreement with UCSD.
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