[January 09, 2015]

Georgia Bio Announces Innovation Award Winners

Georgia Bio today announced recipients for the Innovation Award. The Innovation Award will be presented to EndoChoice, Inc. for their Fuse-Full Spectrum (News - Alert) Endoscopy technology; Stephen Hsu, Ph.D. of Camellix, LLC; Leonard Reeves, MD, FAAFP of Georgia Regents University; and Tom Robertson of Cogent Education.

The Georgia Innovation Award honors the department, institution, company or individuals who are forging new ground by thinking outside traditional paradigms to create some unique technology. The recipients will receive their awards at the Georgia Bio Annual Awards Dinner January 22, 6 pm to 9 pm, at Atlanta's Fox Theater. Visit www.gabio.org/awards for more details.

EndoChoice, Inc. - Fuse. Full Spectrum Endoscopy.

The Fuse(R) Full Spectrum Endoscopy(R) System is comprised of colonoscopes and gastroscopes with multiple imagers so doctors can see more of the GI tract for diagnosis and treatment. The Fuse colonoscope provides a field of view of 330 degrees versus 170 degrees from traditional endoscopes. In a recent clinical study published in The Lancet Oncology Fuse found 69% more pre-cancerous polyps than traditional colonoscopes. Learn more at www.endochoice.com/fuse.

Stephen Hsu, Ph.D. of Camellix, LLC

Dr. Stephen Hsu, tenured professor at the Georgia Regents University, earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Wuhan University after a six-year forced labor experience in a rural farm in China.

After moving to the US, he earned a Master of Arts degree in molecular biology from Montclair State University in New Jersey and a Ph.D. in cell biology and anatomy from the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City before a career change to television. During the four years as a television commentator and sports anchor at ESPN (News - Alert) International, Dr. Hsu taught at the National University of Singapore prior to receiving the Ruth L. Kirstein Research Service Award from the National Cancer Institute, and conducted cancer research at New York University.

Dr. Hsu joined the Georgia Regents University in 1999 and serves as Course Director for both Nutrition and Biochemistry courses. Dr. Hsu has joint appointments in the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, GRU Cancer Center, and VA Medical Center Augusta (News - Alert). He had founded a company Camellix, LLC to develop and market the next generaton of green tea technology-derived products to treat dry mouth, dandruff, cold sores, and viral infections with natural ingredients. Camellix, LLC is a start-up biotechnology company develops and markets three product lines under the trademarks of MighTeaFlow, ReviTeaLize and AverTeaX, with a strong position to develop new prescription drugs and sanitizers against genital herpes, shingles and many other viruses. Dr. Hsu has been selected to give a TED talk in 2014. He and wife Tracy live in Evans, Georgia with their sons, Alexander (13) and Andrew (11).

Leonard D. Reeves, MD, FAAFP

Born in Rome Georgia, the son of a welder and textile worker, Dr. Reeves is a product of the public schools, graduating from Model High School in Floyd county Ga. His undergraduate degree is in Middle Grades Math and Science. After teaching in the public schools at the middle grade, high school and tech school levels, he made the decision to go to medical school.

Working days and taking pre-med classes at night at Kennesaw State University he then attended Mercer University School of Medicine. He did his Family Medicine Residency in Rome GA and practiced in Hawkinsville and Cochran Georgia. He moved to Coosa GA where he was in private practice until he was hired as Faculty for the Family medicine residency at Floyd Medical Center. He became clinic director and assistant residency director during 10 years there. In November 2010 he became the Assistant Dean for the Northwest GA Clinical Campus of Georgia Health Sciences University in Rome.

He has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, served as the group's President and Chairman of the Board of Directors. He has served the American Academy of Family Physicians as a member of the House of Delegates, as chair of the subcommittee that plans the Academy's Annual Meeting, and has served as Chair of the Commission on Continuing Professional Development where he helped bring all continuing medical education arms of the Academy together to share resources. He has been the author of several newspaper articles, has a regular radio show that discusses medical topics, has presented on numerous occasions to local, state and national audiences. He is also one of the authors of "Keywords in Family Medicine" a textbook for the profession. He has also authored a book on Diabetes "Sweethearts no More" that he uses as the instructional tool for his Diabetic Group meetings where he practices now at the Rome Free Clinic. He is on their Board of Directors and serves as Vice Chair. He is involved in the community as a member of the Rome Rotary Club, and sitting on the executive committee and the Board of the Greater Rome Area Chamber of Commerce.

His interests include Medical Education (undergrad), Continuing Medical Education (Grad level), Telecommunications, Internet educational opportunities, Primary Care, while personal interests include Family, Farming, Photography and restoring classic Mustangs.

Tom Robertson, Cogent Education

Born and raised in Manchester, England, Tom Robertson moved to Athens in 2001 to take a post-doctoral researcher position in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia (UGA). He was awarded several Federally funded biomedical research grants and became an Associate Professor at UGA in 2011.

With his wife, Louise, Tom currently runs a successful online media sales company (est. 2008), and is the CEO of Interactive Science in 3D (IS3D, est. 2010). IS3D is a start-up science education company that makes cross-platform interactive software for use in schools that to date has raised over $3.8M in non-dilutive capital from state and federal small business programs. IS3D's software focuses on helping students develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and will be brought to market as Cogent Education in the Spring of 2015 (www.cogenteducation.com). Tom resigned from his tenured position at UGA in August 2014 to lead IS3D full time.

For a list of past Georgia Bio Award recipients, click here. All 2015 Award Recipients are listed at www.gabio.org/awards.

Georgia Bio (www.gabio.org) is the private, non-profit association whose members include pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, medical centers, universities and research institutes, government groups and other business organizations involved in the development of life sciences related products and services.

Note to Editors: Credentialed members of the news media are invited to attend. Registration is complimentary. Please contact Maria Thacker (404-920-2042; [email protected]).

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]