BioMedSA has selected Dr. Rena Bizios, the Lutcher Brown Endowed Chair Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio to receive the 2020 Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience. She is a globally-recognized researcher making groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of cell-material interactions at the tissue/implant interface with applications in implant biomaterials, tissue engineering, and tissue regeneration. Bizio’s Research Has Improved Fields in Biomedical Engineering Bizios, a chemical/biomedical engineer by training, joined the faculty at UTSA in 2006, and her research has focused on cellular and tissue engineering, tissue regeneration, biomaterials (including nanostructured biomaterials), and biocompatibility. Her work has been used to develop a generation of biomaterial implants and principles that are applied today in multiple medical devices used to rehabilitate musculoskeletal tissues and promote tissue regeneration. In addition, her research into nanoparticle interaction with cells and tissues has led to the development of a plethora of applications for nanomaterials ranging from drug delivery to stimulating specific biological responses.
Honoring Leaders of Healthcare Innovation
The BioMedSA Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience celebrates local and national innovators in the healthcare and bioscience industry, including patient care, education, research and development, leadership, public policy and medical technology.
The 2020 Winner of the BioMedSA Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience
BioMedSA will be announcing the recipient of the 2020 Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience soon.
2020 BioMedSA Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience
Traditionally, the Innovation Award is presented at a formal dinner in San Antonio, where healthcare and bioscience industry leaders come together to celebrate healthcare innovation. The dinner highlights and contributes to the collaborative spirit of the life science industry in San Antonio. Old associations are rekindled and new relationships formed as industry leaders interact during the social hour preceding the dinner.
In 2020, the event will be held virtually, in the evening of September 17 and will feature small group networking, a special surprise guest, and of course, the presentation of the Innovation Award in an online platform. The evening will also showcase healthcare innovation in San Antonio regarding COVID-19.
2020 Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Benefactor Sponsors
Rochal Industries
SA Chamber of Commerce
Broadway Bank
Past Recipients
- 2019 – Stephen Badylak, D.V.M., Ph.D., M.D., discovered the use of the extracellular matrix
- 2018 – Alan Peterson, Ph.D., ABPP, the nation’s foremost research leader in combat-related PTSD
- 2017 – Leonard Pinchuk, Ph.D., D.Sc. prolific biomaterials scientist and inventor
- 2016 – George E. Peoples, Jr., M.D., FACS, cancer immunotherapy pioneer
- 2015 – W.E. (William Esco) Moerner, Ph.D., Nobel Prize-winning chemist
- 2014 – Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., nationally-renowned pediatric transplant surgeon and former Chancellor of The University of Texas System
- 2013 – Robert S. Langer, Sc.D., world-renowned engineer, medical inventor and entrepreneur in the areas of tissue engineering and biomaterials
- 2012 – Larry Miller, M.D., pioneer of leading intraosseous vascular access technology (2012)
- 2011 – Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D., President and Co-founder of the Institute for Systems Biology
- 2010 – C. Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D., Dean of Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio
- 2009 – Dean Kamen, internationally acclaimed inventor and founder of DEKA
- 2008 – San Antonio pediatric surgeons Drs. Robert Campbell, Melvin Smith and Kaye Wilkins from UT Health San Antonio and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital
- 2007 – Karen Davis, Ph.D., President of The Commonwealth Fund in New York
- 2006 – Julio Palmaz, M.D., of UT Health San Antonio, inventor of the Palmaz stent
Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2018 – Basil A. Pruitt, Jr. M.D., one of the founding fathers of modern trauma and burn medicine
