Janusz Hankiewicz, research associate, UCCS Center of the University of Colorado Biofrontiers Institute, will receive the UCCS New Inventor of the Year Award from the CU Office of Technology Transfer April 11 during Mountain Lion Research Day festivities.
Hankiewicz’s research focuses on diagnostic medical imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. Along with his UCCS colleagues, he developed improved imaging procedures as well as several improved contrast agents. Contrast agents are substances used to enhance the visibility of body structures such as blood vessels during medical imaging procedures.
Hankiewicz and his collaborators were recently selected to receive a proof-of-concept award from the State of Colorado’s Bioscience Discovery and Evaluation Grant program. The grant will allow the team to further develop a novel contrast agent designed to provide precise internal temperature measurements, which can be used to detect some cancers and some types of inflammation.
Additionally, temperature mapping is used to monitor the tissues surrounding metal implants during imaging procedures and to guide certain therapeutic procedures. By providing precise, non-invasive 3D temperature sensing, this novel contrast agent represents a major improvement over conventional temperature monitoring, which is usually performed with invasive, single-point measurements.
The TTO will present New Inventor of the Year Awards at other CU campuses in separate events during April and June.
The CU Technology Transfer Office pursues, protects, packages, and licenses to business the intellectual property generated from research at CU. The TTO provides assistance to faculty, staff, and students, as well as to businesses looking to license or invest in CU technology. For more information about technology transfer at CU, visit www.cu.edu/techtransfer.
–Lindsay Lennox, CU Office of Technology Transfer
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