Georgetown innovators honored with awards for partnership, entrepreneurship, patents, inventions
Highlights of Georgetown’s 2025 Innovation Awards Ceremony
Innovators at Georgetown University took center stage this month in the annual awards ceremony hosted by the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), celebrating the dedication and ingenuity of researchers who shape the future through their discoveries and inventions
The lunchtime Innovation Awards ceremony honored Georgetown faculty inventors named on U.S. patents, as well as innovators who recently submitted new invention disclosures.
Over the past year, Georgetown has seen tremendous momentum—from an increase in innovator engagement, new invention disclosures, new partnerships formed, and startups launched, said Tatiana Litvin-Vechnyak, vice president for technology commercialization at Georgetown.
“What’s even more exciting is the growing spirit of innovation across our community,” said Spiros Dimolitsas, PhD, senior vice president for research and chief technology officer. “Faculty, clinicians, students, and staff are bringing bold ideas forward, and the awards celebrate that creativity and collaboration.”
Delivering the Innovation Awards luncheon keynote, Elizabeth Dougherty, northeast regional outreach director at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, spoke to the importance of the commercialization journey.
Elizabeth Dougherty, northeast regional outreach director at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, speaks.
“Innovation is crucial to American competitiveness in the global arena. Academic research is paramount to powering our continued progress.”
Elizabeth Dougherty, northeast regional outreach director at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Two Georgetown faculty members were honored as Innovators of the Year:
- Anton Wellstein, MD/PhD, professor of oncology and pharmacology, School of Medicine; member, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown, and
- Alexander Kroemer, MD/PhD, professor of surgery, School of Medicine; director, Center for Translational Transplant Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center; and transplant surgeon, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
Wellstein and Kroemer were recognized for their work on a new diagnostic for tissue injury that could revolutionize the field of liver transplantation. The inventors plan to form a company around the diagnostic, which has the potential to specifically detect tissue damage through the monitoring of cell-free DNA obtained from a blood draw.
“We are deeply appreciative of this recognition. The greatest reward is the discovery itself, and its potential to save lives of the many people in need of liver transplants.”
Anton Wellstein, MD/PhD, professor of oncology and pharmacology, School of Medicine; member, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown
Innovator of the Year award recipients Alexander Kroemer and Anton Wellstein with Spiros Dimolitsas and Tatiana Litvin-Vechnyak (left to right).
“Commercialization makes it possible for us to deliver this innovation to those people in greatest need of its benefits. Our hard work in the lab and the clinic is just the start of the journey. Working with the Office of Technology Commercialization is helping us to move this diagnostic closer to the hands of clinicians and patients.”
Alexander Kroemer, MD/PhD, professor of surgery, School of Medicine; director, Center for Translational Transplant Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center; and transplant surgeon, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
Additional crystal award winners were:
- Partnership Award: Marc Lippman, MD, professor of oncology, School of Medicine, member, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Student Innovator Award: Alexandria Sorensen (C’25), neurobiology student in the College of Arts & Sciences, mentored by Eric Glasgow, assistant professor and director of the Zebrafish Shared Resource at Georgetown
- Entrepreneur Award:
- Charbel Moussa, MBBS, PhD, professor of neurology, School of Medicine; director, Translational Neurotherapeutics Program; and director, Laboratory for Dementia and Parkinsonism, Lewy Body Disease Research Center of Excellence, Georgetown University Medical Center
- Fernando Pagan, MD, professor of and vice chairman of neurology, Georgetown; director of Movement Disorders Program, Georgetown University Hospital, Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence
- Chris Hoyt, CEO, KeifeRx
- OTC Recognition Award: Makarand Paranjape, PhD, associate professor of physics, College of Arts & Sciences; director of GNuLab
Student Innovator awardee Alexandria Sorensen and mentor Eric Glasgow
Partnerships Award recipient Marc Lippman with Dimolitsas and Litvin-Vechnyak
Entrepreneur Award honorees Chris Hoyt and Fernando Pagan with Dimolitsas and Litvin-Vechnyak
OTC Recognition Award recpient Makarand Paranjape with Dimolitsas and Litvin-Vechnyak
The ceremony also honored innovators with patents awarded in the 2024 fiscal year, as well as those who submitted invention disclosures to the office over the same time frame.
Zeinab Abouissa, OTC assistant director of licensing, speaks at the award ceremony.
“Innovators’ engagement with our office is critical to establishing a strong pipeline of innovations for broader societal impact. We encourage Georgetown University faculty, staff, or students who believe they might have a discovery with commercialization potential, to please contact the Office of Technology Commercialization. The team is here to listen, strategize, and help move your innovation forward.”
Zeinab Abouissa, OTC assistant director of licensing
New this year, the ceremony led into a Research and Innovation Showcase co-hosted by Georgetown OTC and Georgetown Entrepreneurship. The showcase featured new technologies, an industry panel, remarks by officials, and a venture fair.
The complete list of awardees and innovators, as well as the corresponding patent descriptions are available on the complete event program here.