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Jennifer Forbes
Communications & Public Affairs
732-235-6356, jenn.forbes@umdnj.edu
Noah Weisleder, PhD, Awarded Prestigious
Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award
Piscataway, NJ -- The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) have awarded NoahWeisleder, PhD, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the 2011 Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award. The award, which recognizes an exceptional entrepreneur working to commercialize research conducted during a post-doctoral fellowship, was presented at the NPA’s Annual Meeting on March 25 in Bethesda, Md.
Dr. Weisleder, a resident of Dunellen, N.J., is co-founder and chief scientific officer for TRIM-edicine, a biotechnology company located in North Brunswick, N.J., that is researching how various proteins can be used as therapeutic agents to target mechanisms that cause damage to muscle and other tissues in disorders including muscular dystrophy, cardiovascular disease and acute lung injuries. Dr. Weisleder and other researchers at TRIM-edicine hope to use these discoveries to produce biopharmaceutical agents that not only can potentially reverse the damage associated with these diseases, but also may prevent the occurrence of the initial injury leading to chronic disease complications.
“Postdoctoral fellows play a critical role in the success of our research efforts at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School,” said Terri Goss Kinzy, PhD, interim senior associate of research at the medical school and Senior Associate Dean at UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “We applaud the efforts of the PDA and the Kauffman Foundation to recognize the contributions of postdoctoral fellows, especially Dr. Weisleder.”
In addition to researching how such proteins may be used to repair tissue damage, Dr. Weisleder teaches medical and graduate students at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, respectively, in addition to mentoring postdoctoral fellows at UMDNJ. Dr. Weisleder’s laboratory at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School focuses on the affects of calcium signaling in muscle contraction and how disruption of normal calcium handling within the body leads to muscle diseases. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Foundation of UMDNJ.
Dr. Weisleder received his bachelor’s degree with distinction from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass., and his doctorate degree in molecular and cellular biology from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex. He received an American Heart Association fellowship while a post-doctoral fellow in the department of physiology and biophysics at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2003 and joined the department as a faculty member in 2008.
Based upon his doctoral and post-doctoral work, Dr. Weisleder has published numerous articles as author or co-author in peer-reviewed scientific journals including Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Circulation, Journal of Cell Biology and Journal of Cell Science. He is a member of several scientific societies including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Heart Association – Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, the American Society of Cell Biologists, the Biophysical Society, the International Society for Heart Research, and the New York Academy of Sciences.
According to the Kauffman Foundation, entrepreneurial postdoctoral scholars benefit society and the economy when they bring their research to the market. The Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award encourages entrepreneurial excellence in the scientific community. It is awarded annually to an individual who must hold a doctorate degree and have completed postdoctoral training in the United States, and who has made significant progress in commercializing her or his research in a way that will benefit society. The Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur recipient receives a $10,000 honorarium.
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About UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
As one of the nation’s leading comprehensive medical schools, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. In cooperation with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the medical school’s principal affiliate, they comprise New Jersey’s premier academic medical center. In addition, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School has 34 other hospital affiliates and ambulatory care sites throughout the region.
As one of the eight schools of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey with 2,800 full-time and volunteer faculty, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School encompasses 22 basic science and clinical departments, hosts centers and institutes including The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels for more than 1,500 students on its campuses in New Brunswick, Piscataway, and Camden, and provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs. To learn more about UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, log on to rwjms.umdnj.edu. Find us online at www.Facebook.com/RWJMS and www.twitter.com/UMDNJ_RWJMS.
About the Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people's eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. It also works to prepare students to be innovators, entrepreneurs and skilled workers in the 21st century economy through initiatives designed to improve learning in math, engineering, science and technology. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and has approximately $2 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation on www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.
About the National Postdoctoral Association
Founded in 2003, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit national organization of postdoctoral scientists, postdoctoral administrators, research universities, professional societies and other supporters dedicated toward improving the postdoctoral experience. The NPA is a member-driven organization, with the work largely done through standing committees. Since its founding, the NPA has assumed a leadership role in addressing issues confronting the postdoctoral community that are national in scope, requiring action beyond the local level. Key alliances are being forged at all levels, and new standards and policies proposed by NPA are being considered and adopted by federal agencies and research institutions through the United States. For more information on the NPA, visit www.nationalpostdoc.org.
