Seven Patents Awarded During 2005

The following patents were awarded to The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston during 2005. Information is courtesy of the Office of Technology Management. Each listing includes the patent title and UT inventors’ names and titles.

Covalently Reactive Transition State Analogs and Methods of Use Thereof (method for the generation, selection and inhibition of catalytic antibodies), Sudhir Paul, Ph.D., professor and director, Chemical Immunology Research Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical School (MS) and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), and Yasuhiro Nishiyama, Ph.D., associate professor and associate director, Chemical Immunology Research Center, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, MS and GSBS.

VMP-Like Sequences of Pathogenic Borrelia (Lyme disease vaccine), Steven J. Norris, Ph.D., the Robert Greer Professor in the Biomedical Sciences and vice chair for research, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, MS and GSBS, and Jerrilyn Howell, research associate, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, MS.

Collagen-Binding Proteins from Enterococcal Bacteria, Barbara Murray, M.D., the J. Ralph Meadows Professor in Internal Medicine and director, Division of Infectious Diseases, MS and GSBS, and Sreedhar R. Nallapareddy, Ph.D., instructor, Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, MS.

RH Blood Group Antigen Compositions and Methods of Use (methods for the isolation and purification of serologically active human Rh antigens), L. Scott Rodkey, Ph.D., professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, MS and GSBS.

Intraluminal MRI Probe, James T. Willerson, M.D., president, UT Health Science Center at Houston, holder of the Edward Randall III Chair in Internal Medicine, and the Alkek/Williams Distinguished Professor; and S. Ward Casscells, M.D., the John Edward Tyson Distinguished Professor in Cardiology and vice president for biotechnology.

Prion Isomers, methods of making, methods of using, and compositions and products comprising prion isomers, Rowen Chang, Ph.D., professor and director, Research Center for Protein Chemistry, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM) and Bao-Yuan Lu, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, IMM.

Unique compositions of zwitterionic phospholipids and bisphosphonates and use of the compositions as bisphosphate delivery systems with reduced GI toxicity, Lenard M. Lichtenberger, Ph.D., professor, Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, MS and GSBS.