SALT LAKE CITY – November 7, 2024 - BioUtah today announced its 2024 Life Sciences Awards. Five awards will be presented during the 2024 Mayer Brown Utah Life Sciences Summit Nov. 14 at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center Hotel. BioUtah’s annual awards recognize leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs who have made significant contributions to the state’s life sciences industry.
To register for the summit and learn more about the award winners visit utahlifesciencessummit.com.
“We’re excited to unveil this year’s awards,” said Kelvyn Cullimore, president and CEO of BioUtah. “Each individual and company receiving an award has made exceptional contributions to our industry, bringing life-changing medical technologies to patients across the globe.”
“These awards reflect the dynamic leadership and culture of healthcare innovation we have here in Utah,” said Myles Greenberg, MD, CEO of Alucent Biomedical and chair of the BioUtah Board of Directors. “I look forward to celebrating our distinguished award recipients at the summit.”
Awards will be presented as part of the summit’s morning plenary session. The awards are as follows:
Wm. Dean Wallace MD, PhD, CEO of Liger Medical, for his contributions to Utah’s life sciences industry as a physician, innovator, and entrepreneur who, over a stellar career, has pioneered new life-changing technologies, including medical products to improve and advance women’s health.
Wallace obtained an MD and PhD from the University of Utah, then founded and led several medical device companies. Liger Medical is his latest entrepreneurial endeavor, a new company which focuses on treating pre‐cancerous lesions of the cervix with the hope to eradicate cervical cancer world-wide.
He previously served as founder and CEO of Clinical Innovations based in Murray, Utah and CEO of Utah Medical Products based in Midvale, Utah. Under Wallace’s leadership, both companies introduced innovative solutions for women’s health. Clinical Innovations was ultimately sold to Laborie. Both companies continue to operate today. Wallace has taught as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Utah and is listed as inventor on over 20 medical patents related to women’s healthcare medical devices.
Brad Brown, founder, co-chairman of ATL Technology, for his outstanding leadership in expanding the breadth and reach of ATL’s manufacturing footprint which now includes facilities in Costa Rica, China, the United Kingdom and most recently, Minneapolis.
Brad Brown has been a leader in the medical device space for over 20 years. He has a mechanical engineering degree from Brigham Young University and is gifted with a very curious mind. He founded ATL in Springville, Utah, in 1993, and built the company into an integrated designer and manufacturer of finished complex medical device products. ATL Technology currently makes products for nine of the top 10 medical device companies in the world, manufacturing on three continents. The recent acquisitions of facilities in the United Kingdom and Minneapolis will further spur the growth of this important Utah manufacturer and illustrate his skill as an executive in the industry.
Jay Muse, president and CEO of Piper Access, for his bold, inspiring can-do spirit and novel work to deliver new, innovative catheter technologies to improve and save lives. While at Piper Access, he co-invented a novel Intraosseous access that provides the first of its kind blood borne pathogen protection to clinicians. That device was sold to BD in 2019.
His most recent invention, the Stiletto Extended Dwell Catheter was developed at SlipStream Medical and is currently being sold commercially by Avia Vascular. Slipstream Medical merged with Avia Vascular earlier this year.
At his first company, Talon Surgical, he invented and developed the Rook epicardial access device to provide safer access to the heart for procedures such as VT ablation and left atrial appendage closure. That device was sold to Circa Scientific in 2023.
Blackrock Neurotech for disrupting the brain-computer interface (BCI) market with next generation, implantable neurotechnologies that seek to help millions of individuals with paralysis and other neurological disorders walk, talk, hear, see, and feel again. With Blackrock Neurotech’s brain interface technology, patients have operated robotic arms, maneuvered wheelchairs, sent messages, surfed the web, and engaged with digital media using only the power of their thoughts.
The company, co-founded by Florian Solzbacher, president and CSO, and Marcus Gerhardt, CEO, is enhancing and commercializing their technology, the Utah Array, originating from the University of Utah. The Utah Array has been implanted in humans since 2004. It is the core technology in Blackrock Neurotech’s system, which received a Breakthrough Designation from the FDA in 2021.
Vic Hockett, Associate Commissioner of Talent Ready Utah (TRU), Utah System of Higher Education, for his partnership and contributions to workforce development strategies for the life sciences industry, including developing targeted funding programs at institutions of higher education, and supporting industry internships and returnships. During the 2024 legislative session Hockett and TRU worked with BioUtah to champion a program that resulted in $4M being allocated to higher education to train workforce for the life sciences.
Hockett oversees TRU within the Utah System of Higher Education where he focuses on the state’s workforce needs. TRU is specifically charged with connecting academia and industry. Hockett has over 20 years of experience in the advanced manufacturing and public arena. While in industry, he served as an adjunct instructor for Utah Tech and created manufacturing programs for Dixie Tech College. Hockett later served five years as the executive vice president of Dixie Tech College before returning to industry to lead a large manufacturing company as COO.
Hockett returned to the public sector in 2021 as he accepted the position to oversee the efforts of TRU.
