University of Missouri

Dec. 14, 2017

Sheila Grant, professor of bioengineering at MU, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

A University of Missouri bioengineer has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Sheila Grant, a professor of bioengineering in the MU College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, was recognized for her work on optical biosensors and biomaterials used in healthcare diagnostics and treatment. Her work involves integrating soft tissues into biocomposites that help them grow and regenerate. Her research in sensing systems involves microscopic nanotechnologies that improves sensitivity and portability while lowering costs.

Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional accolade bestowed solely to academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.

With the election of the 2017 class there are now 912 NAI Fellows, representing over 250 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. The 2017 Fellows are named inventors on nearly 6,000 issued U.S. patents, bringing the collective patents held by all NAI Fellows to more than 32,000 issued U.S. patents.

On 5 Apr. 2018, the 2017 NAI Fellows will be inducted as part of the Seventh Annual NAI Conference of the National Academy of Inventors in Washington, D.C.