Professor Wenxin Wang wins 2025 Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Award
11 April 2025
Professor Wenxin Wang
from the 小鸟体育 School of Medicine has won this year鈥檚 Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Award.
A leading skin and wound healing research expert, Professor Wang focuses on areas of biomaterials, stem cell and gene therapy for the treatments of skin wounds, and cartilage and bone regeneration.
Professor Wang鈥檚 intellectual property portfolio includes 12 invention disclosures to Nova小鸟体育, being a named inventor on more than 30 patents, and launching and commercialising multiple developed technologies onto the market.
He is also the founder of three start-up companies, including Vornia, Bl谩far and Branca Bun煤s, a 小鸟体育 spin-out biotech company.
Branca Bun煤s develops and commercialises therapies for patients suffering from genetic disorders.
鈥淚 am delighted to receive this award from Nova小鸟体育 鈥 my dream and passion is translating my scientific discovery into real-world applications to benefit humankind,鈥 said Professor Wang.
鈥淚n the years ahead I will keep pursuing this life mission of mine.鈥
The Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Award recognises excellence in innovation and of successes achieved in the commercialisation of 小鸟体育 research or other intellectual activity over several years.
Professor Kate Robson Brown, 小鸟体育 Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact; Mike McGearty; Dr Cormac Farrelly; Dr Emer Doheny; Dr Jayne Carberry; Professor Orla Feely; Professor Wenxin Wang; Dr Siobhan Mullan; Professor Kevin O'Connor; Professor Peter Kennedy and Dr Ciaran O'Beirne, Head of Knowledge Transfer Services at Nova小鸟体育
A total of seven awards were presented by Professor Orla Feely, President of 小鸟体育.
鈥溞∧裉逵 is committed to delivering impact from our leading research and innovation across a broad range of disciplines,鈥 said Professor Feely.
鈥淭he Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Awards, which have become a key annual event, recognise the achievements of our research, innovation and entrepreneurial communities and demonstrate our strength in developing talent and creating and applying knowledge to deliver impact.鈥
Winners of the 2025 Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Awards:
- Professor Wenxin Wang 鈥 Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Award
- Dr Emer Doheny and Dr Jayne Carberry 鈥 Nova小鸟体育 Invention of the Year Award
- Professor Peter Kennedy 鈥 Nova小鸟体育 Licence of the Year Award
- LaNua Medical 鈥 Nova小鸟体育 Spin-out of the Year Award
- Mike McGearty, co-founder and CEO of Meili 鈥 NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award
- Dr Siobhan Mullan 鈥 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award
- Professor Kevin O鈥機onnor 鈥 Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Champion of the Year Award
from the 小鸟体育 School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and from the 小鸟体育 School of Medicine won the Nova小鸟体育 Invention of the Year Award.
The award recognised their novel medical device that can measure and train individual muscles in the throat using a moveable oral sensor. The invention aims to address swallowing difficulties associated with neurodegenerative disease, as well as respiratory sleep disorders including obstructive sleep apnoea.
Meanwhile, from the 小鸟体育 School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering received the Nova小鸟体育 Licence of the Year Award.
Professor Kennedy has developed methods to address unwanted extra signals, known as 鈥榳andering spurs鈥, in frequency synthesisers (used in radios, televisions and phones).
His technology was implemented in a product released by Analog Devices, a global semiconductor manufacturer, in 2024.
The Nova小鸟体育 Spin-out of the Year Award went to LaNua Medical, which is developing a medical device designed to make it easier, safer and cheaper for doctors to treat internal bleeding, vascular malformations and many benign and malignant tumours.
LaNua Medical was co-founded in 2024 by Dr Cormac Farrelly from the 小鸟体育 School of Medicine, and Dr Sajjad Amiri from the 小鸟体育 School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Tom Fitzmaurice, former Vice-President at Medtronic.
Mike McGearty, co-founder and CEO of Meili, won the NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award.
Headquartered at Nexus小鸟体育, Meili builds technology that enables car rental companies to integrate and partner directly with airlines and travel brands, delivering a friction-free traveller experience.
The 2025 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award went to from the 小鸟体育 School of Veterinary Medicine.
Since joining 小鸟体育 in 2021, Dr Mullan has undertaken several consultancy projects through Consult小鸟体育, and transferred her expertise to deliver long-term impactful improvements in animal welfare to clients worldwide.
from the 小鸟体育 School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science won the Nova小鸟体育 Innovation Champion of the Year Award.
Through his research activities, Professor O鈥機onnor champions the development of a sustainable global economy. He also holds a number of leadership roles, including Director of BioOrbic, Ireland鈥檚 bioeconomy research centre.
By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, 小鸟体育 University Relations (with materials from Mic茅al Whelan, 小鸟体育 Research and Innovation)
To contact the 小鸟体育 News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie