Darrah, Li and Ayinde named Ohio State Innovators of the Year

At a special reception held on Thursday, April 20, Thomas Darrah, PhD, professor in the College of Arts and Science's School of Earth Sciences was named The Ohio State University 2023 Innovator of the Year. The award recognizes established Ohio State researchers who are actively working to promote commercialization of university intellectual property, through invention disclosures filed, patents applied for and/or received, technologies licensed or spin-off companies formed.

Also during the event, Jinghua Li, PhD, assistant professor of materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering was named Early Career Innovator of the Year and Oluwatosin Ayinde, a doctoral student in the College of Pharmacy, was named Next Generation Innovator of the Year. The Early Career Innovator of the Year award recognizes Ohio State researchers who are early in their career, actively working to promote commercialization of university intellectual property. The Next Generation Innovator of the Year recognizes postdocs, undergraduate or graduate for innovation and entrepreneurship that has contributed to the development or commercialization of a new technology or a trainee-initiated start-up company whose success is a result of entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

Thomas Darrah | Innovator of the Year

College of Arts and Sciences | School of Earth Sciences

Darrah and his team are focused on three primary areas of research: determining the geological processes that control the migration of fluids (e.g., water, natural gas, oil, carbon dioxide, helium) in the Earth's crust and mantle; developing geochemical techniques that constrain and improve unconventional energy exploration and extraction; and applying traditional isotope geochemistry to evaluate the potential impacts of energy extraction on the environment and human health. Darrah has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the Petroleum Research Fund and the National Children's Study. At Ohio State, he is establishing the Water, Energy and Life Laboratory (WELL) in the School of Earth Sciences. This facility includes a state-of-the-art noble gas isotope ratio mass spectrometer, gas chromatographs and cryogenic laser ablation ICP-MS instrumentation.

Meet the other Innovator of the Year finalists, including:

• W.S. Winston Ho | College of Engineering
• Naduparambil K. Jacob | College of Medicine
• Alan Luo | College of Engineering

Jinghua Li | Early Career Innovator of the Year

College of Engineering | Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Li is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, beginning in September 2019. Prior to joining Ohio State, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor John A. Rogers in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. Li graduated from Duke University in May 2016 with her doctorate degree in Chemistry. Her two focus areas are: fundamental understandings on synthesis chemistry and interfacial properties of thin-film materials as bio-interfaces and engineering efforts on application of these materials for the next generation wearable/implantable biomedical devices to bridge the gap between rigid machine and soft biology. Her faculty position is funded, in part, by the Discovery Themes Chronic Brain Injury program, which has promoted faculty hires and support of critical materials needs in the areas of imaging, diagnosis and treatment of brain injury. Li supports the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, Nanotech West and the Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis with her expertise in the function of biomaterials.

Meet the other Early Career Innovator of the Year finalists, including:

• Shyam Bansal | College of Medicine
• Christo Sevov | College of Arts and Sciences

Oluwatosin (Tosin) Ayinde | Next Generation Innovator of the Year

College of Pharmacy | Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy

Ayinde is a graduate student in the medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy. Her work is focused on the design of novel protein degraders targeting Cyclin Dependent Kinase 9 (CDK9), a key protein in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), in collaboration with two senior researchers. Although CDK9 has been recognized as an important target for CDK9 therapy, small molecule inhibitors have unfortunately failed in the clinic for various reasons. With this in mind, Ayinde has worked on a complimentary approach to targeting CDK9 using protein degraders to overcome some of the limitations observed with the small molecule drugs. Ayinde has published two papers, with an additional paper under review, and has been an inventor on two provisional patent applications within the past year. Prior to beginning her graduate studies in 2019, she worked as a scientist for Thermo Fisher’s bioanalytical R&D area. Following graduation at Ohio State, she will work on postdoctoral studies at the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Her work has been recognized with graduate student research awards from the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy in both 2021 and 2022. She has also been recognized for her efforts with an OSUCCC Pelotonia pre-doctoral fellowship and an American Society of Hematology Minority fellowship. Ayinde earned her bachelor’s degree from East Caroline University in chemistry, including a biology minor, and her master’s degree in medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy from Ohio State.  

Meet the other Next Generation Innovators of the Year finalists, including:

• Tessa Cannon | College of Arts and Sciences
• Rushikesh (Rush) Joshi | College of Engineering