Seven individuals, companies and organizations recently were presented with 2017 Life Sciences Awards at the Utah Life Science Summit for their contributions to the industry.
The awards were announced by BioUtah, a nonprofit life science trade association. They recognize significant contributions to medical innovation, industry, and the life sciences community at large.
“We congratulate this year’s award winners. They are all phenomenal success stories,” said Kelly Slone, president and chief executive officer of BioUtah. “Each person and organization being recognized has played a significant role in advancing Utah’s life sciences community. We’re honored to celebrate their contributions to life-saving innovation, education and building thriving new enterprises from the ground up right here in our state.”
Honorees include:
• Outstanding Individual Contribution Award: Ashok Khandkar, chief executive officer of Xenecor, and Kelly Powers, former vice president of science and technology for C.R. Bard, who were recognized for substantial scientific, service and/or professional contributions to Utah’s life sciences community.
Khandkar was recognized for his 30-year career in founding and capitalizing ventures and launching groundbreaking products. He has 40 U.S. and international patents. In 2010, he won the Utah Governor’s Science and Technology Medal for successfully pioneering a new class of biomaterials for orthopedics.
Powers was recognized for his work at Bard Access Systems. During his tenure there, research and development became one of the company’s fastest-growing divisions. Powers holds 50 U.S. patents, largely in medical devices, and more than 200 international patents. In 2011, he received the Utah Governor’s Science and Technology Medal.
• Outstanding Entrepreneurial Spirit Award: Travis Sessions, chief executive officer of Biomerics LLC and a founding partner of Med Venture Holdings, recognized for starting Biomerics in 2009 from a custom contract injection molding company formerly known as Utah Plastics Group. Today, Biomerics has seven business units with operations in four U.S. locations.
Biomerics has experienced a 400 percent growth in sales in its eight years of doing business as a full-service polymer solution provider and contract manufacturer for the medical device and biotech industries. Sessions has also demonstrated a home-grown commitment to entrepreneurship as Biomerics will be relocating to a new corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City that will expand its device, design and manufacturing capabilities and accommodate more than 500 employees. Biomerics is also an employer partner in the Medical Innovations Pathways program.
• Outstanding Corporate Contribution Award: Nelson Laboratories, recognized for demonstrating the highest standards of quality, commitment to community-building and success that highlights Utah as a desirable place to do business. Nelson dates back to its founders, Dr. Jerry R. Nelson and Lynda S. Nelson. Son Jeffrey Nelson, the company’s president, has carried on his parents’ legacy, leading a 600-plus-employee, global organization that helps life sciences manufacturers bring products to market.
Nelson is a business unit of Sterigenics International LLC and is also an employer partner in the Medical Innovations Pathways program.
• Outstanding Public Service Award: Granite School District, recognized for its initiative, leadership and partnership in helping to establish the Medical Innovations Pathways program. Superintendent Martin Bates accepted the award for the district. Sandi Hemmert, CTE specialist for the district, along with several instructors, worked closely with BioUtah in implementing a 2016 Utah Cluster Acceleration Partnership (UCAP) grant to develop a Medical Innovations Pathways pilot program that has now expanded to four additional school districts.
• Medical Innovations Pathways Student Achievement Award: Timothy “Cort” Olschewski was awarded this first-of-its-kind award and $1,500 scholarship after becoming one of the first students to successfully complete the pathways program and earn a medical innovations certificate.
In addition to his academic achievement, Olschewski, a 2017 graduate of Hunter High, was recognized for working part-time at Merit Medical, where he’s gaining practical experience while pursuing a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Utah. Merit is an employer partner and mentor in the Medical Innovations Pathways program, offering Olschewski the opportunity to earn while he learns.
• Willem J. Kolff Lifetime Achievement Award: Hunter Jackson, co-founder and chairman of the board of Navigen. Jackson also was co-founder, chairman and CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc., which developed products for patients with kidney disease and the rare diseases of short bowel syndrome and hypoparathyroidism.
Jackson’s history of contributing to the industry in Utah includes serving on the board of directors of USTAR and being awarded the 2002 Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology and 1998 Ernst & Young Utah Entrepreneur of the Year awards. Prior to the founding of NPS in 1986, Jackson was on the faculty of the University of Utah School of Medicine, focusing his research in the area of developmental neurobiology.