COLUMBUS, Ohio ââ¬â John Finer, a professor in Ohio State Universityââ¬â¢s Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, today (April 23) received the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Centerââ¬â¢s (OARDC) 2009 Directorââ¬â¢s Innovator of the Year Award.
He was recognized for his many contributions to solving basic and applied problems in molecular biology. He is a leading researcher in the genetic transformation of soybeans and the improvement of legumes.
ââ¬ÅFiner has managed to move discoveries closer to the marketplace via the patenting and licensing process,ââ¬Â OARDC Director Steve Slack said in announcing the award at OARDCââ¬â¢s Annual Research Conference here.
ââ¬ÅAmong other innovations, Finer has invented a robotic image-capturing system that digitally captures data and images in real time,ââ¬Â Slack said. ââ¬ÅThrough this system he is able to reconstruct and animate plant developmental events that are critical to understanding molecular processes and are extremely useful in training students as the next generation of molecular biologists.ââ¬Â
A patented petri dish that builds up less moisture inside and a patented way to insert genes into plant material using sound are also among his inventions.
The gene-insertion method alone has generated some $470,000 in licensing fees for the university.
Finer is widely recognized in the field of developmental plant biology and is often called upon as an industry consultant and legal expert witness.
He received the 2005 Ohio State University Gamma Sigma Delta Research Award, has been a U.S. Department of Agriculture competitive-grants program panel member and serves as co-editor of the journal Crop Science.
The award ââ¬â a plaque, $1,000 to the winner, and $2,500 to the operating account of the winnerââ¬â¢s research program ââ¬â honors innovation and entrepreneurship by OARDC scientists, either individually or in teams.
OARDC (http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/) is the research arm of Ohio Stateââ¬â¢s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and is the largest university agbioscience research center in the nation.