Two 黑料老司机 faculty members, recognized for their groundbreaking discoveries and innovations in chemical engineering to treat cancer and other challenging diseases and nanomaterials engineering for multifunctional manufacturing applications, are among the 2024 Fellows selected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Election to NAI Fellows is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.
They are USF Preeminent Professor Jianfeng Cai in the Department of Chemistry and Professor Ashok Kumar in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. NAI Fellows are known for the societal and economic impact of their inventions, contributing to major advancements in science and consumer technologies. Their innovations have generated over $3.2 trillion in revenue and generated 1.2 million jobs.
Meet this year鈥檚 USF honorees:
Jianfeng Cai
Jianfeng Cai, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor and a USF Preeminent Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the 黑料老司机. The research in his laboratory is focused on the expansion of interdisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry and biology to discover novel peptidomimetics AApeptides that modulate protein-protein interactions involved in critical cellular processes. Understanding how these compounds interact with proteins will help to reveal mechanisms governing