Leonard Pinchuk, Ph.D.

The National Academy of Engineering and Ohio University announced today that the 2019 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize will be given to Julio Palmaz, Leonard Pinchuk, Richard Schatz, John Simpson, and Paul Yock for innovations leading to the widespread adoption of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), previously known as angioplasty with stent or coronary angioplasty. The $500,000 biennial prize, which recognizes a bioengineering achievement that significantly improves the human condition, cites PCI for “seminal contributions to coronary angioplasty, enabling minimally invasive treatment of advanced coronary artery disease.”

“The Russ Prize recipients personify engineering creations that advance health and healthcare every day,” said NAE President C. D. Mote, Jr. “The PCI makes a remarkable contribution to patient well-being, helping millions afflicted with advanced coronary artery disease and significant angina… Continue reading.

Dr. Pinchuk’s innovations include the first commercially successful angioplasty balloon catheter, a market-leading drug-eluting stent and a novel microshunt that prevents the progression of vision loss caused by glaucoma.

(SAN ANTONIO) August 7, 2017 – BioMed SA, the non-profit corporation founded in 2005 to help promote and grow San Antonio’s leading industry, healthcare and bioscience, will present its 2017 BioMed SA Award for Innovation in Healthcare and Bioscience to Leonard Pinchuk, Ph.D., D.Sc. Dr. Pinchuk is the inventor or co-inventor of numerous biotechnologies that have benefitted hundreds of millions of lives around the world. This award honors individuals from both San Antonio and the United States who have put novel ideas into action with tangible, transformational results. Dr. Pinchuk, who is based in Miami, Florida, will accept the award at BioMed SA’s annual award dinner in San Antonio on September 13, 2017.

Dr. Pinchuk was selected for this honor based on his many achievements in the innovation and development of numerous globally-impactful inventions, including the world’s first commercially successful and most widely-used angioplasty balloon catheter, a longtime market-leading drug-eluting coronary stent (TAXUS®), and the InnFocus MicroShunt®, a minimally-invasive device that prevents the progression of vision loss due to glaucoma. His major accomplishments also include invention of the helical wire stent, the modular stent-graft, two biostable implantable biomaterials (polycarbonate urethane and poly(styrene-block-isobutylene-block-styrene) or SIBS), and next-generation intraocular lens materials. He is a serial innovator and entrepreneur with more than 120 issued U.S. patents and 90 publications, and is the founder or co-founder of 10 biomedical companies… Continue reading.