Nature Biotechnology ranked George Georgiou, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering, one of the world’s top 20 translational researchers in 2013.
Georgiou, a renowned biomedical engineer and molecular biologist, is a leading authority in the discovery, development and manufacturing of protein therapeutics. Nature Biotechnology recognized Georgiou for his output of U.S. and European patents issued and papers of translational interest published.
Over his 28-year career, Georgiou has been one of the most active researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. He is co-inventor of a total of 29 U.S. patents and 46 U.S. patent applications (38 published and eight pending). According to Georgiou, 14 patent suites, each comprising multiple patents, have been licensed to 17 biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies.
At UT Austin, Georgiou’s laboratory has developed methods for the discovery, manufacturing and use of therapeutic proteins, and also discovered several protein drugs currently in clinical development.
In 2013, Georgiou and Cockrell School research scientist Everett Stone co-founded Aeglea Biotherapeutic Holdings LLC, an Austin-based, venture-funded company that is pursuing clinical evaluation of two protein therapeutics discovered at UT Austin. Also last year, Georgiou’s group developed technologies for the molecular-level analysis of the human immune responses to disease or vaccination, work that was highlighted in the Nature Biotechnology ranking. Earlier studies by Georgiou’s laboratory led to the development of methods used for the manufacturing of protein drugs for macular degeneration and osteoporosis. These drugs are approved and used widely to treat these diseases.
Georgiou, who holds the Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering #9, is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and in the Molecular Biosciences Department of the College of Natural Sciences.
