Several individuals and organizations in the Triad’s biosciences industry were honored recently with excellence awards by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
The five awards were presented in front of nearly 400 attendees at Triad BioNight, an event held June 30 to celebrate the growth, opportunity and success of the bioscience community in the 12-county Triad region as well as across the entire state.
“Since 2018 alone, we’ve had 100 different announcements in the state of North Carolina representing $10.2 billion worth of investments and the potential of 15,400 new jobs,” said Bill Bullock, senior vice president, economic development and statewide operations at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
The excellence awards were established at the inaugural Triad BioNight in 2005. The winners, profiled below, were selected by an independent regional awards committee.
Academic Development Excellence Award
Terry Howerton, a teacher at Atkins Academic & Technology High School in Winston-Salem, received the Academic Development Excellence Award.
This award is given to an individual or organization for contributions to educational program development or enhancement of workforce skill development, as exemplified through program enrollment, graduation rates, academic institutional recognition and sector leadership. Russ Read, executive director for the National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce, won in 2019.
A teacher for three decades and at the magnet STEM school for 17, Howerton leads Atkins’ biotechnology program. He has helped introduce biotechnology to middle school students through summer camps, recruit students into his courses and inspire students to continue to study bioscience.
Biotechnology Community Leadership Award
The Biotechnology Community Leadership Award was given to Nancy Johnston, executive director of the Piedmont Triad office of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
This award is given to an individual or organization that exhibits leadership through the development of partnerships, collaboration, regional thinking and vision- and action-driven objectives for the betterment of the Triad’s biosciences community. Yonnie Butler, the executive director of the Biotechnology Center of Excellence at Alamance Community College won the award in 2019.
Johnston has held her position for 12 years, joining with the Biotechnology Center in 2010. She brought with her than 15 years of experience in life sciences and technology economic development, business growth strategy, marketing communications and research parks.
Biotechnology Support/Service Award
The Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering’s Institute for Research Technologies (JSIRT) received the Biotechnology Support/Service Award.
This award is given to an individual or organization that provides outstanding support or service leadership by building awareness through communication, policy development and advocacy, funding and support of sustainable efforts. Kenneth Russell, director of medical device development at Wake Forest Innovations, won in 2019.
JSIRT was established in 2019 at the Joint School, an academic collaboration between North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and UNC-Greensboro. The institute serves to support research and development in biotechnology, materials science and engineering through state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.
Entrepreneurial Excellence Award
Jerry Barker and Doug Drabble of Novex Innovations received the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.
This award is given to an individual or organization for success in commercial enterprise development, exemplified through enterprise innovation, business acumen, high growth and community commitment. Jennifer Byrne, CEO of Javara, won the award in 2019.
Novex is a contract development and manufacturing organization based in Winston-Salem. The company manufactures and develops processing for companies in the biomedical industry, specifically in biologics, drug products and medical devices.
Research and Development Excellence Award
The Research and Development Excellence Award was given to the NASA Vascular Team at the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM).
This award is given to an individual or organization for accomplishments in research and development, exemplified through capacity investment, external funding, significant knowledge or technology advances and external recognition. WFIRM’s body-on-a-chip team won in 2019.
This team participated in the NASA Vascular Tissue Challenge, which aimed to develop tissues that could remain alive outside the body for at least 30 days using artificial blood vessels. Over 20 international teams competed in this challenge, and only two teams achieved the goals of the challenge – both from WFIRM.
Also honored at the event was Winston-Salem regenerative medicine startup Plakous Therapeutics, which took first place in the NC Bioneer Venture Challenge, winning $40,000
