Institution:Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the University at Buffalo
James F. Garvey, PhD, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences professor of chemistry, with John Lordi, PhD, research professor in the UB Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
The powerful air-sterilization device eradicates airborne pathogens, such as avian flu, SARS and influenza viruses, as well as airborne biological pathogens, such as anthrax. It can create sterile environments anywhere—from government buildings to mass transit systems to military bases. Applied to health care, the BioBlower could be a powerful antidote to hospital-acquired infections, which kill 100,000 people a year.
A grant of $674,900 from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) in 2006 enabled Buffalo BioBlower Technologies, a spin-off company that licensed the technology from UB, to develop a prototype and take it into clinical trials.