Top innovators nominated for national nods

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This article was published 10/5/2012 (3173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DR. Magdy Younes is a nominee for this year's national Manning Innovation Awards for a medical technology he developed at the University of Manitoba about 20 years ago.

"It takes a long time to get something new in the medical community," Younes said Friday. "It takes time to introduce a concept that is quite different from usual practice."

Younes's proportional assist ventilator (PAV) is a critical-care device that helps with the breathing needs of a patient, while allowing the patient complete control over all aspects of their breathing pattern.

The distinguished professor emeritus and former head of the respirology section at the University of Manitoba's faculty of medicine is one of four Manitoba nominees for the prestigious award.

The technology Younes developed is licensed to Covidien PLC, a medical-device company based in Dublin, Ireland.

Royalties earned from the licensing of PAV have been a backbone of the University of Manitoba's $2-million-a-year revenue stream from its Technology Transfer Office.

The top Manning Award includes a prize of $100,000. There's also a $25,000 award and two $10,000 prizes in this 30-year-old program founded by David Mitchell, former CEO of Alberta Energy Co.

The Ernest C. Manning Foundation recognizes Canadian citizens who have developed and successfully marketed a new concept, process or procedure whose work demonstrates intellectual achievement, uniqueness and originality, development, commercialization and economic and/or social impact.

The other 2012 Manitoba nominees are:

-- Christina Laham Paganelli -- After undergoing a harrowing series of personal health calamities, Paganelli developed her own raw, organic whole-food beverage now sold in stores across the country, called Drinkme. It is one of the only beverages on the market that incorporates whole kale as the main ingredient. Drinkme contains about five servings of fruit and vegetables in every bottle, including seven grams of plant protein, five grams of fibre and 900 per cent of normal daily vitamin C requirements.

-- Kerry Green and Geoffrey Gyles -- Wolf Trax DDP Micronutrient company manufactures leading-edge, research-proven micronutrients and plant nutrition products. The company has developed a dry dispersible powder (DDP) micronutrient formulation that includes zinc, boron, manganese, iron, copper, calcium and two proprietary mixes. Its patented formula provides growers a more effective and efficient fertilizer application.

-- Dr. Pradip Maiti -- An antibody vaccine for the prevention of gastrointestinal diseases and improvement of livestock growth performance. The use of antibiotics in livestock is banned in Europe and similar restrictions are being considered for North America. Maiti has developed a disease-prevention process through the development of pathogen-specific polyclonal antibodies in chicken eggs.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca