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member of the Accreditation Board for Engineer-
ing and Technology (ABET). This major accom-
plishment positioned BMES as the lead society
for the accreditation of all biomedical engineering
programmes nationwide. To support these ABET-
related expenses, he was successful in securing
funding from the Coulter Foundation. In October
2009, Professor Athanasiou was named Editor-In-
Chief for the Annals of Biomedical Engineering,
the flagship publication of BMES.
His first company,
OsteoBiologics
, was founded
based on ProfessorAthanasiou’s patents for biode-
gradable scaffolds for cartilage repair and arthro-
scopic evaluation. This company, which devel-
oped nine FDA approved products, was acquired
by Smith & Nephew in 2006.
Diabetica Solutions
was founded based on Profes-
sorAthanasiou’s work to alleviate stress and to pro-
vide an expedient means of identifying pathology
in diabetic feet; the company has three FDA prod-
ucts that have been licensed to larger companies.
VidaCare
, formed based onProfessorAthanasiou’s
patents for intraosseous infusion, has brought to
the market another three FDAapproved products.
His newest company,
Ariston Medical
, is de-
veloping technologies to address arthritic joints.
Based on his innovative inventions, he has been
the recipient of some very prestigious awards (the
Thomas Edison Award, the Marshall Urist Award,
the V.C. MowMedal) while his technologies have
been widely recognised. It is worth mentioning
that the Wall Street Journal in 2008 selected his
intraosseous infusion approach as the most inno-
vative technology in all fields.
Currently, Professor Athanasiou is jointly appoint-
ed in Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic
Surgery at our University, the University of Cali-
fornia, Davis (one of the top 20 public universities
in the U.S.), at the rank of Distinguished Professor.
This is the highest rank that can be attained at the
University of California, reserved for the faculty
members who have achieved the highest level of
scholarship.”
Professor Lavernia concludes: “As he exemplifies
a superior level of achievement in engineering,
please consider this letter to be my strongest and
most enthusiastic endorsement of Professor Atha-
nasiou for the Nemitsas Prize.”
Winner Dr Kyriacos A. Athanasiou poses with attendees