UCF chemist’s firm chosen as runner up for Cade award

Orlando-based Nano Discovery Inc. was the second runner up for the annual Cade Museum Prize, awarded to newer Florida companies with cutting-edge products.

Created by University of Central Florida chemist Qun Huo, Nano Discovery has developed a next-generation, nanoscience-based diagnostic process to detect cancer and other diseases.

In 2010, the Cade Museum Foundation launched an annual competition to encourage Florida’s early inventors and entrepreneurs. The Cade Museum Prize is open to all Florida residents.   Entries are accepted beginning in November of each year and the winner is announced in early May.   The judging is divided into four rounds, with the Sweet 16 finalists announced after Round 2 and the Final Four after Round 3.  Over 30 judges – made up of entrepreneurs, technology transfer experts, venture capitalists, and academics – take part in the evaluation of the entries throughout the four rounds.

The Prize received 120 entries in 2012 and was won by Phil Hipol and Stuart Hart of Tampa for eCath, an electronic catheter stethoscope.  The first runner up was Ian Knapp of Gainesville for ReliOx, a new method to produce Chlorine Dioxide; the second runner up was Qun Huo of Orlando, for NanoDLSay, which uses gold nanonparticles to analyze and detect cancer molecules, and the third runner up was Steven Hsu of Gainesville, for a transdermal insulin patch.  The 2011 competition drew almost 100 entries was won by Ryan Martin and Steve Miller of Gainesville, who invented a plastic capable of biodegrading in 5-10 years, compared to 1000 years for other plastics.

Read more about Qun Huo and her research here.