Associate Professor Jerome Fox
Jerome Fox, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at the 麻豆视频, has been named a senior member of the .听NAI senior membership recognizes听faculty, scientists and administrators for their contributions to听innovation, including patents, licensing, commercialization听and technologies aimed at听benefiting society.
鈥淚t is a wonderful honor,鈥� said Fox, who has one issued patent and two patents pending. 鈥淭ranslating our academic work into technology that has the potential to change lives鈥攏amely, to yield new medicines for patients who need them鈥攈as been a team effort. I am thankful to the wonderful group of scientists and engineers who have worked, and who are still working, to make this happen.鈥�
At CU Boulder, Fox鈥檚 research group is engineering microbes to facilitate the discovery of biologically active compounds, paving the way to develop novel drugs and therapeutic agents to address unmet medical needs. The group is also developing innovative methods for measuring and manipulating cell signaling using light, which could lead to new therapies for complex diseases. Their broad interests also include the development of sustainable and efficient methods to produce oleochemicals to help meet the rising demands for renewable fuels.
Fox鈥檚 research group has uncovered novel inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B)鈥攁n elusive target for treating diabetes, obesity and cancer鈥攁nd provided a new framework for using synthetic biology to address challenging drug targets.
In 2021, Fox commercialized his work by founding Think Bioscience, which licensed his intellectual property from CU Boulder to develop new medicines. The company, which has raised more than $25 million, is developing drugs to treat Rett Syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects one in 10,000 women; researchers there are also developing a cancer medicine for patients who do not respond to traditional immuno-oncology therapies.听听
NAI senior membership also recognizes faculty听mentorship of young inventors. Fox received听the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Faculty Award from his department twice, and in 2023, he was honored with听the Dean鈥檚 Performance Award for Teaching, an听annual recognition given听to one faculty member in the college.