Dr. Richard Marconi named senior member of the National Academy of Inventors
Known internationally for his pioneering work developing tests and vaccines for Lyme disease, Richard Marconi, Ph.D., is one of two VCU faculty to receive the research organization’s honor this year.
Richard Marconi, Ph.D., in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology (Photo by Sha Aguado, VCU School of Medicine)
Richard Marconi, Ph.D., a professor and researcher in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, has been named a senior member by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
NAI senior members are faculty, scientists and administrators who have created technologies that can someday impact society – or already have. Senior members also have success in patents, licensing and commercialization and educating the next generation of inventors.
Marconi has dedicated his career to diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, the most prevalent tick-borne disease in the U.S. He developed a vaccine for canines that has been on the market since 2016 and is working on a vaccine for humans. His team is also studying a test for diagnosing leptospirosis, a widespread and potentially deadly infection caused by a bacteria found in the kidneys of infected animals and spread through urine into the environment. His tests use special proteins called chimeritopes, made by combining parts of different proteins to create a single protein that can detect the bacteria.
“It has been remarkably satisfying to bring new vaccines and diagnostic tests to the market that are actively contributing to the improvement of both human and veterinary health,” Marconi said. “I am truly grateful and honored to have been selected by my peers as a senior member of National Academy of Inventors.”
Marconi is one of two VCU faculty in the 2024 class of NAI senior members, and will be inducted alongside Martin Safo, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the VCU School of Pharmacy.
“Drs. Marconi and Safo are illustrative of a faculty who are advancing VCU’s mission to not only generate new knowledge, but to translate that knowledge into new innovations that improve the quality of life for millions of people — and in Dr. Marconi’s case, pets,” said P. Srirama Rao, vice president for research and innovation at VCU and a NAI senior member. “It’s largely thanks our entrepreneurs across campus that VCU is a top 20 most innovative university. We congratulate both inventors on their recognition by the NAI and extend our gratitude to all the honorees from our peers across the country.”
This year’s class of NAI senior members is the largest to date and hails from 60 NAI institutions in the U.S. Collectively, they are named inventors on more than 1,000 U.S. patents, of which 344 are licensed technologies and commercialized products.
VCU’s new senior members, as well as new NAI members and fellows, will be inducted into the organization at a VCU NAI chapter event on March 20 at Maymont in Richmond, Va. The 2024 class of senior members will be celebrated at NAI’s annual conference in June.
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