Two Duke professors, Aravind Asokan and Adam Wax, have been elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, among the highest professional distinctions for academic inventors. They join a class of 169 US Fellows drawn from 127 universities, government agencies and research institutions across 40 states, recognised for inventions that have made a tangible difference to society and for mentoring the next generation of inventors.
Asokan is recognised for his work in gene therapy, in particular the engineering of adeno-associated viral vectors, the delivery vehicles that carry therapeutic genes into cells and that underpin a growing number of approved genetic medicines. Designing vectors that reach the right tissues efficiently remains one of the field's central challenges, and Asokan's laboratory has become one of its most influential contributors.
Wax is honoured for his inventions in medical imaging and optics, work translating light-based measurement techniques into practical tools with genuine clinical reach. Together, the two elections underline a pattern in Duke's research enterprise: fundamental advances in molecular engineering and biophotonics that are deliberately carried towards patents, products and patients, rather than left on the laboratory bench.