Professor Wenxin Wang wins 2025 NovaUCD Innovation Award

11 April 2025

^{Professor Wenxin Wang}

(opens in a new window)Professor Wenxin Wang from the UCD School of Medicine has won this year’s NovaUCD Innovation Award.

A leading skin and wound healing research expert, Professor Wang focuses on areas of biomaterials, stem cell and gene therapy for the treatments of skin wounds, and cartilage and bone regeneration.

Professor Wang’s intellectual property portfolio includes 12 invention disclosures to NovaUCD, being a named inventor on more than 30 patents, and launching and commercialising multiple developed technologies onto the market.

He is also the founder of three start-up companies, including Vornia, Bláfar and Branca Bunús, a UCD spin-out biotech company.

Branca Bunús develops and commercialises therapies for patients suffering from genetic disorders.

“I am delighted to receive this award from NovaUCD – my dream and passion is translating my scientific discovery into real-world applications to benefit humankind,” said Professor Wang.

“In the years ahead I will keep pursuing this life mission of mine.”

The NovaUCD Innovation Award recognises excellence in innovation and of successes achieved in the commercialisation of UCD research or other intellectual activity over several years.

^{Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact; Mike McGearty; Dr Cormac Farrelly; Dr Emer Doheny; Dr Jayne Carberry; Professor Orla Feely; Professor Wenxin Wang; Dr Siobhan Mullan; Professor Kevin O'Connor; Professor Peter Kennedy and Dr Ciaran O'Beirne, Head of Knowledge Transfer Services at NovaUCD}

A total of seven awards were presented by Professor Orla Feely, President of UCD.

“UCD is committed to delivering impact from our leading research and innovation across a broad range of disciplines,” said Professor Feely.

“The NovaUCD Innovation Awards, which have become a key annual event, recognise the achievements of our research, innovation and entrepreneurial communities and demonstrate our strength in developing talent and creating and applying knowledge to deliver impact.”

Winners of the 2025 NovaUCD Innovation Awards:

• Professor Wenxin Wang – NovaUCD Innovation Award
• Dr Emer Doheny and Dr Jayne Carberry – NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award
• Professor Peter Kennedy – NovaUCD Licence of the Year Award
• LaNua Medical – NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year Award
• Mike McGearty, co-founder and CEO of Meili – NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award
• Dr Siobhan Mullan – NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award
• Professor Kevin O’Connor – NovaUCD Innovation Champion of the Year Award

(opens in a new window)Dr Emer Doheny from the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and (opens in a new window)Dr Jayne Carberry from the UCD School of Medicine won the NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award.

The award recognised their novel medical device that can measure and train individual muscles in the throat using a moveable oral sensor. The invention aims to address swallowing difficulties associated with neurodegenerative disease, as well as respiratory sleep disorders including obstructive sleep apnoea.

Meanwhile, (opens in a new window)Professor Peter Kennedy from the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering received the NovaUCD Licence of the Year Award.

Professor Kennedy has developed methods to address unwanted extra signals, known as ‘wandering spurs’, in frequency synthesisers (used in radios, televisions and phones). 

His technology was implemented in a product released by Analog Devices, a global semiconductor manufacturer, in 2024.

The NovaUCD Spin-out of the Year Award went to LaNua Medical, which is developing a medical device designed to make it easier, safer and cheaper for doctors to treat internal bleeding, vascular malformations and many benign and malignant tumours.

LaNua Medical was co-founded in 2024 by Dr Cormac Farrelly from the UCD School of Medicine, (opens in a new window)Dr Eoin O’Cearbhaill and Dr Sajjad Amiri from the UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Tom Fitzmaurice, former Vice-President at Medtronic.

Mike McGearty, co-founder and CEO of Meili, won the NovaUCD CEO of the Year Award.

Headquartered at NexusUCD, Meili builds technology that enables car rental companies to integrate and partner directly with airlines and travel brands, delivering a friction-free traveller experience.

The 2025 NovaUCD Consultancy of the Year Award went to (opens in a new window)Dr Siobhan Mullan from the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine.

Since joining UCD in 2021, Dr Mullan has undertaken several consultancy projects through ConsultUCD, and transferred her expertise to deliver long-term impactful improvements in animal welfare to clients worldwide.

(opens in a new window)Professor Kevin O’Connor from the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science won the NovaUCD Innovation Champion of the Year Award.

Through his research activities, Professor O’Connor champions the development of a sustainable global economy. He also holds a number of leadership roles, including Director of BioOrbic, Ireland’s bioeconomy research centre.

By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, UCD University Relations (with materials from Micéal Whelan, UCD Research and Innovation)

To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie