Dr. Stephen Quake, professor of bioengineering at Stanford University and founder of Cambridge biotechnology firm, was named the winner of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize this past Monday. The award, granted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is given to inventors of breakthrough discoveries made midway through their careers. Dr. Quake was named winner of the award for his invention of technology that helps structure pharmaceuticals that may to cure cancer.
"It's very humbling," said Dr. Quake, 43. "It's a wonderful recognition not so much of my work, but the tremendous collaborations I've enjoyed over my career."
Joshua Schuler, Executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, referred to Dr. Quake as "an inventor's inventor. He's creating tools he and others can use to identify and work on a multitude of problems."
Dr. Quake is also responsible for creating prenatal screening for Down Syndrome. He is also the co-founder of Verinata Health, Inc., a company which develops non-invasive prenatal tests to detect fetal chromosomal abnormalities.
Dr. Quake has created three other companies in addition to Verinata Health, Inc. One of those is Helicos Biosciences Corp., located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was created following Dr. Quake's exhibit of the first single molecules of DNA.
"At the time, it was the world's fastest, cheapest sequencer," Dr. Quake said. "I started looking into it because I was interested in how biology works one molecule at a time."
Having completed his invention, Dr. Quake is eager to start working on new inventions in different areas.
"I've never been one to rest too long in one area," he said. "I like keeping one foot in academia and one foot in industry."
Dr. Quake will be honored on June 22 at EurekaFest, a conference hosted by the Lemelson-MIT program, that gives high school inventors the opportunity to network with prizewinners for four days. Dr. Quake says the funds from his winnings are likely to be placed into his children's college fund.
