President's Innovation Prize

Tackling blindness with nanotechnology

To tackle blindness caused by open angle glaucoma, Brandon Kao, Rui Jing Jiang, and Adarsh Battu came up with Visiplate, a nanoscale ocular implant that shunts away excess fluid.

Ali Sundermier



In the News


The Washington Post

Fighting food waste, one apple at a time

Strella Biotechnology, a company housed in Pennovation and co-founded by then junior Katherine Sizov, a winner of the 2019 President’s Innovation Prize, is working to reduce food waste using biosensors to monitor ethylene, a natural gas that ripens fruits and vegetables. “If we don’t solve this food waste problem now, it will become a lot more expensive later,” Sizov said. “As our climate becomes more volatile, this is going to crop up more and more.”

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Philadelphia Business Journal

Strella Biotechnology, whose backers include Mark Cuban, expands its presence at Pennovation Works

Strella Biotechnology, a company developing technology to reduce food spoilage, has moved into a 2,000 square foot space at the Pennovation Lab. The company’s founders won the $100,000 Penn President’s Innovation Prize in 2019.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

9 Penn students win big prizes to fund projects to promote social change

Penn has awarded nine graduating seniors with the annual President’s Engagement and Innovation prizes. President Amy Gutmann said, “Each of the prize recipients has demonstrated a purpose-driven desire to get out and make a difference in their community, across the country, and around the world.”

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