PhD student nominated as a finalist for Next Generation Innovator of the Year Award
Xucheng Hou, a PhD student in The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology, was nominated as a finalist for Ohio State’s 2022 Next Generation Innovator of the Year Award. The award recognizes recipients’ hard work advancing a culture of research and innovation excellence across the university. The winner will be announced on April 13 at the Office of Research’s 2022 Research and Innovation Showcase.
Since Hou started his graduate studies in August 2017, he has published 16 articles in journals such as Nature Nanotechnology and Nature Reviews Materials and has invented three patented technologies at the College of Pharmacy designed to address unmet therapeutic challenges.
The first technology proposed using engineered macrophages containing antimicrobial peptides to treat sepsis, a deadly infection that affects more than 30 million people worldwide each year and is the leading cause of death in hospitals, made worse due to antimicrobial resistance.
A member of Dr. Yizhou Dong's lab, Hou has also made significant contributions to novel lipid-nanoparticle mRNA delivery systems, demonstrating that a combination of mRNA engineering and lipid nanoparticles can be used as potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
Recently, Hou has worked on improving current cancer immunotherapy through mRNA delivery. Clinical evaluations for this technology will start in 2023.
“The nomination as a finalist for the 2022 Next Generation Innovator of the Year Award is a great recognition for my academic work,” Hou said. “This also inspires me to make continuous efforts to develop innovative lipid nanoparticle-mRNA therapeutics to benefit health outcomes in the future.”
Hou will be formally recognized for his work during a virtual program at the showcase. The winner of the award will be announced at the end of the event after all candidates and their research are introduced in professionally produced videos highlighting themselves and their work.
“Xucheng Hou is a truly outstanding candidate – fully deserving of the Next Generation Innovator of the Year,” said Cynthia Carnes, PharmD, PhD, senior associate dean for research and graduate studies and professor of outcomes and translational sciences at the College of Pharmacy. “He is not only extremely talented but also a person who contributes to the innovation missions of the College of Pharmacy and the university.”