Innovative Solutions

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Peter Lobel, left, and David Sleat, right, professor and associate professor, respectively, in Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, discovered the cause of a progressive childhood illness known as Batten disease.

Photography: 

Nick Romanenko; courtesy David Sleat

The New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame gave its 2015 Innovators Award to Peter Lobel and David Sleat, professor and associate professor, respectively, in Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, who conduct research  at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine. Lobel and Sleat, two of seven to receive the honor during an October awards  ceremony, discovered the cause of a progressive childhood illness known as Batten disease, or Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (LINCL), a rare but devastating disorder caused by gene mutations that leads to premature death by 8 to 12 years of age. Lobel and Sleat have laid the groundwork for developing effective therapeutics for treating LINCL, for which  there has been no effective treatment, by administering TPP1 protein to reduce symptoms.

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Joseph Goffreda, associate professor of plant biology and pathology at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, was recognized for breeding a hybrid peach.

Joseph Goffreda, associate professor of plant biology and pathology at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, was one of seven people to receive the Inventor of the Year Award. Goffreda CC’83, the director of the Rutgers Fruit and Ornamental Research Extension Center, was recognized for breeding a hybrid peach, which has a combination of attributes attractive to commercial producers and consumers, yet is resistant to major diseases, particularly bacterial spot.