Hackensack Meridian CDI Researcher Loudig Earns NJ R&D Council’s Emerging Tech Award

A Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) researcher was honored with the Research & Development Council of New Jersey’s inaugural Emerging Tech Award - the first such distinction for a scientist from Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive health network.

Olivier Loudig, Ph.D., an associate member of the CDI, received the inaugural Emerging Tech Award for his innovative efforts on biomarker discovery for early detection of metastasizing breast cancer and lung cancer, at the 45th annual Edison Patent Awards Ceremony and Reception in November.

Dr. Loudig’s award was announced on the list of winners by the Research & Development Council of New Jersey (R&D Council) on July 24. For the 2024 honorees, the R&D Council included 14 patents created by 66 inventors and five individual award winners.

‘This is a major recognition for Dr. Loudig’s innovative, exciting work,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, the chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. “It is also a fantastic milestone for our health network, which continues to develop bold new ideas to push the envelope for 21st-century health care.”

“Olivier Loudig’s work is a great example of the CDI’s science accelerating discoveries into innovations to change lives as soon as possible,” added Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, Hackensack Meridian Health’s president of Academics, Research and Innovation, founding chair of the Hackensack Meridian Health Research Institute, and associate dean of Clinical Integration and professor and chair emeritus of Urology at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

Dr. Loudig has developed research programs for the discovery of cancer biomarkers, with projects focused on breast, lung, prostate, and bladder cancers. Working with his senior research associate, Megan I. Mitchell, Ph.D., they have designed technologies and received patents for the isolation of circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs), and particularly contained in exhaled breath condensates, the analysis of which may facilitate early and non-invasive detection of lung diseases and cancers. Dr. Loudig joined Hackensack University Medical Center in 2017, and was one of the five founding laboratories to join the CDI at its inception in 2019.

“Refining the threshold of detection” through minute isolation of unique and disease-specific biomarkers is how Dr. Loudig has described his work. Recent peer-reviewed publications o his laboratory’s work has demonstrated the potential of an exhaled-breath test for non-invasive detection of human lung cancer.

Dr. Loudig’s honor, the Emerging Tech Award, is presented to a New Jersey individual, team or organization whose early stage inventions or innovations have the potential to make a significant impact on the marketplace. Individual award winners alongside Dr. Loudig include: Computer science pioneer Brian Kernighan, Ph.D., New Brunswick Development Corporation President Christopher Paldino, Rowan University Provost Anthony Lowman, Ph.D., and New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology Executive Director Judith Sheft.

At the November 21 event, 2024 Edison Patent Award winners were also honored: BASF Environmental Catalyst ad Metal Solutions, Bristol Myers Squibb, Colgate-Palmolive Company, ExxonMobil Technology & Engineering Company, Merck & Co., Nokia Bell Labs, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Qualcomm Incorporated, Rowan University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Siemens Technology, and the U.S. Army. The recognized patents range from a surgical robot designed for femur fractures to technology that improves mobile communications.

Individual award winners were vetted and selected by the Council’s Board. Edison Patent Award winners were selected by a team of R&D Council researchers who evaluated patents for the significance of the problem, utility/socio-economic value, novelty, and commercial impact. All winning patents must have at least part of the technical and/or scientific work completed in New Jersey.

“This year’s theme of ‘Jersey Innovates, The World Takes,’ a nod to the iconic Lower Trenton Bridge slogan , celebrates New Jersey’s research community’s global impact. From the inventions of the lightbulb to transistors to antibiotics, New Jersey has been – and continues to be – in the forefront of life-altering innovations,” said Colleen Ruegger, RPh, Ph.D., Chair of the R&D Council Board of Directors and Executive Director, Technical Research & Development at Novartis. “We are thrilled to celebrate these 14 patents, 66 inventors, and five innovation leaders as they continue to make a transformative impact on the world from right here in New Jersey.”

“We are thrilled that the discovery and innovation of Olivier Loudig continues to earn support, and accolades, from the scientific community,” said David Perlin, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer and executive vice president of the CDI.

The 45th annual Edison Patent Awards Ceremony and Reception took place on Thursday, November 21, 2024 at Bell Works in Holmdel, N.J.

* Dr. Loudig and Hackensack Meridian Health have a financial interest in the company EV Diagnostics.