BATON ROUGE – The National Academy of Inventors, or NAI, has named 38 academic inventors to the August 2020 class of NAI Senior Members. Among these are Mark Batzer, a LSU Boyd Professor and the Dr. Mary Lou Applewhite Distinguished Professor with the Department of Biological Sciences at LSU.

His research interests include comparative and evolutionary genomics, mobile element biology, computational biology and forensic genomics. Batzer spent his first six years as a faculty member in the Departments of Pathology, Genetics and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. In 2001, he moved to join the Department of Biological Sciences at LSU in Baton Rouge where he has remained since.

NAI Senior Members are active faculty, scientists and administrators from NAI Member Institutions who have demonstrated remarkable innovation producing technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society. They also have growing success in patents, licensing and commercialization.

Nomination for a NAI Senior Member by an individual’s supporting institution is a distinct honor and a significant way for the organization to publicly recognize its innovators on a national level.

At their host institutions, Senior Members will continue to foster a spirit of innovation, while educating and mentoring the next generation of inventors.

Batzer holds multiple patents in forensic DNA analyses, along with his former graduate student Dale Hedges and current staff scientist Jerilyn Walker, which have been commercialized. In addition, he and his research group have published more than 290 original research articles including many with undergraduate, graduate student and postdoctoral co-authors.

“Being elected to NAI Senior Member status is a great honor! I would not have been elected to NAI Senior Member status if not for the years of hard work and dedication by all of the current and former members of my laboratory and the support of Louisiana State University. I can’t think of another institution where I would have been better positioned to succeed or would rather be part of. GEAUX Tigers!” Batzer said.

This latest class of NAI Senior Members represents 24 research universities, government and non-profit research institutes. They are named inventors on over 397 issued U.S. patents.

“NAI Member Institutions support some of the most elite innovators on the horizon. With the NAI Senior Member award distinction, we are recognizing innovators who are rising stars in their fields and the innovative ecosystems that support their work,” said Paul R. Sanberg, NAI president. “This new class is joining a prolific group of academic visionaries already defining tomorrow.”

Following a nomination for NAI Senior Member, individuals undergo a rigorous selection process by the NAI Advisory Committee, which is composed of elected NAI members and other professionals considered pioneers in their respective fields. Senior Members are elected biannually, and nominations are accepted on a rolling basis. Nominations are currently being accepted for the next Senior Member class. A full list of NAI Senior Members is available on the NAI website.

Visit http://batzerlab.lsu.edu for more information about Batzer’s lab and patents.