ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 23, 2004 – Two Whitaker investigators are among this year’s top 100 young innovators named by Technology Review magazine.

The two investigators are Rebekah Drezek, Ph.D., the Stanley C. Moore Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, and Darrell Irvine, Ph.D., Karl Van Tassel Assistant Professor in the Biological Engineering Division at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The TR100 are innovators under age 35 chosen because their technologies are expected to make a dramatic impact on the world. Nominees are recognized for their contribution in transforming the nature of technology in computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology and medicine. Technology Review, published by MIT, is the world’s oldest publication for technology innovation.

Drezek develops photonic technologies that use targeted nanomaterials to detect, monitor, and treat breast and gynecologic cancers painlessly, and at a fraction of the cost of conventional approaches. Irvine crafts nanoparticles that would release chemicals inside the body to "program" immune cells to combat viral infections like HIV, to tolerate transplants, or even to destroy malignancies.

The honorees were selected by the editors of Technology Review and a panel of judges including leaders in academia or industry. The TR100 will be honored at Technology Review's Emerging Technologies Conference September 29-30 at MIT.

Last year’s TR100 included five Whitaker investigators and a former Whitaker graduate fellow.

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Here is the Technology Review article, including the TR100 for 2004.