Two Members of the NJIT Community are Named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

Tara Alvarez, a distinguished professor of biomedical engineering at NJIT who studies the links between visual disorders and the brain and develops novel devices to identify and treat them, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Alvarez was one of 169 inventors from 110 research universities, governmental and non-profit research institutions worldwide inducted into the Academy in 2022 in a class that includes members of the National Academy of Sciences and Nobel Laureates. Together, they hold more than 5,000 issued U.S. patents. With her election, there are now 12 NAI Fellows from NJIT, including President Teik C. Lim.

Daniel Henderson, a member of NJIT’s Board of Overseers whose groundbreaking innovation laid the foundation for the development of picture and video messaging on cellular telephones, was also elected to the 2022 class. He and Alvarez will receive their medals at the 12th annual meeting of the National Academy of Inventors in Washington, DC. in June 2023.

With a multidisciplinary team of engineers, computer scientists, artists and clinicians, Alvarez develops instruments to detect and treat the eye motor disorder known as convergence insufficiency (CI), in which the muscles that control eye movements do not coordinate to focus on near objects. Because each eye sees images separately, the person experiences double and blurred vision, headaches and difficulty concentrating. The impact on cognition and learning can be severe, particularly in children.

“The disorder makes it hard to read books, work on a computer or even use a smartphone, and the impact on cognition and learning can be severe. With children, CI is particularly a challenge because it’s the only visual experience they know. Hence, they have never experienced being able to read comfortably,” Alvarez explained. “It also delays the return to sports, work and driving for young people.”

In 2018, she and Chang Yaramothu, an assistant professor at the School of Applied Engineering and Technology won two major international awards for their virtual reality vision therapy platform, including “most innovative breakthrough,” at the annual IEEE Augmented World Expo Europe the leading industry conference for augmented reality technology. The NJIT project, VERVE (Virtual Eye Rotation Vision Exercises), employs virtual reality games to correct the disorder. Backed by a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, she and Yaramothu are using system to study CI in veterans with traumatic brain injury. The disorder is also one of the primary symptoms of concussion.

“So much great science exists within our labs, but it can be a challenge to translate those ideas into broader societal impacts,” said Alvarez, who also won the conference’s “Woman Laureate” award, which recognizes project leadership skills.

Last year, a team led by Alvarez secured a $3.7 million grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health, to establish best practice guidelines that will help clinicians diagnose and treat concussion-related CI. The funding follows a $2 million NIH grant that enabled Alvarez and her longtime clinical partner, Mitchell Scheiman, O.D., Ph.D., the dean of research at Salus University, to first investigate CI in people without head injuries.

“We want to come up with best practices to optimize therapy for individual patients, as well as the means to verify the results,” Alvarez said, noting, “Physicians, for example, have a difficult time clearing people to return to sports, driving or to the battle field – they base their decisions on their experience in identifying symptoms. What they lack are quantitative measures to determine more precisely when it’s safe.”

The group also examines links to the brain, measuring changes in blood oxygen levels in different regions of the brain while it is at rest and while people are moving their eyes, for example, as a way to determine how much energy is produced in these different modes and where it is directed. Following a course of therapy sessions, they measure how consistently neurons in the eye-functioning regions fire, whether cells near those neurons get recruited to help with tasks and whether connections between neurons improve so that signals flow faster and more effectively.

“As an institution focused on applied and translational research, one of our primary goals is to develop devices, backed by the highest standards of scientific evidence and evaluation, that will improve peoples’ lives. This is Tara Alvarez’s mission as well, and one that she executes brilliantly year after year,” said Atam Dhawan, NJIT’s interim provost.

Henderson’s early inventions in 1993 included a non-working wooden prototype now at the Smithsonian Institution, and demonstration of a concept for a personal communication device that later became known as the smartphone. He showed the transmission of wireless picture and video messaging, along with Caller ID from message originators, to a cellular telephone device. These patented features were incorporated in 2002 with the commercial introduction of the MMS standard now used in most every cell phone in the world. 

The technology invented by Henderson was licensed by most of industry and nearly every major telecommunications company and telephone manufacturer in the world. Two of his seminal patents were issued after extensive litigation and numerous, ultimately unsuccessful attempts to invalidate them. One of those patents claiming a 1994 priority date demonstrates the use of a touch display to select picture and video messages received.

“It is a true honor to be selected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. I am grateful to be included in an elite group of distinguished colleagues, scientists and inventors that impact the great challenges of our time,” Henderson said. “As it was once said, 'Implementation – not mere invention – determines the pace of progress.’ In the last thirty years I have witnessed the accelerating pace of progress due in large part to the change in focus from research and patents to commercialization in the innovation ecosystem. I am proud to see that emphasis at NJIT and to play a role in fostering innovation, creativity and diversity in STEM education.”

He founded 14 companies that in total generated over $170 million from licensing agreements with more than 170 companies, many of which commercialized Mr. Henderson’s 31 U.S. issued patents as well as patented innovations of others under his management. He is also touted for his philanthropic work.

“At NJIT, Dan Henderson is a tireless advocate for students and faculty who plays a key role in the ecosystem of innovation here at the university,” said Dhawan. “Not only is he an Overseer and member of the Board of Visitors for the Albert Dorman Honors College, he is a frequent judge for the Undergraduate Research and Innovation Program, student mentor for innovation and invention and chair of the committee which selects the annual recipient of the Excellence in Research Medal.”

The 2022 class of NAI inductees represents “a truly outstanding caliber of inventors,” said NAI President Paul R. Sanberg, in a release. “Each of these individuals have made significant impact through their work and are highly regarded in their respective fields. The breadth and scope of their inventions is truly staggering. I am excited to see their creativity continue to define a new era of science and technology in the global innovation ecosystem."