Houston scientist named to inventors academy

A University of Houston (UH) scientist has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in recognition of her work in drug development. 

Diana Shu-Lian Chow, professor of pharmaceutics and director of the Institute of Drug Education and Research at UH, is among 168 new fellows announced on Dec 15. 

She will be inducted in April 2016 at the US Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia. With this latest class, the number of National Academy of Inventors (NAI) fellows grows to 582. 

Chow, best known for her work developing innovative pharmaceutical formulations and drug delivery systems, said she is honored by the recognition and especially pleased by the impact of parenteral Busulfan. 

Chow and collaborators developed Busulfan, an intravenous drug that has dramatically improved the safety of stem cell transplants for leukemia patients. It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1999. 

"Before the invention of Busulfan, transplant patients had to take 35 pills every six hours for four days. Often there were side effects and vomiting. Now this can be done with a total of 16 injections in four days," said Chow. 

The drug helps the transplanted cells to infuse better with the patient. Now used in more than 65 percent of all transplants for acute leukemia patients in North America, it has cut the rate of transplant-related complications in the first three months from 45 percent to less than 5 percent. The one-year mortality rate has dropped to less than 10 percent, compared with more than 50 percent previously. It's also safe for use in children. 

Chow and her co-inventors were named 2009 Inventor of the Year by the Houston Intellectual Property Lawyers Association for their work. 

Born in Hong Kong and raised in Taiwan, Chow has worked at UH for almost 35 years. Much of her work has been with anti-cancer agents; she also holds patents for drugs used to treat lung cancer and pulmonary infections. In all, she holds 10 issued and pending patents.