Su Named to the National Academy of Inventors

Assistant professor of biomedical engineering and optical sciences Judith Su is one of four University of Arizona faculty named to the National Academy of Inventors 2022 class of Senior Members. Su is also a member of the board of scientific counselors for the National Institutes of Occupational Health, sits on the editorial advisory board of the journal Translational Biophotonics, and is a member of Optica.

“Personally, I appreciate the support from the community of inventors, especially Jim Wyant, who nominated me,” Su said. “Professionally, my inventions now form the foundation of my research and are licensed to a company to bring these products to benefit society. I am grateful for this recognition.”

Her work has brought more than $5 million in research to the university and focuses on the development of optical sensors for medical diagnostics and prognostics, environmental monitoring, and basic science research. She has developed a technique known as FLOWER (Frequency Locked Optical Whispering Evanescent Resonator) that can detect single large molecules called “macromolecules” without the use of tags such as fluorescent molecules or quantum dots.

Other UA faculty in the 2022 class are Stanley Pau of the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences, Steven Goldman of the College of Medicine – Tucson, and Robin Polt, professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the College of Medicine – Tucson, the College of Pharmacyand the College of Science. Goldman, Polt and Su are also members of the BIO5 Institute.