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ATLANTA — Entrepreneur and Regents’ Professor of Chemistry Jenny J. Yang travelled to Bahrain this month to represent Georgia State University at the 2024 World Business Angel Investment Forum (WBAF) Congress. During the event, which gathers global leaders, angel investors and private equity funds, she was honored with the prestigious Disruptive Innovation Award as part of the WBAF World Excellence Awards Ceremony.
Through the World Excellence Awards, the World Business Angel Investment Forum celebrates high growth and success in the equity and capital market — recognizing the fastest-growing brands and acknowledging the founders, angel investors, crowd funders and early stage venture capital investors behind them.
The Disruptive Innovation Award celebrates trailblazers whose achievements in innovative research, technology and entrepreneurship have significantly impacted the global business, entrepreneurship and investment landscape. Yang’s selection for this honor underscores her exceptional leadership in advancing disruptive technologies and her commitment to fostering innovation that addresses critical healthcare challenges.
“We are pleased and proud that the innovation taking place here at Georgia State is being recognized at the global level,” said Donald Hamelberg, interim vice president for research and economic development at Georgia State. “Dr. Yang’s dedication to translating new knowledge into real-world impact is remarkable, and this award is well deserved.”
As part of the WBAF Congress, Yang joins a cohort of esteemed dignitaries, entrepreneurs, investors and academicians contributing to discussions about the role of multistakeholder partnerships.
“Representing WBAF USA on this influential stage is a great honor,” said Yang, who is founder and CEO of InLighta BioSciences, a company born out of her research at GSU. “We are excited to connect with investors, collaborators and other high-growth businesses.”
Lisa Armistead, dean of The Graduate School and one of the leads of Georgia State’s partnership with WBAF alongside GSU Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer L. Jared Abramson, shared congratulations.
“As a highly regarded faculty member in our College of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Yang exemplifies Georgia State’s commitment to research as an R1 university,” Armistead said. “This prestigious award reflects the global impact of her work and the difference it can make in early disease detection and the fight against cancer.”
Joanne Mitchell, director of the GSU Office of Technology Transfer & Commercialization which licenses Yang’s innovations to Inlighta Biosciences, said, “We are excited that Dr. Yang’s innovations are being recognized among these top-level players. It showcases the tangible effects our research and commercialization efforts have in the real world.”
Georgia State University is an R1-designated research university dedicated to student success, innovative research and scholarship, creativity, and making a greater impact upon the local community and beyond. With five university-wide research centers and numerous centers and institutes at the college and school levels, Georgia State’s interdisciplinary, dynamic and productive research enterprises address major health and societal challenges.
As an affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the World Business Angel Investment Forum is committed to collaborating globally to empower the economic development of the world by fostering innovative financial instruments for startups, scaleups, innovators, entrepreneurs and subject matter experts, and to promoting gender equality and women’s participation in all sectors of the world economy.