Five faculty members from Florida State University have been named Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for 2026. The new inductees are Pradeep Bhide, Ava Bienkiewicz, Christian Bleiholder, Yan-Yan Hu, and Ulf Trociewitz. With these additions, FSU now has ten NAI Senior Members among its faculty.
NAI Senior Members are recognized for their achievements in patents, licensing, and commercialization that have made a significant impact on society. This year’s class is the largest to date and includes individuals from 82 institutions worldwide. Collectively, this group holds more than 2,000 U.S. patents.
“This recognition from the National Academy of Inventors is a testament to the inventiveness and impact of these faculty members,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “Their research is making positive change in the world, and I’m proud to celebrate their achievements.”
The 2026 class will be honored at NAI’s 15th Annual Conference in Los Angeles from June 1-4.
Pradeep Bhide is a professor in the College of Medicine and directs the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases. He leads teams focused on gene therapy and precision medicine for children with rare diseases. In 2024, he helped start the Sunshine Genetics Pilot Program, which offers free whole genome sequencing to newborns in Florida to identify treatable conditions early.
Ava Bienkiewicz serves as an associate professor in biomedical sciences at FSU’s College of Medicine. Her research addresses protein structure and interactions related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. She leads projects translating molecular discoveries into potential medical treatments.
Christian Bleiholder is a professor in chemistry and biochemistry who heads a lab developing methods like tandem-trapped ion mobility spectrometry (tandem-TIMS) to study protein folding and assembly. His work supports understanding complex proteins involved in diseases and therapeutics.
Yan-Yan Hu is also a professor in chemistry and biochemistry as well as an affiliate at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab). Her research advances solid-state NMR and MRI techniques used to study energy storage materials at the atomic level.
Ulf Trociewitz works at MagLab focusing on high-temperature superconducting magnets used for nuclear magnetic resonance applications. He holds six patents and leads a $1.2 million project funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences aimed at developing advanced NMR magnets with multifilament superconductors.
The induction highlights FSU’s ongoing contributions to scientific innovation through research spanning medicine, chemistry, physics, materials science, and engineering.
