A record five University of Nebraska–Lincoln innovators have been named senior members of the National Academy of Inventors, an honor that recognizes excellence in translating research into tangible impact.
Husker researchers Shubhendu Bhardwaj, Nicole Buan, Forrest Kievit, Rebecca Lai and James Schnable are among the 230 senior members selected this year — the NAI’s largest-ever class — who collectively hold more than 2,000 U.S. patents and are key players in mentoring the next generation of inventors. NAI launched the Senior Member program in 2018 to recognize emerging inventors’ success in patents, licensing and commercialization efforts that improve public welfare and economic development.
“At Nebraska, we recognize that our research improves peoples’ lives and helps society,” said Jen Nelson, interim vice chancellor for research and innovation. “We’re proud to invest in programs, resources and expertise that help our researchers move their innovations from the lab to the marketplace, benefiting farms, schools, hospitals and communities across Nebraska and beyond. It’s exciting that the National Academy of Inventors is recognizing our faculty’s success in this arena.”
The institutional record reflects Nebraska’s longtime commitment to translating academic research into real-world impact. The university is home to the award-winning Nebraska Innovation Campus, a hub of collaboration among faculty, industry and entrepreneurs. NUtech Ventures, UNL’s technology commercialization affiliate, and the university’s Industry Relations team accelerate innovation through partnerships and initiatives that streamline the lab-to-market pathway. Recent examples include NUexpress, a startup-friendly express license, and the Faculty Innovation Ambassador Program, aimed at strengthening relationships between Husker faculty and NUtech.
The 2026 class of senior members will be recognized during the Senior Member Induction Ceremony at NAI’s 15th Annual Conference in Los Angeles, June 1-4.
Rebecca Lai, professor of chemistry, designs and constructs portable electrochemical biosensors for point-of-care medical diagnostics and detection of environmental contaminants, particularly chemicals in water. The sensors do not require additional reagents, are reusable and are not affected by background substances, enabling their direct use in complex samples like blood, soil or food. Lai has developed more than 30 sensors, including electrochemical DNA, aptamer-based and peptide-based platforms, capable of detecting a wide range of target analytes, from heavy metals to intact bacterial cells. In addition, she has pioneered new electrochemical SELEX methods that rapidly identify DNA or RNA molecules that bind to specific targets, which boosts the sensors’ accuracy and streamlines development. Lai holds five U.S. patents related to these technologies, which together address a longstanding gap in diagnostics, a field in which the last widely available real-time biosensor, the glucose sensor, dates to the 1960s.
