Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 1999)
Tuesday, August 5, 1999 Weather forecast Today Partly Cloudy High 81, Low 56 Wednesday Partly Cloudy High 85, Low 61 Trying times The Chicago Cubs’No. 1 draft pick, Ben Christensen, pitches to resurrect his reputa tion after an infamous beaning/PkGti 5 Road kill The Ems let a 4-3 lead slip away and lose 10-4 on the road at Boise /PAGE 8 An independent newspaper Volume 101, Issue 13 University of Oregon www.dailyemerald.com A MAN OF MANY PATENTS Catharine KendalVEmerald University organic chemistry professor Dr. John Keana casually sits in his office in Klamath Hall. Keana holds a model of Cerestat, one of his patented molecules and a potential treatment for stroke and head trauma. Professor patents for a profit Organic chemistry professor Dr. John Keana owns more than 40patents in the United States and world wide By Troy Foster for the Emerald When speaking of inventors, names like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers may come to mind. But unknown to many, the University is also home to in | ventors, many of them professors and most of them teachers in the sciences. Leading the way is Dr. John Keana, an organic chemistry profes L sor, who holds more than 40 ^ patents both in the United States W and world wide. ► In fact Keana has more patents than any other academic in the state I of Oregon. “I only recently learned that,” Keana said, mentioning that all of his patents are shared with fellow scientists. “It’s a non-event. It’s just a statistic. It’s kind of like home runs — somebody’s got to have the most.” Keana’s beginnings as an inventor date back to his childhood. As a boy growing up on a farm, he and some childhood friends invented a marble launcher by combining water and explosive properties of calci um carbide in a metal pipe. Although the small invention was never developed in a mass market, Keana’s need to patent his discover ies became a must years later. “Some of us recognize that when you discover some thing, there’s an intellectual property that needs to be pro tected and belong to the University,” Keana said. Most of Keana’s important discoveries, or important inventions, relate to potential drugs in the field of medicinal chemistry. Patents protect those discoveries for both Keana and the University. For example, two drugs of note that Keana helped develop and patent are Cerestat and Acea 1021. They may one day be used to treat strokes and head trauma. Roughly half of Keana’s 40-plus patents protect the re search and creation of these two drugs alone. “Cerestat had the potential to bring in $500,000,000,” Keana said. “And again Acea 1021 had the same potential.” Should any of Keana’s drugs survive the complicat ed and grueling process of laboratory testing to the point where they are proven safe and effective in treat ment, it could mean big royalties for the University. That’s where the University’s technology transfer of fice comes into play. Director Todd Sherer helps Uni versity scientists and others patent their inventions. “We’re trying to provide the faculty an opportunity to be involved in commercializing their inventions,” Sherer said. “And the expectation is that we’ll make these investments, and one out of every so many will return money to the university.” The average cost to file a patent is $10,000, and the University files more than 20 patents per year, Sherer said. The money generated by the inventions brings more dollars back to the university than is spent. Turn to INVENTOR, Page 3 Keana’s prominent discoveries: Cerestat and Acea 1021, two drugs Keana helped de velop and patent, may one day be used to treat strokes and head trauma. Gift gives youth a chance $3 million will allow youth facility to provide shelter and substance abuse treatment for juveniles By Sara Jarrett Oregon Daily Emerald A new facility dedicated to helping juveniles combat drug addiction re ceived a needed financial boost Thurs day. Dr. John Serbu, a retired Eugene neuro surgeon who is dying from an aggressive form of cancer, made a $3-million contri bution to the new Juvenile Justice Center, in what he explains as “an effort to start something to help solve our problem” with drug abuse in Eugene. Serbu choked back tears as he remem bered what motivated him to make the gen erous gift. The donation was made in the memory of his 35 year-oid son, Cameron, also a neu rosurgeon, who com mitted suicide two years ago because of an addiction to hero ine. Steve Carmichael, director of Youth Ser vices Department in Lane County, and Bobby Green, chair man of the Lane County Board ot Commissioners, were by Serbu’s side to both accept the money and show their ap preciation for “this unselfish act,” Green said. Carmichael shared his hope that com munity involvement with kids in trouble does not stop with this one gift, but that others will follow in Serbu’s footsteps. There are still two more treatment facili ties that could be named for donors, he said. Serbu’s bequest, with an initial gift of $750,000 and the remaining $2,225,000 to be provided upon his death, will assist the operation of the substance-abuse treatment facility, run the shelter facility for youth without a stable home environment, sup port a suicide-prevention team and operate a campus-detoxification and medical cen ter. The endowment is prohibited from be ing used to replace county governmental funding “I sincerely pray that the psychiatrists and counseling eliminate the need for penalty,” Serbu said. “This is not a jail but a place to get children and young adults back on track.” Serbu, who did not find out his son was addicted to drugs until 1/2 hour before he was admitted into the hospital, believes that if he only knew of his son’s addiction earlier, Cameron might still be alive. That’s why he decided to aid in the es tablishment of a children’s drug facility, he said — because the earlier one can start re habilitation the better. The new “John Serbu Youth Campus” is Turn to DONATION, Page 4 This is ... a place to get children and young adults back on track. ^ Dr. John Serbu Donor
