Innovator in artificial intelligence honored with 2025 Edison Patent Award

A Rowan University innovator in artificial intelligence and machine learning will be honored with the 2025 Edison Patent Award in the “Medical Diagnostics” category, the Research & Development Council of New Jersey announced Tuesday.  

Nidhal C. Bouaynaya, Ph.D., and co-inventor Hassan Fathallah-Shaykh, M.D., Ph.D., will be recognized for their invention, “Method for Detecting Radiological Progression in Cancer Surveillance,” U.S. 12,198,334 B2. Jointly patented by Rowan University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the cloud-based, artificial intelligence-powered medical innovation speeds the mapping and measurement of glioblastoma brain tumors.

Their diagnostic method was one of 12 patents to receive the state’s highest honor for invention and innovation, along with six “trailblazing” individuals who will be recognized at the 46th annual Edison Patent Awards Ceremony and Reception on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at Bell Works in Holmdel.

As New Jersey’s largest celebration honoring inventors, the Edison Patent Awards shine a spotlight on the discoveries being made across the state in medicine, technology, energy, defense, and beyond. 

This year’s theme, ”Powering the Future Through Invention,” highlights how the work of New Jersey inventors is shaping the world of tomorrow.

“The Edison Patent Awards is the largest statewide celebration recognizing research organizations and inventors whose breakthroughs power New Jersey’s innovation economy,” said Virginie Maillard, chair of the Research & Development Council of New Jersey and head of Global Research in Simulation and Digital Twin and head of Research in U.S. for Siemens Foundational Technologies. “Each year, we’re reminded that invention is at the heart of progress, and that the work being done right here in New Jersey has global impact.”

The 2025 Edison Patent Award winners include: Avantor and Amgen, Merck & Co., Inc., MTF Biologics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Nokia Bell Labs, Princeton University, Rowan University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (which will receive two awards), Siemens AG, Stryker, and the U.S. Army DEVCOM Armaments Center.

The recognized patents range from innovations that improve knee replacements and bone grafts to new ways of streaming online content and sharing data between unmanned vehicles. 

Winners were selected by a team of council board members who evaluated patents for the significance of the problem, utility/socio-economic value, novelty, and commercial impact. All winning patents must have at least part of the technical/scientific work completed in New Jersey. 

Read the complete announcement in New Jersey Business Magazine.