{"id":9245,"date":"2013-10-28T08:26:34","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T12:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/?p=9245"},"modified":"2013-10-31T13:48:39","modified_gmt":"2013-10-31T17:48:39","slug":"marshall-alumna-named-2013-outstanding-woman-in-technology-at-spirit-of-innovation-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/marshall-alumna-named-2013-outstanding-woman-in-technology-at-spirit-of-innovation-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Marshall alumna named 2013 Outstanding Woman in Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, Oct. 28,\u00a02013<\/h4>\n[social_share\/]\n
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va.\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0Two-time Marshall University graduate Dr. Stephanie A. Skolik was recognized as one of West Virginia\u2019s top innovators last week at the TechConnectWV \u201cSpirit of Innovation\u201d awards banquet.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

An ophthalmologist and president and CEO of the Huntington Retina Center, Skolik was honored with the 2013 Outstanding Woman in Technology award for her retinopathy research and invention of devices to assist with eye surgery. She is the founder of the American Retina Research Foundation and heads up Eyedea Inc., an ophthalmic invention company.<\/p>\n

Approximately 20 years ago, she observed that patients with long-term diabetes and co-existing arthritis seemed far less likely than their non-arthritic counterparts to develop diabetic retinopathy, the most common diabetic eye disease and a leading cause of blindness in American adults. The disease is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina.<\/p>\n

Skolik hypothesized that the inflammatory joint proteins were providing a sort of innate protection. The search for the identity of this protective factor is the focus of her research. If the protective factor can be identified, it may be a critical link to understanding diabetes itself and could eventually lead to a \u201cdiabetes vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PhotoDr. Jan I. Fox, Marshall\u2019s senior vice president for information technology and chief information officer, said she has known Skolik since high school, when they were debate partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cStephanie Skolik epitomizes entrepreneurship. When I think of innovation, technology and a strong female leader, it is her name that comes to mind,\u201d said Fox. \u201cWhen she needed something for her work that was not available, she would just create a new device for ophthalmic surgery. Most people could only dream of holding a single patent, but she holds multiple patents for ophthalmic medical devices.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbove all, she has used her intellect and skills to improve the lives of West Virginians. Eleven years ago she established the non-profit American Retina Research Foundation, which is based in Huntington, to provide financial support for diabetic retinopathy research. Her heart is as large as her talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skolik earned a bachelor\u2019s degree from Marshall in 1981 and graduated from the university\u2019s school of medicine in 1985. She was a finalist in the U.S. Olympic Trials in basketball in 1980 and a Rhodes Scholarship finalist in 1981.<\/p>\n

In addition to being an assistant professor at Marshall\u2019s medical school from 1994-99, she has been a clinical instructor and fellow at the Yale University School of Medicine. From 1998-2002, she was a guest researcher at the highly acclaimed National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Md.<\/p>\n

TechConnectWV is a non-profit coalition committed to the advancement of the high-tech economy in West Virginia. The awards banquet was held Tuesday in Morgantown.<\/p>\n

Anne Barth, TechConnect\u2019s executive director, said, \u201cThe \u2018Spirit of Innovation\u2019 program is an opportunity to spotlight success stories throughout the state, and recognize the people and organizations that support innovation-based economic development. By showcasing these creative efforts and the people behind them, we hope to inspire others who may have an entrepreneurial spirit. The 33 nominations received for this inaugural awards program demonstrate that in West Virginia, the innovation economy is not just a concept\u2014it\u2019s a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Captions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top photo<\/em> – Two-time Marshall University graduate Dr. Stephanie A. Skolik was recognized as one of West Virginia\u2019s top innovators last week at the TechConnectWV \u201cSpirit of Innovation\u201d awards banquet.<\/p>\n

Bottom photo<\/em> – Marshall University’s Chief Technology Officer Dr. Jan I. Fox, rights, presents the TechConnect West Virginia\u00a02013 Outstanding Woman in Technology award to Marshall University alumna Dr. Stephanie A. Skolik for her retinopathy research and invention of devices to assist with eye surgery.<\/p>\n

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Contact:\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>Ginny Painter<\/a>, Communications Director, Marshall University Research Corporation, 304.746.1964<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, Oct. 28,\u00a02013 [social_share\/] HUNTINGTON, W.Va.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Two-time Marshall University graduate Dr. Stephanie A. Skolik was recognized as one of West Virginia\u2019s top innovators last week at the TechConnectWV \u201cSpirit of Innovation\u201d awards banquet. An ophthalmologist and president and CEO of the Huntington Retina Center, Skolik was honored with the 2013 Outstanding Woman in Technology award for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":9261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-frontpage-slideshow","category-news"],"acf":[],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/files\/2013\/10\/Skolik-with-Jan-Fox-sized.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/murc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}