Wax Named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

Adam Wax, professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University, was named to this year’s class of Fellows by the National Academy of Inventors. Recognized for his efforts to translate research in optical spectroscopy into impactful clinical biomedical diagnostics, Wax will be formally inducted during the NAI national conference, set for June in Los Angeles, California.

Wax joins 185 colleagues in the 2025 Class of Fellows. Together, they hold more than 5,300 U.S. patents. Spanning every major field of discovery, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence and regenerative medicine, NAI Fellows are tackling the biggest and most pressing issues of our time. Their success in translating research into products and services that improve lives demonstrates the continuing importance of the U.S. patent system.

“NAI Fellows are a driving force within the innovation ecosystem, and their contributions across scientific disciplines are shaping the future of our world,” said Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, FNAI, President of the National Academy of Inventors. “We are thrilled to welcome this year’s class of Fellows to the Academy. They are truly an impressive cohort, and we look forward to honoring them at our 15th Annual Conference in Los Angeles next year.”

Wax has been a member of Duke’s biomedical engineering faculty for nearly 25 years, and he has nearly as long of a track record in commercializing his research in biomedical optical imaging.

In previous work, Wax has developed a means for detecting early cancer in the esophagus and cervix. More recently, he has demonstrated the potential of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect early biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in the human retina. He has also worked to develop low-cost, OCT imaging devices for low-resource settings.

In 2014, Wax launched a startup called Lumedica, which seeks to commercialize his low-cost OCT imaging technology for clinical use. The company is also pursuing low-cost versions of devices developed to image tissues in the laboratory, animals and human tissue outside of the eye. His previous company, Oncoscope raised $11M to commercialize early cancer detection in the esophagus, and advances in this technology have recently been licensed by Lucid Technologies.

Currently, Wax’s Biomedical Interferometry Optics and Spectroscopy (BIOS) Laboratory is working to develop new applications of interferometry for detecting light that has interacted with cells and tissues as a method of determining their structural and functional features with sub-wavelength resolution. Among compelling applications of this approach are its use for diagnosing disease based on measuring cellular morphology and its use as a precision tool for cell biology experiments, leading to improved understanding of the basic functions of the cell and the origins of dysfunction due to disease.

Besides biomedical engineering, Wax also holds appointments in physics, the Duke Cancer Center, and the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. His previous awards and accolades include an NSF CAREER award, Fellow of the Optical Society of America, Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics, and Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is currently editor-in-chief of the SPIE journal Optical Engineering.