The robotic surgery program at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, along with a medical start-up company,  HeartSounds, Inc., formed by three UIC MBA students, shared the spotlight Tuesday, October 20th, as 2009 Chicago Innovation Award winners.

Robotic Surgery was selected one of 10 awardees from more than 250 entries. HeartSounds, Inc., a start-up platform medical device company that specializes in medical diagnostic devices based on research by Roland Priemer, UIC associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, won the Young Innovator's Award.

Both groups received their awards at ceremonies held at the Goodman Theatre Tuesday evening. UIC was represented by Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares, members of the robotic surgery faculty, the College of Medicine and others.

UIC's robotic surgery program -- the country's largest, with the highest volume in the most complex mix of advanced robotic procedures -- performs complex general and thoracic surgery. Headed by Dr. Pier Cristoforo Giulianotti, the Lloyd Nyhus Professor of Surgery, the program performs up to 600 operations a year.

Robotic surgery is replacing open surgery of the chest and abdomen, offering complex procedures such as pancreas and liver resections with minimal pain following the operations. More than 250 surgeons from around the world have attended UIC's Advanced Robotic Laboratory to learn basic and advanced robotic surgery techniques from Giulianotti and other staff surgeons.

"Dr. Giulianotti and the UIC robotic surgery program are clearly intent on leading surgical innovation into the new century," said Chancellor Allen-Meares, addressing Tuesday's award ceremony. She called him a "true visionary and pioneer."

HeartSounds was founded last year by three alumni of UIC's Liautaud Graduate School of Business, Dr. Amir Bastawrous (who is a practicing surgeon), Mike McCoy and Matt Norris, along with Priemer. The company specializes in what's called computer-aided auscultation, using patented sound-separating technology that provides a non-invasive way to accurately detect cardiac dysfunctions and abnormalities. Their start-up plan won the 2008 Chicago Biomedical Consortium Business Plan Competition.

The Chicago Innovation Awards are sponsored by national and local businesses. It was founded in 2002 by Tom Kuczmarski, president of Kuczmarski & Associates, and Dan Miller, a former Chicago business journalist and now vice-president of the Heartland Institute.

The program describes its award as recognition of "innovations that uniquely fill unmet needs, spark a competitive response in the marketplace, exceed market expectations, achieve financial success, and improve people's lives."

For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu