Blueprint for an Innovation Economy in Florida Research as Economic Foundation | Page 6

A CHILDHOOD POLIO COMPLICATION
In 2013, Shirley Pincus 3 was virtually
incapacitated by the pain in her
left foot. The agony was enough
for her to prepare for amputation
to end the suffering.
The sources of Shirley’s pain were
complications from surgeries aimed at
alleviating symptoms of childhood Polio
contracted at age 3. Those surgeries led
to significant peripheral
nerve damage; the ultimate cause of her adult
onset pain.
By December 2013, the persistence a little girl
learned fighting the childhood limitations of polio,
led Shirley to Dr. Edgardo Rodriquez of Chicago
near her home in Hampshire, Illinois.
Rodriquez told her about the Avance ®
Nerve Graft, a promising treatment
for nerve damage, and Shirley and
her family agreed to the procedure.
In a Spring 2016 panel discussion at
the University of Florida (UF), Shirley
described the results this way; “that
pain that plagued me for five, six
years was gone in a day!” 4
Today, Shirley is working toward replicating the
five mile walks she and her husband Dan enjoyed
as young newlyweds on a special beach. She is
an active volunteer and advocate for Donate Life.
Indeed, Shirley is a walking miracle!
THE OVERNIGHT MIRACLE – YEARS IN THE MAKING
In November 1989 as a young post-doctoral fellow
at UC San Diego, Dr. David Muir took the first
step on a 24-year journey that ultimately helped
save Shirley Pincus’ foot. The break was the
completion and publishing the results of months
of research on nerve regeneration in the Journal
of Cell Biology in an article titled:
Schwannoma Cell-Derived Inhibitor of the
Neurite-Promoting Activity of Laminin
The title hardly hints at the result of a significant
slice of Muir’s future life and the results of his
cumulative body of work. Most of that would take
place at the University of Florida following his
appointment as a faculty member at UF in 1991.
By August 2001, the University of Florida filed
a patent on technology developed by Muir that
enables harvested donor nerves to be used as
the structure to regenerate severed or damaged
nerves. In 2002, Jamie Grooms and John Engels
licensed this technology from the university and
founded AxoGen, the Alachua-based company
4
that created
the Avance ®
Nerve
Graft, which
brought relief
to Shirley and others, to include the return of
full function to wounded warriors 5 with severed
nerves.
Today, AxoGen is scaling and expanding its
product line in a $1.6 billion market. 6 It employs
more than 110, has a market capitalization of
$293M 7 and expects revenue of more than $40
million in 2016. 8 Clearly the company is doing well
by doing good. AxoGen’s employees and investors
profit, the Gainesville region prospers, the state
of Florida enhances revenues for services or ta