A prominent Indian-American bioengineering researcher has been named as a fellow in the US’ National Academy of Inventors for his work in inventing path-breaking healthcare technologies.

C Mauli Agrawal, an IIT-Kanpur alumnus, is the Vice President of Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He will be formally inducted in April next year.

His work in orthopaedic implants, cardiovascular biomaterials and diabetic foot products has drawn recognition.

His bioengineering research has resulted in 28 patents.

Mr Agrawal, 56, will be among 582 fellows in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). He was selected for the honour because of his research and innovations in orthopaedic and cardiovascular biomaterials and implants.

“It is a great honour. Some of the greats, at least in my field, are members of this academy. It’s good for San Antonio that we get more people there. Any recognition like this puts the spotlight on UTSA and I think that’s great,” Agrawal was quoted as saying by San Antonio Express News yesterday.

He has been in San Antonio since 1991. He worked at the UT Health Science Centre for 12 years before joining UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) in 2003.

Most of his work in San Antonio has focused on developing implants from orthopaedic and cardiovascular materials. His research group’s work led to the formation of an engineering company that developed scaffolding that can be implanted in patients to help develop cartilage or bone.

Dr Steven Bailey, the cardiology division chair at the health science centre and a longtime colleague of Mr Agrawal’s, said the recognition is well-deserved.

“He’s been incredibly insightful in terms of not only what can be demonstrated in an academic and research environment but, more importantly, what will translate in terms of meaningful patient progress as well,” Bailey said.