Events

2009 UCLB Business Award Winner

Thu 14 May 2009 at 5:00pm

Professor Rajiv Jalan

UCL Business were delighted to sponsor two key awards at the Enterprise Awards 2009 held on May 14th. Hosted by UCL Advances on behalf of UCL, this was the second annual Enterprise Awards to honour the spirit of entrepreneurship and the achievements of business innovators at UCL.

The event marked the accomplishments of a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators with UCL’s Enterprise Awards Presentation, held in the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre.

Prizes were presented to students and staff honoured for their work in the development of businesses based on research carried out at UCL. The idea behind the awards is to recognise the successes of UCL’s academics and students, and encourage others to get involved in the future.

The UCL Business Award for 2009 went to Professor Rajiv Jalan (Institute of Hepatology)
for his many years of research into the treatment
of acute hepatic encephalopathy which led to
the exclusive licence agreement with Ocera
Therapeutics Inc. in December 2008.

The evening also became a memorable occasion for UCLB’s own Mr Cengiz Tarhan, who received the evening’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, for his outstanding contribution to the development of UCL businesses and subsidiaries.

Professor Mike Spyer, UCL Vice-Provost (Enterprise), said: “Throughout his time at the university, Cengiz has done more to develop commercial activity at UCL than any other person currently here – and we’re delighted to be able to recognise that achievement.”

Cengiz Tarhan, Managing Director of UCL Business, said, “UCL Business is delighted to be a part of such an event. It is important to recognise the entrepreneurial achievements of UCL staff and students in order to encourage others to get involved. I was very surprised and humbled to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. The transactions we conclude at UCLB are always a team effort and I owe much to others who have worked with me over the years and the solid support and dedication of my colleagues at UCLB and across UCL. I am grateful to them and look forward to supporting more fantastic projects emerging from UCL’s excellent research base.”