HONOLULU, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellular Bioengineering Inc. (CBI), a Hawaii-based technology accelerator, announced today that it was honored as one of three National Finalists for the Christopher Columbus Foundation Homeland Security Award for 2009. The presentation was made at a National Awards ceremony in the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. This award is the result of a year long national competition to identify the individual citizen or company that is making "a measurable and constructive contribution related to basic and/or advanced research in the area of homeland security which will result in a significant and positive benefit to society."

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The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation is an independent Federal government agency established to "encourage and support research, study and labor designed to produce new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind." Governed by a Presidential appointed Board of Trustees, the Foundation seeks to nurture and recognize pioneering individuals and programs which reflect the visionary spirit and pioneering heritage of Christopher Columbus.

CBI was chosen to be a finalist for this prestigious award based on its invention and commercialization of DeconGel(TM), a product of its CBI Polymers Division. DeconGel(TM) is a polymeric hydrogel which is the state-of-the-art technology for the effective containment and decontamination of radiological waste and potential nuclear threats as well as chemical and other toxic wastes. Nuclear power plants and government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense are early customers and users of DeconGel(TM). Additional applications of DeconGel(TM) are being expanded for the decontamination of industrial and military grade hazardous chemicals and biological agents.

Kimberly Owens, the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Christopher Columbus Foundation, congratulated CBI for its development of DeconGel(TM). "This hydrogel is a powerful tool in the remediation of radioactive waste and nuclear threats, and future uses are sure to be discovered," she said. Owens went on to assert that the Board had a very difficult decision to make in choosing between the three National Finalists.

DeconGel(TM) was funded by the Hawaii Technology Development Venture (HTDV) / Office of Naval Research (ONR). Additional R&D funding was secured through the USAF Force Protection Battlelab, the National Defense Center of Excellence for Research in Ocean Sciences (CEROS) under its contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Department of Energy.

CBI is a venture accelerator focused on disruptive biomedical and biodefense innovations. Founded in 2003 in Honolulu, Hawaii, CBI works with world-class research institutions to transform novel ideas into commercial products, especially in the area of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) detection and remediation.

"We are extremely honored to be named as a National Finalist for this prestigious award," said Larry Stack, Chief Operating Officer of CBI Polymers. "Our goal as a company is to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies that will have a significant impact upon the security and well being of our nation. This award exemplifies CBI's motto: Invent. Disrupt. Inspire."

In 2005, CBI was named a winner of the R&D 100 Award and was nominated for The 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor for technological achievement bestowed by the President of the United States on America's leading innovators.

About Cellular Bioengineering Inc. (CBI)

Besides the DeconGel(TM) division, CBI has three other operating divisions encompassing a wide variety of innovations. They include:

Eyegenix(TM) owns the global commercial rights to an artificial cornea technology which holds the promise of returning sight to 10 million people worldwide who are blind from corneal disease.

TruTag(TM) is a nanoporous silica microtag which can be used to authenticate valuable assets, from great works of art and luxury goods to food products, pills and capsules to be ingested, protecting consumers from loss and the health risks of counterfeit products.

Cell Matrix Chip is a bio-sensor comprised of living cells on a CCD chip which can detect both known and unknown harmful threats in the environment including chemical and biological agents.

    Media Contacts:
    Continental US: Paula Page
    +1-650-279-3881
    paulapage@earthlink.net

    Hawaii: Linda Jameson
    +1-808-221-3552
    ljameson821@gmail.com

SOURCE Cellular Bioengineering Inc. (CBI)