BALTIMORE, March 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leaders from two Columbia, Md. companies and university programs in Baltimore and College Park that conduct genome research and work to commercialize bioscience products were today named winners of the 2010 Maryland Bioscience Awards.

Winners were honored by the Greater Baltimore Committee at ceremonies in Baltimore. They were selected from more than 30 nominations submitted by bioscience advocates across the state.

"We instituted these awards to highlight the growth, development, and high achievement of Maryland's bioscience industry," said GBC President and CEO Donald C. Fry. "Despite a difficult year for bioscience companies, the year was also marked by advances in the industry and great successes. We're here today to celebrate those successes."

The awards were sponsored by DLA Piper.

Winners of the 2010 Maryland Bioscience Awards are:

• Leadership in Bioscience: Dr. Claire M. Fraser-Liggett, director, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine. Under Liggett's leadership, the Institute for Genome Sciences in Baltimore, has grown to a 95-person interdisciplinary team that helped initiate the era of comparative genomics -- the study of relationships of genome structures across different species.
• Best New Product or Progress: Wayne Swann, senior advisor, CrispTek, LLC. CrispTek, LLC, located in Columbia, Md., produces and sells ChoiceBatter, a formulated food coating of rice-based flours, pre-gels, and modified rice starches invented by USDA scientists. The patented formula reduces the oil absorbed in frying batters by as much as 50 percent, and is gluten free and suitable for people with Celiac Disease.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Charlene Riikonen, president and CEO, Cera Products, Inc. Cera Products, located in Columbia, Md., manufactures and distributes rice-based oral rehydration solutions developed through years of research and clinical studies. Cera was founded in 1993 by Charlene Riikonen, who was later joined by two Johns Hopkins University physicians she had met in the 1980s while working in Bangladesh, where they saw how dehydration causes severe illness and death.
• President's Award: Dr. Martha Connolly, director, Maryland Industrial Partnerships. Connolly heads Maryland Industrial Partnerships, located on the campus of the University of Maryland College Park. She spearheaded creation of the Maryland Drug Discovery and Development Network and has helped launch a number of successful bioscience firms and products.

SOURCE Greater Baltimore Committee