Author: Dr. Todd Sherer, AVP, OTT
In the past fiscal year, Emory University made waves across the university, the nation, and the world. You may have heard Dr. Bruner share our accomplishments at Research Week, but I wanted to reiterate this outstanding success.
In FY2023, Emory University:
- Secured more than $1 billion in sponsored research awards for the first time ever.
- Was ranked #2 in licensing revenue for FY2022 by AUTM, earning $266.7M.
- Was the third top contributor of FDA-approved drugs and vaccines in the world among public institutions.
Congratulations to all who worked hard to make this happen. In the midst of this exciting success, I’d like to highlight some of the smaller-scale accomplishments we’ve made in the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). After all, it’s the small things that help add up to big growth.
First, we’ve improved our processes. In addition to handling all outgoing DUAs for the university, we’ve expanded contractConnect so that we can receive all types of MTAs and DUAs online. Second, in partnership with the Office of the SVPR, we’ve made strides toward increasing diversity in our research with the launch of the Female Founders Forum at Emory (F3@E) program and Women in Innovation (WIN) speaker series. Finally, OTT expanded our staff after a brief but substantial turnover. I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running in FY24 with a team that’s had time to work together and get familiar with the Emory way.
Speaking of looking forward, OTT will continue to streamline our processes and workflows. Cleaning up our portfolio of technologies and simplifying our approach to low-risk DUAs are on the to-do list. We will also be evaluating our resources in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. Because of Emory’s aggressive goals to expand its presence, research effort, and faculty focused on AI, we’re expecting that to be a real growth area for OTT. We’re preparing for that growth so we’ll be ready to meet expectations, to handle any increased volume we would see in disclosures, and to effectively market and license technology in that emergent space.
As one fiscal year closes, I’m excited to see what opportunities, challenges, and chances to connect the next year will bring.