Recent economic and political pressures have resulted in increased interest in university technology transfer activities. Recognizing this heightened interest in our work, Emory’s OTT wants to ensure that our technology transfer program continues to be viewed as one of the leading programs in the country. To accomplish that goal, our office has embarked on a multi-phase, multi-year project focused on “Reinventing Technology Transfer,” what we call ReTechTran for short, which seeks to improve and strengthen the operations of our office.
Phase I of ReTechTran involved the identification of operational and programmatic best practices by visiting several other successful technology transfer offices in the region. Ultimately from this review, we were able to reaffirm many of our own current practices as well as identify and adopt some new practices. One current practice we found to be unique to Emory that continues to reap benefits is the Emory Patent Group (EPG), our in-house patent department. EPG allows OTT to draft, manage, and prosecute all unlicensed patents without the help of outside law firms. “It is imperative that universities continually evaluate best practices and adopt creative new initiatives to assure the greatest possible impact from technology transfer is achieved,” says Todd Sherer, OTT Executive Director.
During Phase II, OTT incorporated many of the findings from ReTechTran Phase I into the development of five new initiatives. These initiatives generally capture the key areas for which we sought to improve.
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Consistent Case Management initiative ensures that each innovation is handled in a consistent and streamlined manner.
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Moving to Market initiative encompasses the effective marketing of our technologies and utilization of social media to promote our office and increase our reach within the biotech and life science communities.
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Beyond the Bench initiative expands our internship opportunities through new positions and opportunities as well as creates a business advisory board to aid our startup activities.
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Informing Investigators initiative focuses on outreach and communication within the Emory community to those making innovations, improvements, and discoveries.
- Emory Device Initiative is dedicated to expanding Emory’s reach within the field of medical device technologies.
Phase III which is currently underway, is focused on the identification and implementation of strategies to support each of these initiatives. Stay tuned to read more about individual strategies and programs as they roll out.