For over 13 years, Georgia Bio has been bringing the Georgia Life Science’s community together at a summit in Atlanta. As part of that community we have always appreciated the opportunity to participate in this event and be an active part of Georgia’s expanding biotech universe. The 2014 edition of the Summit focused on innovation and brought together senior executives, scientists, and public policy officials from all over the state while showcasing Georgia’s leadership in innovation, from basic research to manufacturing, within the life sciences.
Emory and OTT staff had the opportunity to participate as members of various panels focused on commercializing university innovations. Emory surgeon Felmont Eaves served as moderator for a panel focused on new models of asset development for University-based intellectual property. That panel also featured Jack Tillman, the Executive Director of Emory Innovations as well as George Painter, CEO of Emory’s unique drug development spinout – DRIVE. Our Executive Director, Todd Sherer, also moderated a panel addressing the top myths of academic collaboration, which featured the VPs of Research from Georgia’s largest research universities, including Emory’s VP of Research Administration, David Wynes. Lastly, three Emory start-ups, 4C Health, DiaSyst, and QUE Oncology participated in the Shark Tank competition. After a number of excellent pitches, we are thrilled to report that QUE Oncology was crowned winner of the competition!
About half of our office was in attendance, and because each one of us gained a great deal from the conference, we thought that we would share a selection of what we learned and other moments of the conference that made an impression on us. :
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Today four billion people in the world have no access to healthcare. Technology and mobile health will improve access to healthcare for these people.
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Fitness and health apps provide seemingly endless options for individuals (and their doctors) to monitor their health. But granting your insurance company unfettered access to this information can negatively impact your health insurance premiums and coverage. It could also result in employers hiring based on the applicant’s health.
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The potential for using Google Glass to help Alzheimer’s patients recognize their families and autism patients better process human interactions justifies forgiving the company for manufacturing such dorky-looking tech wear.
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The amount and scope of collaboration between academic centers in Georgia is massive; it truly is a collegial and cooperative environment where working together leads to better results for all.
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The keynote speakers were superb. Medtronic’s view of the future for miniature medical devices, former astronaut with Parkinson’s, and Google talking about the convergence of information and healthcare.
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The Mythbusters panel was a unique opportunity to get our VPRs on stage to address company concerns regarding COI, Indirect cost rates, IP policies, and academic freedom.