As part of our month-long effort to highlight Emory’s work in the area of software, we are highlighting a brand new mobile app catalog that the University launched which offers one-stop shopping for all apps at Emory. The catalog allows Emory to distribute and maintain its mobile apps outside of the public marketplace for Android and Apple. Emory has more than 22,000 mobile devices accessing its network at any one time, but less than 1% of those devices are actually administered by the University. Because Emory is primarily a “bring your own device” employer, it wanted a way to help its constituents to access and download internally and externally available apps as easily as possible. The Mobile App Catalog was launched in late 2014 in a limited fashion that focused on development, testing, and focus groups. Now it is being launched campus-wide for all Emory University and Emory Healthcare staff, faculty, and students to use. Several of the key benefits to utilizing this app catalog are: The ability to manage and apply security polices without controlling the device, The ability to distribute apps not intended for public distribution, The ability to monitor and control access to apps. The Emory Mobile
Continue readingTag: ORA
Blog posts to be included in the ORA Newsletter blog site
Important Changes in OSP Contract Administration
As many of you know, Nikki Simmons, Director for Contracts in OSP, is leaving Emory to relocate with her family to another state. For this reason, I have been working closely with Kerry Peluso and Todd Sherer over the past few weeks to consider potential changes in the structure for managing industry contracts. Given the continued strong, national interest in academic & industry partnering at all levels, we have decided to change the reporting line for our industry contracting group to the Office of Technology Transfer. This will better align our industry contract negotiations, both clinical and non-clinical, with OTT’s focused outreach to companies looking to partner with Emory. The industry contracting function will continue to utilize the same processes it has in the past for working with RAS units, Office for Clinical Research, IRB, and other University units. OSP and OTT will work closely to share relevant knowledge and resources so that the change will be seamless. I fully expect the teams from both offices to work collaboratively to assure that our researchers can receive the support they need. In short, there will NOT be any change in the way a PI submits a contract or in the way
Continue readingWinning the Fight: Cancer Efforts at Emory
This month in our social media, we focus on cancer. So, why cancer you ask? Emory has a deep commitment to cancer research and patient care. One of the most prominent signs of the University’s commitment to cancer research and patient care is the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. But how did cancer centers start and what is our center’s impact? The National Cancer Institute (NCI) was initially established by Congress in 1937 as an independent institute dedicated to cancer research and in 1944 was moved under the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NCI had its scope and responsibilities broadened by the National Cancer Act of 1971 under President Nixon; this shift often being seen as the modern war on cancer. The NCI coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.[i] (Check out this cool infographic about NCI.) In the 1960s, NCI, as recommended by Congress, formulated the NCI Cancer Centers model, to create unity of purpose, improve access to infrastructure, foster stability,
Continue readingStartups: Words from the Trenches – Part 7
Each year OTT helps launch high-quality start-up companies based on discoveries made by Emory faculty or staff. Over the past few months, OTT set out to interview a selection of the entrepreneurs and VCs we have worked with and pick their brains about what it takes to make a successful startup venture. To visit Part 1: here To visit Part 2: here To visit Part 3: here To visit Part 4: here To visit Part 5: here To visit Part 6: here What key items do you feel contribute to a successful startup? Stephen Snowdy (CEO; Venture Advisory Board Member at Emory University): In medical science startups, it is critical to have the best people possible analyzing and vetting the technology, the best people possible building the opportunity into a fundable story, and the best people possible selling the opportunity to funding sources; in other words, human capital is just as important as all of the science and medical business issues and is one of the most difficult resources to build. Extreme capital efficiency is also critical in the early stages owing to the dearth of early-stage funding that is available. Objectivity around decision-making is absolutely key. When and how
Continue readingStartups: Words from the Trenches – Part 6
Each year OTT helps launch high-quality start-up companies based on discoveries made by Emory faculty or staff. Over the past few months, OTT set out to interview a selection of the entrepreneurs and VCs we have worked with and pick their brains about what it takes to make a successful startup venture. To visit Part 1: here To visit Part 2: here To visit Part 3: here To visit Part 4: here To visit Part 5: here What do you see as the biggest changes over the past decade for start-ups? Stephen Snowdy (CEO; Venture Advisory Board Member at Emory University): The biggest change over the past decade is the dramatic decline in funding that is available for early-stage startups. The traditional way to fund innovation was that the government subsidized research and discovery through grants, venture capitalists invested in further risk reduction at the startup level, and ultimately passed the risk off to either the public markets or to large corporations. Government funding for research and funding available for venture capital have dropped to levels not seen in decades. In addition, on a macro-level, the traditional venture capital model has not been a successful financial model, so it is
Continue readingStartups: Words from the Trenches – Part 5
Each year OTT helps launch high-quality start-up companies based on discoveries made by Emory faculty or staff. Over the past few months, OTT set out to interview a selection of the entrepreneurs and VCs we have worked with and pick their brains about what it takes to make a successful startup venture. To visit Part 1: here To visit Part 2: here To visit Part 3: here To visit Part 4: here How did you go about building a team? Michael Lee (Chairman & CEO of the Emory start-up Syntermed): Assuming you’ve made the correct/best hire, understanding every team members’ personal and professional goals and aspirations within the context of the company’s corporate goals with an executive commitment to make sure these are fulfilled. Hire slowly, fire quickly. How did you know which technology is a good opportunity for starting a company? Stephen Snowdy (CEO; Venture Advisory Board Member at Emory University): I look for technologies that have the potential to materially change clinical outcomes for patients or that will significantly reduce the cost of healthcare. Also important are the quality of the data, strong international patent positioning, attractiveness in the financial markets (fundability), the height of the regulatory hurdles,
Continue readingEmory Partners With National Influenza Centers for Pandemic Preparedness
Throughout January we will be highlighting Emory’s and OTT’s work in infectious disease and vaccines. In our final piece we highlight the work of the Emory-UGA Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance. We are in the midst of flu season. While that pesky influenza virus is attempting to infect you and your friends, the team at the Emory-UGA Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) is partnering with researchers around the world to keep it in line. Influenza, or “the flu,” is an infectious disease caused by the influenza virus, affecting 3 to 5 million people and leading to 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide. The seasonal flu appears each year during the colder months and can typically be predicted and tracked geographically. It can spread rapidly without proper precautions. If you are curious as to how the flu virus infects someone check out this cool video blog from NPR. You can find lots of good health habits for preventing seasonal flu at CDC.gov. Originally launched and funded in 2007, the Emory-UGA Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) is part of a national network of centers which aim to determine the molecular, ecologic and/or
Continue readingBattling HBV with Building Blocks of DNA
Throughout January we will be highlighting Emory’s and OTT’s work in infectious disease and vaccines. The second technology we are highlighting is Tyzeka®a drug to address Hepatitis B. The Hepatitis B virus inflames the liver and is one of the top ten killers worldwide. About 350 million people, about 5 percent of the world’s population, are chronic carriers, and thousands die each year from complications of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer. Thankfully deaths are on the decline due to better treatment options including a vaccination. However for HBV patients who show signs of liver damage, are pregnant, or who have HIV as well, the medications normally used to treat HBV might do more harm than good. In fact, for someone co-infected with HIV, treatment with other HBV drugs could result in resistant HIV. Emory researcher, Raymond Schinazi, invented telbivudine (to help this group of patients that couldn’t be treated with existing HBV treatment options. Telbivudine is a synthetic analogue of the thymidine nucleoside, one of the major building blocks of DNA. Telbivudine (marketed as Tyzeka®) decreases the amount of HBV in the body and is the only FDA-approved hepatitis B drug that is selectively active
Continue readingFrom the Director: Emory OTT Celebrates 30 Years!
Thirty years ago technology transfer was just an experiment. The theory was that a lot of innovation was coming out of federal funded research, but it was all owned by the federal government and sitting on their shelves. So the country embarked upon a pretty novel approach outlined in the Bayh-Dole Act – putting ownership of these innovations in the hands of the university. That birthed the profession of technology transfer. Over the years, there has been a paradigm shift in the field. When I started 25 years ago, tech transfer professionals were really just transactional support staff. As tech transfer professionals we could help get a patent filed, market a technology, and negotiate an agreement. Today we are now expected to also be value creators. With every day, every week, every month that we work on a technology its value should continue to increase as we do things to help reduce risk and increase potential viability. Another significant shift in the field has focused on how start-ups are spun out from the University. Originally the accepted practice was that in order to spinout a start-up the faculty member had to leave the institution and go run that start-up. What
Continue readingSORTing it Out
Throughout January we will be highlighting Emory’s and OTT’s work in infectious disease and vaccines. The ground breaking work begins in the Division of Infectious Disease and the Emory Vaccine Center. The Division of Infectious Disease has 59 faculty and 13 fellows, 5 administrators, and 89 research staff. There are 14 Professors, 7 Associate Professors, 34 Assistant Professors, and 4 Senior Associates or Instructors. The Division is proud of its outstanding accomplishments in a broad spectrum of research, including basic, translational, clinical, and epidemiologic sciences. The Division had more than $30 million in research funding in fiscal year 2013. (For more information: http://medicine.emory.edu/divisions/infectious_diseases/.) The Emory Vaccine Center is an epicenter of academic research and development of vaccines for both chronic and infectious diseases. With more than 250 faculty members and staff, it is the largest and most comprehensive academic vaccine research center in the world. The Center is making fundamental advances in immunology, virology, and vaccine research to search for life saving cures against the world’s most threatening diseases plaguing millions of individuals around the globe. (For more information: http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/.) The first technology we are highlighting is SORT. There’s a very real fear in the healthcare world that during a
Continue readingThe Return of the Coulter Translational Fund
In 1999 the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation was created with a goal of improving health care and making such improvements available and affordable. Because Mr. Coulter was an alumnus of Georgia Tech, the Foundation made a $25M grant to support the unique joint Biomedical Engineering Department between Emory and Georgia Tech in 2001. Included in that grant was $8M endowment to fund translational research. This Coulter translational funding program had, until recently, been on hiatus but is now ready to re-launch and accepting applications. In early November two kick-off meetings were held, one at Emory and one at Georgia Tech, to provide details of the new funding process. The first round of applications are due at the end of January and for those approved, money will be granted in July 2015. One of the key benefits to Coulter funding is that it does not preclude receiving grants from other funding sources. Below are some specifics: Project assessment criteria: Unmet or underserved clinical need Improvement over current standard Intellectual property position Reasonable or achievable milestones Ability to attract follow-on funding Team commitment Project eligibility: Two PIs – one technical expert and one clinical expert At least one of the PIs must
Continue readingTech Transfer Jingle Bells
Dashing through the lab In my new lab coat Cleaning pipettes I go Can’t find my lab notebook Filling out the disclosure Making spirits bright What fun it is to laugh and sing A tech transfer song tonight … [Chorus] CER reports, CER reports Triage all the way Oh! What fun it is to write these Every single week CER reports, CER reports Triage all the way Oh! What fun it is to write these Every single week Dashing through the prior art Please no public disclosures First to file I go God please let it be enabled Useful, novel, non-obvious Making spirits bright What fun it is to laugh and sing A tech transfer song tonight … [chorus] Dashing through the literature Writing that old tech brief Through the database I go Sending lots of marketing Finding that perfect partner Making spirits bright What fun it is to laugh and sing A tech transfer song tonight … [chorus] Dashing through the agreement Can’t read all these definitions Red lining I go And hoping that they’ll sign Bells for signed licenses Making spirits bright What fun it is to laugh and sing A tech transfer song tonight …
Continue readingOTT Internship Program 2.0 – Revamped, Refreshed & Reinvigorated!
With any program, no matter how successful, there is always room for improvement. Several months ago we decided to take a close look at our already successful internship program for ways in which it could be improved. We knew we could build upon earlier success, learn from other universities and create something that is unique to Emory OTT. We began with our end goal in mind – through a robust training program, prepare fully capable interns who would require little day-to-day instruction and be capable of creating our foundational documents – the Commercial Evaluation Report and Technology Brief on Day 1. We felt this goal met both desired outcomes from a successful internship program: 1. Provide valuable real-world training for our interns and 2. Receive valuable work product that benefits the Office in a meaningful way. So we broke down our program into parts and laid it bare on the table for inspection – we decided what we loved more and what we loved less, what was working well, and what was not. Then we picked up the phone and called some friends from other TTOs to see how they did things.[i] We took all these pieces and analyzed them
Continue readingP-O-C Fund Gears Up to Help Bridge the V-O-D
Those in technology transfer know all too well “The Valley of Death” between basic discoveries and proof of concept as well as the challenges involved in bridging this gap. Here at Emory OTT we’re fortunate to have a new tool in our toolbox to help promising discoveries take that next step. Its official name is the “POC Fund” Or “Proof of Concept Fund.” Yes – we know the name isn’t that creative but you might be surprised at how difficult it is to create a jazzy name that everyone agrees upon. Having said that, one thing we can all agree on is that we have made our first investment and we’re pretty excited. Take a look below for some details on the fund itself and our first investment. The Fund The POC fund was launched to provide support for prototype development and proof-of-concept testing of biomedical innovations, medical devices, and software technologies. The goals for the fund are to: Improve the patent position of promising new disclosures by further reducing them to practice; Prepare early-stage biomedical technology for support from other translational funding opportunities such as Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), Coulter, and ACTSI grants (read our two previous blogs on ACTSI here:
Continue readingInterns: Atlanta BEST Program
Last year Emory’s Laney Graduate School in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology received one of the first ten NIH Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) grants to strengthen the biomedical research workforce. The program aims to better prepare PhD graduate students and postdoctoral scientists for the breadth of possible careers in the biomedical research workforce and to establish a networkand disseminate widely best practices for the community. More specifically, the program’s goal is to expose pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees to career choices outside of the traditional tenure track academic position. At Emory, the program accepts a small cohort of trainees each year (approximately half each from Emory and GA Tech) into a two year-program. Year one aims to broaden the participant’s exposure to alternative careers and provide leadership training. Year two allows the participant’s to immerse themselves in a specific career track including an internship. The six tracks are: Business and Entrepreneurship Communications (scientific writing, journalism, public policy) STEM Education and Outreach Law, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Research (non-tenure track, governmental and contract research organizations) Industrial Science (biotechnology, pharmaceutical) Emory’s OTT is working in partnership with the Atlanta BEST program by providing internship opportunities for participants who
Continue readingHelping our Faculty Navigate the World of SBIRs & STTRs
On October 27th, OTT held an SBIR/STTR educational panel focused on answering questions and clearing up misconceptions about these funding programs. Kevin Lei, our Director of Faculty & Startup Services, served as moderated for a distinguished panel, consisting of a group of professionals with a great deal of experience in applying for and obtaining SBIR and STTR federal grants. On the panel were Juliana Cyril, the director of Office of Technology & Innovation and SBIR Program Director at CDC; Connie Casteel from the State of Georgia’s SBIR Assistance Program; Vince LaTerza, serial entrepreneur and President and CEO of Aiye BioPharma; and Ernest Garcia, Emory Professor and Scientific Founder of Syntermed. From that seminar we realized there were a lot of FAQs, so to help clear up some confusion about SBIR and STTR grants for those that couldn’t attend, we’ve put together this handy table! SBIR vs. STTR SBIR STTR Who applies? For-profit U. S. small business For-profit U. S. small business Principal Investigator Employed at least 51% by the small business with at least 10% effort May be employed by either the small business or non-profit with at least 10% effort Intellectual Property (IP) Requires the small business and
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