COMMERCIALIZATION CONNECT
March 2018
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In this Issue:
- UK and Space Tango Join Forces to Boost Commercialization
- 2017 National Academy of Inventors Fellow
- Join OTC for World Intellectual Property Day, April 26
- UK Women Innovators: Dr. Linda P. Dwoskin
- Patent Palooza!
- OTC Office Updates
- Seeking Our Next OTC Fellow Class!
- By the Numbers: Patents February 2018
- Events of Interest to Inventors and Entrepreneurs
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The University of Kentucky has formed a unique partnership with
Space Tango Inc.
to send UK research into space.
A master Cooperative Mission Statement between Space Tango and
UK's Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC)
formalizes a streamlined process for developing mutual interest in and conducting research, design and/or manufacturing in the microgravity environment of space. By working together, the company and University seek to maximize commercial pathways for UK inventors in life sciences and biomedicine, where conceptualization may be improved by conducting research and testing in space.
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The UK OTC is proud to announce that UK's National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2017 Fellow is Yang-Tse Cheng.
Dr. Cheng has made contributions to materials research for electrochemical energy storage and automotive applications.
According to the NAI website, "Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional accolade bestowed to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society."
Dr. Cheng was honored at
Patent Palooza
on March 27, 2018, and will be inducted as an NAI Fellow in Washington DC on April 5, 2018.
Learn more about the UK Chapter of
NAI
.
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3. Join OTC for World Intellectual Property Day, April 26
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The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) will be celebrating World Intellectual Property Day, which is April 26, 2018, with an open house in the ASTeCC Building. This year's theme is
Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity
.
This event will be a wonderful way to learn more about what OTC has done and is doing in the intellectual property field, and will provide an opportunity to celebrate University of Kentucky women who have been innovators in their field.
Join us in A144, ASTeCC building, anytime between 8:00 am. - 5:00 p.m. on April 26 for coffee, pastries, and the opportunity learn more about the work of OTC and UK women innovators.
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4. UK Women Innovators: Dr. Linda P. Dwoskin
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Dr. Linda P. Dwoskin holds an endowed University Professorship in graduate medical education at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. Dr. Dwoskin has been a trailblazer for women in technology transfer at UK. Her entrepreneurial journey began when a company licensed a UK patent on which she and her colleague Peter A. Crooks were inventors. The patent was on several of their smoking cessation products. Drs. Dwoskin and Crooks decided to start up a company called Yaupon Therapeutics. Their business model was patterned after the National Institute of Health's (NIH) business model for grant applications using the "just-in-time" approach. Dr. Dwoskin noted the importance of having a business person involved from the beginning, since as an academic researcher she wasn't trained in business. According to Dr. Dwoskin, she was able to learn a lot about business that she didn't know through the partnership and collaboration with the business person who was the CEO of their company. In their third year, Yaupon Therapeutics won the prestigious Best LifeSciences Start-up Company of the Year at the Eastern Technology Council's 13th Annual Enterprise Award, which created interest from venture capitalists. Eventually, Yaupon Therapeutics was sold to another pharmaceutical company, Actelion.
Dr. Dwoskin believes that to date her most significant accomplishment has been the U19 award from the NIH on the discovery of selective nicotinic receptor antagonists. Dwoskin’s team of investigators were successful in obtaining cooperative program project funding aimed at discovering a new class of smoking cessation agents. At the time, this grant was the biggest grant the UK College of Pharmacy had ever received. Several compounds discovered as part of this project are now being used as pharmacological tools and are sold by Sigma.
During her time at UK, Dr. Dwoskin became the first woman appointed as associate dean of research at the UK College of Pharmacy, and she has paved the way for more women to achieve success. Although she spends much of her time and effort in her field of research, she also has become a leader and mentor to many young women. She takes the time to encourage them to go after the careers they want to pursue, and not to let apparent obstacles get in their way. Dr. Dwoskin also provides professional advice and assistance to women in science at other universities that she meets in her professional travels. Dr. Dwoskin was recognized at the Office of Technology Commercialization's (OTC) event, Patent Palooza! Tuesday, for reaching twenty patents issued through the University of Kentucky.
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Patent Palooza! 2018 was held on March 27 at the Hilary J. Boone Center.
Recognition was given to inventors for 40 patents issued, 13 licenses and options, and eight SBIR/STTR awards. Kunlei Liu was recognized for 10 patents, Linda Dwoskin for 20 patents, and Joseph Chappell for 30 patents. Four UKAccel teams were recognized, and MosquiteMate was awarded the Global Impact Award.
National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2017 Fellow, Yang Tse-Cheng, was recognized, and NAI Inventor and Honorary members were inducted. To learn more about the UK Chapter of NAI and the 2018 inductees,
click here
.
The event was well-attended and very successful. Event participation and the honorees increased from last year, and OTC hopes to have more honorees next year.
Watch our embedded video to learn more about Patent Palooza!
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6. Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) Office Updates
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The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) staff has been very busy over the past couple of months. Staff attended the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) Annual Meeting in February. AUTM's core purpose is to support and advance academic technology transfer globally. OTC staff learned that many of the trending topics are ones the office has already implemented. The staff is also reviewing ways to continually improve the work being done based on what they learned at AUTM.
OTC director, Ian McClure, said this about the experience.
“As we have had talented people join the office this year that are new to technology transfer, this AUTM meeting was a great professional development opportunity to 'raise the bar' for our team. Each attending team member completed a conference professional development plan and, following the event, submitted an 'OTC Action Plan' presenting ideas for the office that they learned are in practice at other university TTOs. Following a team round table meeting to explore these ideas, we developed a summary OTC Action Plan with new best practices we will implement.”
The OTC is growing to meet technology transfer needs and best practices. This growth has facilitated the Strategic Alliances Team to move their offices into the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship in the ASTeCC building, forming a stronger tie between the two offices. The OTC has also hired a new marketing coordinator on the Strategic Alliances team,
Jacqueline J. Greene
. Jacqui began working for OTC on March 5, and her main responsibilities will be to increase OTC's brand and services awareness, and to cultivate key relationships.
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7. Seeking Our Next OTC Fellow Class!
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The OTC offers an experiential learning and work opportunity to qualified graduate and undergraduate students. OTC Fellows work closely with the OTC on a part-time basis to enhance the OTC’s understanding of the commercial potential of UK technologies, and to assist with the commercialization process. In turn, Fellows gain in-depth and real world experience working on early stage technology assessments, writing technology summaries and preparing deal pitch materials for marketing campaigns, among other duties.
We are currently receiving applications for our next class to start July 1, 2018. Interested in applying to be an OTC Fellow, click
here
.
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Learn more
about our current OTC Fellows, who began January 1, 2018. Members of the OTC Fellows team are: Marion Coe, Michael Orr, Kendra Staggs, and Joseph Stevens.
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8. By the Numbers: Patents February 2018
ISSUED PATENTS
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9. Events of Interest to Inventors and Entrepreneurs
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April 5, 2018, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Boone Faculty Center
500 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40508
April 11, 2018, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Awesome Inc.
348 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507
The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship
April 23, 2018, 5:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Gatton College of Business and Economics
550 South Limestone, Lexington, KY 40506
Every Wednesday, 7:30 a.m.
First Watch
1080 S. Broadway, Lexington KY 40504
No RSVP necessary
2nd Tuesday of the month 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Base 110, 3rd Floor
110 W. Vine Street, Lexington, KY 40507
1st Tuesday of the month, open meetings
2nd Tuesday of the month, workshops for inventors and entrepreneurs
Eastside Library
3000 Blake James Drive, Lexington, KY 40509
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