IURTC technology commercialization official traveling to China for conferences, networking

Marie Kerbeshian, vice president of technology commercialization at Indiana University Research and Technology Corp., will lead workshops and speak at international conferences April 14 to 29 in China.

Kerbeshian said the visit will strengthen relationships already developed between Indiana University and China.

“IURTC is exploring ways for Chinese companies to assist the startups in our SpinUp program. The trip will also help connect Indiana University with its alumni base in China,” she said. “The university has strong connections in China, including the IU China Gateway located near Tsinghua University in Beijing. IU campuses have faculty and students either from China or with strong ties to that country. Understanding more about technology commercialization in China can help us leverage those connections.”

Kerbeshian is scheduled to attend the following events:

• April 16 and 17: 14th China International Talent Exchange Conference; Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
• April 18 and 19: International Technology Transfer Network (ITTN) workshop; Fuzhou, Fujian Province
• April 20 to 22: ITTN workshop; Shanghai
• April 22 to 24: ITTN workshop; Qingdao, Shandong Province
• April 25 to 28: BIT Life Sciences’ seventh annual World DNA and Genome Day; Dalian, Liaoning Province

Kerbeshian will speak as part of the conferences in Shenzhen and Dalian. She also will discuss existing IU diagnostic technologies with companies at forums during the conferences. During the workshops, she will be joined by Xin Bu, president of Xi’an Sailest Biomedical Investment Consulting Co. Ltd.

Kerbeshian visited China to speak at a three-day workshop in 2013 and 2014. During the 2014 trip, she and an IURTC colleague also presented technologies developed in the Indiana University campus system.

“I am conscious that the United States has been the leader in university technology transfer for decades,” she said. “The rest of the world has seen the success we’ve had since the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980 promoted university technology transfer. Now we in the U.S. can also learn from what our colleagues elsewhere are doing.”