The Indiana University Office of Innovation and Commercialization will host the fifth annual Innovation and Commercialization Conference on Sept. 17 and 18 on Zoom. It is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Office of the Vice President for Government Relations and Economic Engagement, the Office of Business Partnerships, and the Office of Research Administration.
This free online event introduces attendees to IU experts on new processes and resources for developing partnerships with industry; research agreements with federal and industrial partners; strategies for intellectual property protection and commercialization of their research; and startups to take their technology to market.
Fred Cate, IU vice president for research, will introduce keynote speaker Nancy T. Chang. In 1986, Chang co-founded biopharmaceutical company Tanox; she acted as its president and CEO while also serving on the faculty of the Baylor College of Medicine. The company developed Xolair, an asthma drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003. In 2007, Genentech acquired Tanox for $919 million.
The Innovation and Commercialization Conference will run from 11 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. Sept. 17 and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 18. Currently scheduled speakers are:
- David Clemmer, Distinguished Professor and Robert and Marjorie Mann Chair of Chemistry, IU Bloomington.
- Val Gill, IU associate vice president for business partnerships.
- Samantha Ginther, senior associate and head of platform, IU Ventures.
- Clark Greiner, director of business development, Bloomington Economic Development Corp.
- Sherry Knighton-Schwandt, IU executive director for research development and IU Bloomington assistant vice provost for research.
- Steve Martin, IU associate vice president for research administration.
- Katie Morris, IU director of research contracting.
- Mitesh Patel, BioCrossroads chief scientific officer and loaned executive, Lilly Research Laboratories.
- Gary Schwebach, professor of practice in health informatics, IUPUI School of Informatics and Computing.
- Simran Trana, IU associate vice president of innovation and commercialization.
- Kathleen Unroe, associate professor of medicine, IU School of Medicine.
- Ted Widlanski, IU Bloomington professor of chemistry and IU Investment Committee member.
- Teri Willey, executive director of IU Ventures and fund manager for the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund.
- Merv Yoder, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, IU School of Medicine.
The complete agenda for the free, two-day conference is available on the IU Research website.
Trana said the primary audience for IU ICO conferences and webinars is targeted yet broad.
“These events are provided to help IU faculty, staff and students on all campuses and academic centers who are interested in learning more about resources that support innovation and entrepreneurial activity throughout the university,” Trana said. “Researchers and students focused on developing their research ideas and understanding how they can transform their research into impactful solutions for society would find the conference informative.”
Trana said the events also would be attractive to IU’s faculty inventors, members of the public who want to learn more about entrepreneurial activity at the university, and venture capitalists and economic development offices who want to engage with the university.
The fifth annual Innovation and Commercialization Conference is free, but online registration is required. Registration closes Sept. 16.
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