Message from the Director – The Year in Review

Vinit picture for newsletter 1Dear Reader,

We had an exciting 2011 at OTD with key accomplishments summarized below. The group is now complete and we are projecting 2012 to be very active, with several new ventures in the pipeline and many industry license discussions on-going. We have significant commercialization activity emerging from (1) Coulter Translational Partnership in the Biomedical Engineering department (led by Sol Eisenberg); (2) the NIH-funded Clinical and Translational  Science Institute (led by David Center); (3) School of Management’s ITEC entrepreneurial activities to scale student involvement in our commercialization efforts (led by Paul McManus); (4) the Department of Medicine (led by David Coleman); (5) Boston Medical Center (led by Kate Walsh) and; (6) the Fraunhofer Institute of Manufacturing (led by Andre Sharon).

Key accomplishments in 2011

Maximize Collisions

  • Student Analyst training (80+ attendees)
  • TDDR 2011: Tech, Drugs and Rock n Roll (650+ attendees)
  • $50K Ignition Grants (5) and $200K Launch Awards (1)
  • 30% increase in ideas submitted by faculty
  • Pfizer CTI agreement for new biologic drug development
  • Kindle Mentoring (80+ mentors, 45+ mentees, new website, mentor-in-residence program)
  • Innovator of the Year Award (Boston Globe coverage)
  • BU spin-off Novophage launches with $5.7M series A of venture capital

Minimize Friction

  • BU Express Startup License (completed and being used)
  • Online MTA and CDA agreement form
  • IP & licensing team formed with three patent and transaction lawyers

Operational Excellence

  • Hired six new staff at OTD and one at Coulter/BME
  • Established a second office on the medical campus
  • Submitted a FY2013 budget 8% lower than FY2007 inflation adjusted
  • 15+ student volunteers and hires

The OTD organization evolved considerably in 2011. You can find details about our organization including subject related contact list here.

Sincerely,

Vinit Nijhawan, OTD Managing Director

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