Driving Innovation Forward

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This edition of Driving Innovation Forward celebrates 30 years of nurturing innovation at Vanderbilt.  Over this period, technology commercialization efforts have grown dramatically in scale and scope.  But our focus remains on CTTC’s fundamental mission of helping researchers realize their goal: bringing the results of their research to practical application that positively benefit society. Please take a moment to review our historical metrics and reflect on what has been accomplished over the past 30+ years, and catch up on some Vanderbilt’s more recent accomplishments in technology commercialization, including a brief summary of some recent impactful licenses and the launch and growth of select new ventures.  As demands for more complex and robust commercialization services increase, we are committed to meeting the moment.

The title of this publication – Driving Innovations Forward – aptly describes CTTC’s on-campus mission. We are an advocate for researchers to find tangible application for their discoveries to improve the human condition. To make easy that which is hard; to make possible that which is impossible. 

Occasionally an opportunity comes along to practice what we preach, to apply creativity and innovation to a problem in our local universe for a better outcome. One such example is the processing of Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) for University researchers. CTTC processes more than a thousand MTAs annually to facilitate research between academic collaborators. We have experienced a forty percent increase in MTA requests over the past 5 years, and it is a constant struggle to keep up with demand with limited resources. We felt that the only solution was to create an electronic MTA processing system, and so we teamed up with Paul Harris, PhD and his REDCap team to create MTAShare.

At the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization (CTTC), we get to work with doctors, surgeons, scientists, psychologists, engineers, programmers, teachers and students on their new ideas. We work with lawyers, ethics committees, alumni and foundation leaders to develop strategies for protecting and developing these concepts. We work with entrepreneurs, management teams, community advisors, investment firms, accelerators, and companies small and large on commercializing these innovations. We work with Vanderbilt leadership to make sure our efforts are positively contributing to the mission of the university, and we work with local and regional community leaders to ensure these activities impact local economic growth.

As times change, so must the ways in which CTTC delivers value to the Vanderbilt community. Every department and center within Vanderbilt is seeking new sources of funding and support, and CTTC has positioned itself to contribute to the search.

Our core business remains strong; we are closing fiscal year 2014 with unprecedented levels of licensing transactions and inventor engagement, as well as steady growth in the number of inventions disclosed. During FY14, CTTC recorded a record level of inventor engagement and licensing transactions, with 185 invention disclosures, 101 licensing transactions completed, 973 material transfer agreements administered, and an overall increase in interaction with inventors through departmental presentations, educational events, and daily correspondence.