Can you share what it’s like to work at the National Institute of Mental Health as a Technology Transfer and Patent Specialist, especially during Mental Health Awareness Month?
I feel immense pride working for my institution. My office is responsible for managing the technology portfolio of the National Institute of Health (NIMH), 1 of 27 total institution/centers (ICs) with specific public health missions that comprise the NIH. Interestingly, a few days before the interview that landed me the job, I heard about NIMH in the news announcing the FDA approval of a new therapeutic for depression. This, in the face of starting the job right before the COVID pandemic, an unprecedented event with a significant adverse impact on global mental health, made the importance of my efforts at NIMH all the more real to me. This position presents a special opportunity at a time when mental health is increasingly coming to the forefront of the consciousness of society.
 
Can you talk about some of the inventions that have come out of the NIMH and how the TTO has facilitated those?
While NIMH tends to have a smaller technology portfolio than the larger IC TTOs, we still have spawned some impactful inventions in the fight against mental disorders. A couple of very successful examples include: (1) our contribution to the development of Esketamine (now marketed as Spravato®), an FDA-approved, fast-acting intranasal spray for Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) and (2) the repurposing of Scoplamine, a drug conventionally used to treat motion sickness, for psychiatric indications such as Depression and Anxiety. In addition to these standout technologies, we also have several successful rodent and viral vector models that have served as popular research tools for companies developing new therapeutics for psychiatric disorders.
 
TTO facilitates these activities by assisting inventors with reporting and assessing their inventions for patentability and commercial application potential. From there, we are able to market the inventions and identify prospective licensees to aid the development of these technologies to the largest possible scale to increase their impact on global public health. It is also important to realize that even though only a select few technologies are patented annually, we can still license other technologies as valuable research tools that advance our public health mission and generate revenue for both the inventor and the NIMH, as a whole.
 
Your team at the NIH TTO is smaller than some of the others at NIH. How do you handle resource management and maintain productivity?
The beauty of working in NIH Technology Transfer is that even smaller IC TTOs like mine (with an office of 3!) are still able to employ the vast resources of the broader NIH community. Funny enough, I have attended several of AUTM’s Small Office Meetings for some tips on running a small office, and I always get a few curious looks from people when they think about the larger organization I represent. But whatever NIMH may lack in the number of personnel is easily overcome through our regular communication, cooperation and collaboration with all the other TTOs that make up NIH. So, while each IC has autonomy in meeting its specific objectives, ALL the ICs have the same NIH mission: the application of knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life and reduce illness and disability. It really does serve as an efficient and effective framework for Technology Transfer.
 
How does your membership with AUTM support your work at NIH?
I really love being a member of AUTM because it provides a chance to step out of my “silo” and see the broader technology landscape. It also serves as a nexus for exchanging ideas and insight with academia and industry, which in turn, helps provide a more realistic perspective in my role as a Federal TT Specialist. The networking opportunities provided by AUTM lead to invaluable professional connections and increase the potential of collaborations critical to the NIMH mission. Finally, AUTM educational resources simply make me a much smarter TT Specialist!
 
What’s the best advice you ever received?
When breaking into a career, be willing to start off working for free.
 
How did you get involved in tech transfer?
Before I even finished grad school, I knew I wanted to work for NIH TT. I started off by emailing all 27 ICs stating my interest and willingness for any opportunity to learn. Lucky for me, the Director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) took a chance by providing me a 9-month internship in their office. This opened the door for several more career opportunities that ultimately landed me back with the NIH. This internship, without question, launched my career.
 
What’s something that has surprised you from your career path?
The most striking thing to me operating in this world of agreements is how DIFFERENTLY every institution does things. Throughout my career as a government contractor and now full-time employee, I am baffled at how difficult negotiations can be between intuitions even with similar public health missions. Naturally, there will be some roadblocks when it comes to government negotiating with for-profit entities. However, I just as often run in equally significant negotiating roadblocks with other non-profits and academic institutions! It serves as a learning lesson that regardless of the mission, it takes effort and empathy from both sides to achieve a meeting of the minds in ultimate service of their respective missions.
 
What’s something you’re working on right now that really excites you?
I am really excited about technologies we are developing in the Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) space right now. ECT is another increasingly effective alternative in the growing (and much overdue) field of mental health therapeutics. I truly believe some of the projects our scientists have reported to us could provide leaps in the coming years of address TRD in patients for which more frontline psychiatric treatments may have failed.
 
What do you like most about working with inventors and other tech transfer professionals?
I feel a real sense of pride knowing I work in service of one of the largest public health organizations on Earth. Moreover, I could not be happier with the positive and tolerant ethos I have experienced at NIH in general. While personality conflicts are natural to any work environment, there is a general mutual respect shared between administrative staff and investigators that make my job so much easier to do than my experience with previous employers. This, on top of the work-life balance encouraged by NIH, allows me to enthusiastically work on projects I believe are very impactful, without feeling burnt-out.
 
What does AUTM membership have to offer that you can’t get from other organizations?
The networking opportunities. While I know there are larger conferences in the tech landscape, I cannot think of an organization more tailored for connecting government, industry and academia contacts than AUTM.
 
What’s your favorite memory from a past AUTM event?
I was at a large networking event and planned to meet up with colleague. Unfortunately, my colleague’s flight arrived late, and I showed up feeling totally out of place. I literally had to go in the bathroom to look myself in the mirror and say: “You go out there and you MEET somebody!” As soon as I stepped back into the crowd, one of the lead organizers of the event shouted out “Anton, you’re here!” (no doubt the name tag helped lol), and seamlessly introduced me to his colleagues. We have met up at every AUTM ever since. One of many stories!