Clarissa Muere, PhD
Licensing Officer
Center for Technology Transfer & Commercialization, Vanderbilt University
AUTM Member since 2016
What are five things that decorate your home office, and what do they mean to you?
- A family vacation photo: Being so far away from my family in Canada, I like to have little reminders of home near me.
- A handmade mug from a Southwest road trip: I love the Southwest and this was a very memorable trip for me.
- A mechanical alarm clock: It solves the conundrum of my dislike for digital clocks and the occasional need to know the time.
- A coffee mug warmer: More necessity than décor.
- A soft, fuzzy blanket: I think offices can save a lot of money just by turning down the air conditioning.
What energizes you?
- Rock climbing and museums. I enjoy the challenge and focus demanded by climbing; and I find renaissance and medieval art, as well as natural history, interesting
What’s the best advice you ever received?
- “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is” - every YouTube video on scam artists and their scammery. I find human behavior fascinating – even morbidly so. Hence, my penchant for shows on subjects like con artists, shady marketing/advertising, and true crime… I also want to avoid ending up on said shows, so I try to take plenty of mental notes!
Which fictional family would you join?
- The Banks Family (Fresh Prince of Bel Air); a close second would be the Addams Family
Where did you work before your current position?
- I was a postdoc in the Physiology Department at the Medical College of Wisconsin
What’s one big goal you’d love to achieve?
- To hike every single mountain range on earth. I am enamored with mountains, and I love hiking. I hiked a few trails in the Canadian Rockies, the Colorado Rockies, and deserts out west. I want more of that.
What’s a trait or habit you deplore in yourself?
- I can overthink anything.
What’s a mistake you made early on in your tech transfer career, and what did you learn from it?
- At first, it was difficult for me to transition from a lab environment, where one needs to be laser-focused on a specific (and sometimes esoteric) subject, into the typical TTO environment with its large volume of unrelated projects, the many stakeholder interests to balance, and the inability/impracticality of learning all the details about any given project, due to the sheer number you must manage! I learned to let go of my anxiety over not knowing everything – and to be more confident in myself, even when I make mistakes.
What do you feel is the greatest contribution of tech transfer?
- I think the impact of tech transfer on improving health, well-being, and overall quality of life, through the development of medicines and other life-saving technologies is its greatest contribution.
Where do you see tech transfer 5 years from now?
- Due to the scrutiny – and test – of the drug development process by the recent pandemic, I believe tech transfer will have a greater and more visible role to play in the future of research commercialization. The outstanding speed of development of lifesaving COVID vaccines could not have been achieved without the bridges previously built by tech transfer between the research and private sectors. Despite being a niche field, tech transfer as the linchpin in advancing technologies for the public good has gained more recognition in recent months. I hope that public awareness – and trust – in the process continues to grow.