Let AUTM Help You Meet Your Professional Resolutions
Volume 3, Issue 1 — January 13, 2021
The-List-January.png

You’ve either made a resolution or are still trying to pin one down. This year is all about recovering from the disruptions of the last, so it’s more important than ever to dive deep professionally so you don’t get left behind. Whether you want to get connected, involved, learn more, or grow in your career, use the handy 2021 Professional Resolutions Tool we've created to help make it happen:

Get Connected
  • Search the AUTM Member Directory (by name or institution) and start networking today
  • Seek advice or share your expertise in our popular eGroup conversations
Get Deals Done
  • Take AIM at more than 22,000 technologies available for licensing. The AUTM Innovation Marketplace makes it easy to match industry and university research partners.
Get a Job
  • Post a job, your resume, or look for work in the AUTM Career Center
Get Recognized
  • Share your commercialization success stories in the Better World Project. Your story could qualify for the next Better World Project Award!
Get Involved Get Personal
  • Attend any of AUTM’s Region Meetings, or go to our signature Annual Meeting
    • Members get reduced rates! Pro Tip: Renew your Membership before signing up to receive the lower rate.
Get Ahead Get Stats
  • Measure your success with one of AUTM's most popular and widely distributed publications, the Licensing Survey 
    • See all the past survey results in our searchable, exportable database of more than 20 years of academic licensing data in the STATT database
Get Informed Get Pointers
  • Need more guidance about any of the above? Just email, or call us at +1-202-960-1800. We’re here for you.
 
Top Reasons to Get Excited For #AUTM2021
Volume 3, Issue 3 — February 10, 2021

The AUTM virtual Annual Meeting is just one month away, and we have SO much planned for you! Read on for some major news about what to expect, and register ASAP so you don't miss out on any of it!

All The Networking You Can Handle: We know your favorite part of the AUTM Annual Meetings is the ability to meet your colleagues and potential partners. We are going to have so many ways to do that at #AUTM2021!

AUTM Connect: The online partnering tool to meet and schedule a time with other attendees before or after the Annual Meeting event. Match with others based on mutual interests, and export lists of contacts including technologies, companies, and attendees. More than 9,000 meetings were requested this way last year! Available mid-February. Learn More 
 
Ad Hoc Video Meetings: Take the impromptu coffees and happy hours virtual! During the four days of the AUTM Annual Meeting, the virtual platform will offer you the ability to meet face-to-face with one (or dozens) of other attendees — all without having to leave the platform where you'll view the Annual Meeting sessions. Set up your own meetings when it suits you on those days, with your own video meeting link. It's up to you.
 
Connect & Collaborate: It's your go-to source for information about industry, technologies that interest them, and how best to partner with them. Visit the Center to do your homework on industry partners attending the Meeting. Decide which companies are the best collaborative fit for your innovation before scheduling a meeting or connecting at the Networking Workshop.
  • You’re invited! Dedicated Connect and Collaborate Networking Workshop, March 16 (Tuesday) 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET: Meet face-to-face on the Meeting platform at this breakout session designed for academia and industry to connect and share current projects.
VCs Talk Back:
Thursday, March 18 11:30 am ET  
Hear from VCs on how to create win-win outcomes when they work with TTOs to launch world-changing startups. You’ll get an overview of the key issues in university startup term sheets, best practices for structuring equity, royalties, and milestones, common points of friction around sublicensing, know-how royalties and diligence, and other recommendations. Check out the top-notch speakers!

International Connection Hour:
March 17 (Wednesday), 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. ET
  • Join this early morning session to network with global attendees via video and discuss topics of interest in your part of the world.

Partnering Forums:
March 18 (Thursday) 1:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m. ET
AUTM Partnering Forums are unique opportunities for technology transfer and licensing specialists from universities and research institutions to connect with their counterparts in business development and investment within focused tech sectors. Join us for an industry panel discussion followed by networking.
  • Partnering and Funding Models to Advance Innovation in Animal Health
  • Physical and Computer Sciences Panel
Roundtables: Open Discussions
Over four days, more than 25 sessions based on topic or business specialty will help you connect live and face-to-face over video with fellow attendees. Get all the details and choose your sessions here:
  • March 15 (Monday) 2:15 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.ET
  • March 16 (Tuesday) 12:15 p.m.- 1:00 p.m. ET
  • March 17 (Wednesday) 12:15 p.m.- 1:00 p.m.and 3:00 p.m.- 3:45 p.m. ET
Forward-Thinking Speakers: 
  • Ellen Ochoa: Astronaut. Inventor. Game Changer. Ellen Ochoa is the first Hispanic woman ever to go into space. She’s also a brilliant inventor and only the second female Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Hear her thoughts on change, innovation, the culture of teams, and what can be done to ensure that more women and minorities find a place within the tech transfer industry. Meet Ellen
  • Dr. Antwi Akom: Professor Antwi Akom is the Director of the Social Innovation and Urban Opportunity Lab — a joint research lab between UCSF and SFSU. He has an extensive background in building collaborative, community-facing technology projects and new models of urban innovation that help cities become smarter, more equitable, just and sustainable. Meet Antwi
  • Daren Tang: Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), began his six-year mandate in October. Prior to his appointment, he served as Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), driving the strategic transformation of IPOS in support of Singapore’s innovation-based economy. Tang has just the global perspective that our Annual Meeting attendees value. During their conversation, he and AUTM CEO Steve Susalka will discuss a wide-range of topics in an hour full of insights.  Meet Daren
It’s so much more than a Zoom meeting: With a lobby, virtual swag bag, gamification, and more networking opportunities than you’ll have hours for, AUTM's virtual Annual Meeting takes you way beyond another Zoom session.

FUN! Hello. It wouldn’t be an AUTM Annual Meeting without FUN! And we are bringing it this year in a big way: Trivia. Games. Earn points and win prizes. Connect with your awesome colleagues. Plus, more special features to be announced!

Bonus: Sponsorship and Exhibit Opportunities: Take your organization's networking to the next level by tapping into our diverse attendee list of tech transfer influencers and decision makers. Annual Meeting sponsors and exhibitors dramatically increase their brand visibility among thousands of tech transfer professionals, researchers and intellectual property experts from around the world. Work with AUTM to create a virtual sponsorship and exhibit package tailored to meet your budget and objectives. Contact Casey Annunziata, Sponsors and Exhibit Manager, at [email protected] today!
 

Nine Reasons to Register For #AUTM2021
Volume 3, Issue 5 — March 10, 2021
AUTM_2021_GroupBanners_P4-NewTech.jpg

We’re excited to welcome you to AUTM’s first virtual Annual Meeting. There’s so much in store to help you connect, empower your career, and close deals. The platform opens tomorrow, March 11, so there’s no more time to wait. Click here to register. You’ll be glad you did.
 
  1. AUTM Connect: Our official online partnering tool opens tomorrow — only to Annual Meeting attendees. It’s where you’ll connect with potential partners. Register, then log in and request meetings ASAP, before fellow attendees' available time slots fill. 
  2. Easy-to-Use Virtual Platform: The event is hosted on an easy-to-access platform on your desktop or in an app, all through AUTM Connect. There’s even a virtual lobby where you'll find all the Meeting's offerings.
  3. A Chock-Full Schedule: World-class keynotes. An international perspective from WIPO’s General Director. The popular VCs Talk Back panel. There more than 60 sessions to choose from. Be inspired, learn, and return to work invigorated. Download the full schedule.
  4. The Lounge, Powered by Remo: Pop into The Lounge throughout the Meeting and join virtual tables to chat, network, and make deals.
  5. Dozens of Networking Opportunities: From AUTM Connect to Connect & Collaborate, you’ll have many opportunities to find those industry/academia connections you love about AUTM’s Annual Meetings. Click here to see all that’s available.
  6. Games and Prizes: AUTM has ‘gamified’ the virtual platform, meaning you’ll earn points (and maybe one of three top prizes) for things like updating your profile, visiting certain areas of the site and viewing sessions, and more.
  7. Gear to Show Off Tech Transfer: Mask? Check. Sweet t-shirt? Check. Not wondering what to wear next week? Priceless. Get your Annual Meeting outfit and show your pride in our profession by visiting our gear page.
  8. Sponsors & Exhibits: Just like our in-person Annual Meetings, the virtual platform has sponsor and exhibitor booths, showcasing products & services useful to tech transfer professionals. You can even schedule a time to meet with them for more information. Get a sneak peek of who will be there by visiting our Sponsors and Exhibitors lists.
  9. One Year to Watch: Registrants can access recordings of most sessions until March 8, 2022. Meaning you can catch all the concurrent sessions you’d miss in-person, and go back and watch your favorites at any time for a year. How cool is that?
Have a question about the Meeting we didn’t touch on here? Check out our FAQ page.
 
Get to Know the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC)
Volume 3, Issue 7 — April 7, 2021
The-List-April.png
In 2019, AUTM was awarded a 5-year, $16 million grant to support the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) and work together to improve the opportunities for, and impact of, federal laboratory technology transfer. The FLC was formally chartered by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 to promote and strengthen technology transfer nationwide.
Get to know our FLC friends better in this month’s List:

AUTM Region Meeting Trivia
Volume 3, Issue 9 — May 5, 2021
The-List-May.png

Our region meetings are known for their trivia, so we thought this year we’d bring it to you virtually. See the answers below in orange.

  1. What are AUTM's four Regions?
    • Canada, Central, Eastern, Western
  2. Where was the last in-person AUTM Region Meeting held (in which region, city and state)? Bonus points if you name the hotel and dates!
    • Eastern. Raleigh, NC; Oct. 3-4, 2019; Raleigh Marriott City Center
  3. Name the Region for each of these cities:
      • Eastern
      • Central
      • Western
      • Canada
  4. What are the dates of each of the 2021 Region Meetings?
    • Canada: May 10-11
    • Central: July 20-22
    • Eastern: Sept. 30 - Oct. 1
    • Western: Oct. 6-7
  5. Are this year’s Region Meetings going to be in-person or virtual?
    • Virtual
  6. Do you have to live in a Region to attend its Meeting?
    • No! All are welcome to register and join in the learning and networking.
  7. Do you have to be an AUTM Member to attend the Region Meetings?
    • Trick question :) This is the same answer as above.
  8. What is the web page to find links for all the 2021 AUTM Region Meetings?
    • autm.net/events/region-meetings
 
Benefits of Purchasing the 2021 Annual Meeting Recordings
Volume 3, Issue 11 — June 2, 2021
AUTM_2021_GroupBanners_P4-NewTech.jpg

If you have the desire and drive to get ahead, particularly during a time of great change, we have an amazing opportunity for you. As AUTM’s Annual Meeting was held virtually this year, we recorded all of the sessions, which means you can still buy access and watch them at your convenience. Here are great reasons to do that:
Grow Your Professional Development All Year: For one year, you can watch 60 educational sessions and roundtables in the latest on tech transfer. These excellent professional development training sessions will put you head and shoulders above your colleagues.
Join in the Networking - exclusive to 2021! We’ve kept networking open, so you can jump into ongoing conversations and find your next dealmaking partners. Download lists of the speakers and attendees, then reach out to those who’d be a great fit for your next partnership. 
Learn at your own pace - in your own time zone! If you’re not in the Eastern Time Zone, no worries. You’ll be able to play the recordings whenever works best for you. Plus, each session includes an English transcript. 
There’s no better value or opportunity if you work in tech transfer. 60 sessions plus networking for only . You’ll be able to watch the Ellen Ochoa Keynote, the AUTM CEO Welcome Address, the always-popular VCs Talk Back Panel, and the Studio Interview with WIPO Director General Daren Tang. 
Plus, enjoy 2021’s hottest sessions: 
  • The Dilemma of Software Inventions and Associated Data in the Age of AI
  • Roundtable Discussion: Healthcare Data: The New Form of Intellectual Property
  • Roundtable Discussion: University Start-up License Packages: Favorable Deal Terms and Business Development Support
  • Flex Your Soft Power: Impact from Social Sciences
  • Bio2Bio: Biodiversity for Survival via Biomedicine
Have one on us! We know the sessions are great and we want you to know too. So enjoy this one on us. If you like it, there are 59 more available if you purchase the recordings.
Office-wide packages are available. All your colleagues can join in and compare notes. Viewing party, anyone? Please contact AUTM Professional Development Director Barb Gunderson at [email protected] for more details. 
AUTM’s Summer Book (and Podcast!) Recommendations 
Volume 3, Issue 13 — June 30, 2021
The-List-June-(1).png

Ah, summer. It's time for PTO, sunshine, and catching up on all those lists! To help you stay ahead, we've got some tech transfer-related recommendations tailored just for you. 

General tech transfer reads: 
  • The Code Breaker, Walter Isaacson: A long but accessible read in which tech transfer plays a key role, covering the evolution of the scientific discoveries behind CRISPR.
  • The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change), Clayton Christensen: A best-seller on the top of business lists and frequently cited by world-renown thought leaders. 
  • University Technology Transfer: What It Is and How to Do It, Tom Hockaday: Learn more about the basics with this great overview of the profession, which includes how to develop, operate, and fund university technology transfer offices. 
  • Harnessing Public Research for Innovation in the 21st Century, Edited by Anthony Arundel, Suma Athreye and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent: This newly released World Intellectual Property Organization publication helps address the policymaking challenge of diverse legal, policy, and institutional approaches to tech transfer, and assesses and considers how to best optimize existing policies.
Build your skills in negotiation, persuasion, and management: 
  • Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It; Chris Voss, Michael Kramer, et al.: Learn the nine principles that helped the FBI’s former lead international hostage negotiator and his colleagues succeed. 
  • Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini: Incredibly relevant for tech transfer officers, in terms of being able to recognize and defuse tactics that get used by counterparties in license negotiations.
  • Good Boss, Bad Boss, Robert Sutton: A hands-on book about being the kind of manager that brings out the best in people without driving them away. Very practical advice, worth reading not just once but every few years. 
Dive into these books on value and power of intellectual property, and its intersection with business strategy:
  • Burning the Ships: Transforming Your Company's Culture Through Intellectual Property Strategy, Marshall Phelps: The former head of IP at Microsoft and Founder of its $2B+ licensing business offers lessons for any executive struggling with today's innovation and intellectual property challenges. 
  • The Invisible Edge: Taking Your Strategy to the Next Level Using Intellectual Property, by Mark Blaxill and Ralph Eckardt: in this practical guide, learn a new way to view and analyze invisible assets, and build a business around them.
Help improve your understanding and awareness of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (for even more suggestions, visit our Suggested Reading List): 
  • The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias: How To Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-Performing Teams; Pamela Fuller, Mark Murphy, and Anne Chow: Learn a number of unique tools to help understand and move past preconceived ideas and help your workplace achieve its highest performance rate. 
  • How to Be an Inclusive Leader: Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive, Jennifer Brown: Learn how to spark change with this guide to the Inclusive Leader Continuum, designed to help anyone at any level create a workplace of greater understanding, where everyone's talents shine.
Prefer to listen? Check out these Podcasts: 
  • Tech Transfer IP Forum: Lisa Mueller interviews university and non-profit tech transfer professionals. The podcast also offers analysis of IP issues, patent law, and more. 
  • Innovation Overground: From UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, this podcast showcases cool academic innovations.
  • Planet Money: A classic economy explainer from NPR. The Patent Racism episode with Dr. Lisa Cook is of particular interest to tech transfer professionals. Find out why innovation follows strong patent laws for some, while this is not true for others - and the implications for many.
  • First Rounders: Hour-long interviews by Brady Huggett of Nature Biotech with biotech legends, entrepreneurs, and more. The first half of each goes deep to gain a sense of the subject’s career arcs and the way their lives evolved.
Have a great book or podcast you'd think would fit right into this List? Send it to our Marketing Manager, and we'll add it here!
A Better Picnic With Patents
Volume 3, Issue 15 — July 28, 2021
The-List-July.png


Summer is the time of BBQs, picnics, and fun treats (ice cream, anyone?)  We all know there’s nothing better than grilling up some fresh IP, followed by dessert. The List editors may just be hungry, but we thought summer was the perfect time to highlight some food-related innovations: 

  • Eggplant: To strengthen the yields of this essential crop, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and Sathguru Management Consultants in India partnered with a private enterprise Mahyco seed company and a consortium of public research institutions. They’ve introduced a bioengineered variety of eggplant to Asia that is resistant to the eggplant fruit and shoot borer (EFSB), an insect that can cause widespread crop damage. Read More
  • Asparagus: Researchers at Rutgers University made a major breakthrough for asparagus production when they developed Jersey Giant — the first all-male asparagus hybrid. Asparagus is dioecious, which means a plant is either male or female. Because male plants do not produce fruits that drain nutrient resources, they out-yield female plants over time. Male plants also do not produce unwanted volunteer seedlings that contaminate the field, and do not bear the weight of the fruits, therefore are less likely to suffer stalk breakage in a windstorm. It is highly productive, and its introduction led to doubling of yields for the growers and helped to make this vegetable affordable to consumers. Read More
  • Cranberry: After 10 years of development by University of WisconsinMadison plant breeders Eric Zeldin and Brent McCown, Midwest cranberry growers can better compete with growers in other areas of the country who have longer growing seasons thanks to an intense red cranberry named HyRed. It ripens two to three weeks earlier than the leading cultivar, and can produce a larger yield. UW-Madison scientists developed HyRed by crossing the Stevens variety with the Ben Lear cranberry. In 2001, when HyRed was released to growers, it was the first cranberry hybrid available to the public in over 30 years. The patent on HyRed was issued in 2003 to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Read More 
  • Sweet Potato: After the main sweet potato variety was no longer performing, in 2005 the  Sweetpotato Breeding and Genetics Program at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 2005 released a variety of the root vegetable called the Covington. It became the first commercially successful plant-patented sweet potato variety in the world. With higher yields, a longer grocery shelf life and a uniform size, the Covington has become a preferred variety of farmers, wholesalers and retailers. Read More
  • Honeycrisp Apples: In 1991, the two researchers introduced a new apple that would captivate consumers around the globe and revive a flagging industry back home in Minnesota and nearby states. That variety, Honeycrisp, is one of just 27 new apple varieties released by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station since 1908. Patented in 1990, it is one of the top six apples grown in the United States. Honeycrisp’s U.S. patent expired in 2008 but money continues to come in from overseas licensing. The royalties have helped fund additional academic research in agriculture and other areas. 80 percent of all apples grown in Minnesota were developed at the university. Read More 
  • Salmon & Trout: In an effort to support Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, researchers Lawrence V. Kozycki and Gregory Shipman at the University of Alaska Fairbanks invented a pneumatic device that pulls small bones from fish, especially salmon and trout. The compact, affordable tabletop machine was developed for fish markets, grocery stores, fish smokers, individual fishermen, off- and on-shore processors, and restaurants. Marketed as Pin Bone Wizard™, it is more affordable and more effective at removing bones from muscular, wild-caught fish. It can also pull neck bones (which lie on a different plane than pin bones) and does not break bones that are difficult to pull. Read More 
  • 1-MCP and Controlled Environment Agriculture - Keeping food fresh: 
    • SmartFresh helps keep apples, kiwis and other fruits fresh and crisp for consumers to purchase and eat long after they’ve been harvested. EthylBloc is used by flower wholesalers to prolong freshness in their floral products. The underlying synthetic compound for both, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), was developed by biochemist Edward Sisler, Ph.D., and horticulturalist Sylvia Blankenship, Ph.D., at North Carolina State University (NC State). Advances by other scientists are adding a new role to 1-MCP’s capabilities: helping an array of growing crops remain productive through the stress of drought or extreme heat. Sprayed on plants facing a stretch of hostile conditions, the new Invinsa technology helps them weather the unfriendly conditions by preventing their normal response — wilting and shutting down. Read More 
    • CEA Systems, and its partner, Cornell University, have developed an agricultural technology that could save energy, provide better food security and control, and lead to the creation of products for pharmaceuticals and other high-value plant-based compounds. CEA, which stands for Controlled Environment Agriculture, is an advanced and intensive form of hydroponically based agriculture. Plants are grown within a controlled environment so that horticultural practices can be optimized. CEA Systems, and its partner, Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., have developed this technology, which can save energy while providing better food security and control, as well as developing products for pharmaceuticals and other high-value plant-based compounds. Read More 

 
For even more delicious stories of innovation, check out AUTM's Better World Project.
 
Does your office have a great invention (food-related or not!) that’s been commercialized and is available on the market? Submit it to the Better World Project, and you’ll be in the running for the 2022 Award, presented at AUTM’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans, February 20-23.
 

Innovation Hits Record Highs: AUTM 2020 Licensing Survey Released
Volume 3, Issue 17 — August 25, 2021
21_LicActivSurvTagline_Homepage-Ad_1600x1058-(1).png

Despite a year of unprecedented challenges as COVID-19 surged, innovation thrived with record numbers reported in AUTM’s Annual Licensing Survey. University research and technology transfer played a key role in responding to the pandemic  — delivering protective equipment to front-line workers and life-saving treatments to patients. That seismic event accelerated existing trends — tech transfer staff are handling more deals, broadening their reach, and driving the innovation economy.

The key findings of the 2020 Survey show these historic highs:

  • Total research expenditures grew to a record $83.1 billion, an increase of 7.6% over 2019, and a nearly 25% increase over the past five years.
  • 27,112 disclosures were received, indicating a high-level of innovation taking place at research institutions.
  • 8,706 US patents were issued in 2020 as research institutions invested in and protected intellectual property arising from academic research.
  • TTOs signed 10,050 licenses and options, a 7% increase from 2019. 
  • 1,117 startups were formed in 2020, directly impacting local economies, with nearly 69% of the new businesses remaining in their institution’s home state.
  • 933 new consumer products born from academic research entered the market.

Share the infographic or dive deeper into the 2020 Licensing Survey findings here.
 

Breast Cancer Awareness: Innovations Helping Advance the Fight

Volume 3, Issue 19 — September 22, 2021
List-Sept-(1).png

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the World Health Organization, at “the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer.” We’ve gathered some innovations in the fight against breast cancer from stories submitted to the Better World Project. Click to read more about each invention. To submit a story about your institution’s great work, please visit autm.net/BWPSubmit. Submit before Oct. 31 to be in the running for the 2022 Better World Project Awards.

 
  • Tumor Marker Assay Helps Identify the Recurrence of Breast Cancer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Donald W. Kufe, M.D., and colleagues at the DanaFarber Cancer Institute in Boston, developed a monoclonal antibody that recognizes the MUC1 glycoprotein. MUC1 is aberrantly overexpressed by most carcinomas of the breast, lung, ovary and other sites. Dr. Kufe’s research showed that MUC1 is released by tumor cells into the blood and that the level of MUC1 in the circulation reflects the extent of disease. This highly accurate blood analysis is regarded as one of the most sensitive tests for detecting breast disease.
 
  • Breast CT: A New Alternative to Mammography, UC-Davis: In contrast to medical X-rays, which produce a single-layer 2-D image, a computed tomography (CT) scan records hundreds of images of multiple tissue layers and assembles them into a 3-D representation. A team working at University of California Davis Cancer Center has developed a breast CT device they believe provides a more comfortable and potentially more sensitive alternative to X-ray based mammography to detect breast cancer. The breast CT device is the invention of Drs. John Boone, professor of radiology at UC-Davis, and Thomas R. Nelson, professor of radiology at University of California, San Diego.
 
  • Promising Mayo Clinic Technology Joins the Fight Against Breast Cancer, Mayo Clinic A team of researchers at the Mayo Clinic, including Deborah Rhodes, M.D., Michael O’Connor, Ph.D., and Carrie Hruska, Ph.D., has spent the last seven years developing and evaluating ways to improve the detection and monitoring of breast cancer. This research, supported by Mayo Clinic, Gamma Medica Ideas Inc. and the National Institutes of Health, has resulted in technologies exclusively licensed to Gamma Medica Ideas for use in their molecular imaging systems.
   
  • The Prognosis on Breast Cancer: Alberta, BC Now Using Risk Assessment Test, University of British Columbia: Prosigna is a test that assesses the 10-year risk of recurrence of breast cancer in some postmenopausal women. The test evolved from years of research by the BC Cancer Agency, the University of British Columbia (UBC) and three U.S. university labs. Prosigna, the first in vitro diagnostic product to assess the prognosis of early-stage breast cancer, was approved by health officials in Europe and the United States, and Health Canada licensed it soon after.
 
  • Taxol Reshapes the War on Cancer, Florida State University: A Florida State University professor invents the process to make the best-selling cancer drug in history — and while he’s at it, helps save the endangered Pacific Yew tree. Since the introduction of synthetic Taxol, more than 2 million women worldwide have taken the drug to fight ovarian and breast cancer.
 
Get to Know New Orleans
Volume 3, Issue 21 — October 20, 2021


New Orleans was named to Time's list of World's Greatest Places 2021. Needless to say, we’re a little more than excited to see all of you there for our 2022 Annual Meeting, Feb. 20-23. Get jazzed with our sneak peek at all you’ll experience in the city: music, food, Mardi Gras krewes. It has something for everyone! 

Location, Location
All Meeting events take place in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel. You’ll be close to: 
  • Aquarium of the Americas (3 blocks)
  • Arts & Warehouse District (3 blocks)
  • Canal Street shops (4 blocks)
  • French Quarter (4 blocks)
  • Jackson Square (6 blocks)
  • National WWII Museum (8 blocks)
Food & Drink
  • Beignets, gumbo, Sazeracs: New Orleans has been named "Best Culinary Destination in the USA." With more than 1,000 eateries, it’s not surprising. Bring your appetite! Pro-tip: no trip is complete without a visit to Cafe Du Monde.
History 
  • The city is named after the Duke of Orleans, and the French influence doesn’t stop there. Learn more. 
So Much to Do
  • The 2022 Annual Meeting takes place the week before Mardi Gras! Check out the parades you can attend during the Meeting, learn the history, and find all the details here.
  • Have a few extra hours or days to explore? Check out some suggested itineraries.
Want to Learn Even More About NOLA?  Book Your Room and Register
Join us this February by registering, then book your hotel room. View the schedule highlights and meet the speakers. 

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

We're Grateful For ...
Volume 3, Issue 23 — November 17, 2021


November provides an excellent time to reflect on the abundance of the previous months. (Did you know: making gratitude lists have been shown to have positive benefits?)

This year, we asked the AUTM Board to tell us what is topping their Gratitude Lists right now. See their responses below:
 
I am grateful for the space to dream. 
-Laura Savatski, Board Chair
I’m grateful for an exciting new job with a talented staff in one of the great cities of the world. 
-Marc Sedam, Immediate Past Chair
 
I’m grateful for good health, family, and Chuck Norris. 
-Ian McClure, Incoming Chair
I am thankful for my family and all of the support I receive from my AUTM family. 
-Doug Aguilera, Treasurer
I'm grateful for good health and my family. 
-Almesha Campbell, Director

I am grateful to my husband for preparing lasagna from scratch while I was at the Board meeting! It was a particularly pleasant surprise to come home to a freshly-baked lasagna in the oven. Great leftovers all week, too! 
-Hannah Dvorak Carbone, Director
 
I am grateful for spell check … and technology that allows for our family to video chat across multiple states when we may not be able to be together in person. 
-Andy Maas, Director
Good wine, good friends and good music  
-Heidi S. Nebel, Director
The past year has made me grateful for community and the ability to contribute. 
-Gisele Roberts, Director
 

Remembering Bob Dole's Legacy
Volume 3, Issue 25 — December 15, 2021

Bob Dole passed away Dec. 5. He will be remembered by AUTM most for his vision and commitment to the growth of the U.S. innovation economy. The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which he coauthored with Senator Birch Bayh, transformed the way innovations were developed and had a lasting impact on the U.S. economy.
 
  • He was born Robert J. Dole on July 22, 1923, in Russell, Kansas.
  • He was recruited to play basketball for Kansas University, and also played football and was on the track team.
  • He fought in World War II and was seriously injured, requiring 39 months of hospitalization. He recounts his experience in the memoir “One Soldier’s Story.” 
  • Dole was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1950, and the U.S. House of Representatives in 1960.
  • In 1968, Dole was elected to the U.S. Senate, and was re-elected four times. He became Senate Majority Leader in 1984. 
  • While in the Senate, he was instrumental in passing the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act. It represented a major shift in the ownership structure of patents and intellectual property, putting ownership of inventions made in whole or in part with federal funds into the hands of academic institutions and small businesses. It has been more than 40 years since this innovative legislation, more than a trillion dollars in economic impact, millions of jobs, thousands of patents and start-up businesses, and countless new drugs and medical innovations. This represented an enormous impact. 
  • In 1976, he became President Gerald Ford’s vice presidential running mate; they narrowly lost to President Jimmy Carter and his running mate, Walter Mondale. 
  • Dole ran for President in 1980, 1988, and 1996, ultimately becoming his party’s nominee in 1996 but losing the general election to Bill Clinton. 
  • Dole resigned from the Senate in 1996 to focus on his presidential run. After his time in the Senate, he stayed incredibly active as a political commentator, appearing in commercials, and many volunteer roles, particularly helping veterans, those with disabilities, and addressing hunger. He became known for his sense of humor. He was also a major advocate for the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. 
  • He has a museum & one of the largest Congressional archives, the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas.
  • To learn even more, please visit his memorial site at: https://robertdole.org/