University Of Pittsburgh Office Of Technology Management 2012 Annual Report

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OTM
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Offce of Technology Management 2
Connecting
Momentum
How We Are Ensuring Success as a
Catalyst of Commercial Collaboration
C
ertainly, our role in innovation commercialization at
the University of Pittsburgh dictates an assertive
pursuit of invention disclosures and innovation licensing
transactions. I am happy to report that we have achieved record
highs in both pursuits this past year thanks to Pitt Innovators,
our staff, and our commercial partners.
But that’s only part of our story of success in ?scal year 2012.
As a strategic catalyst in transforming the University’s innovation
development and entrepreneurial culture, we have become more
than assertive. When it comes to changing the culture here, we
are lighting even more ?res. We are connecting even more dots.
Momentum continues to build as we put even more new ideas
and strategies into motion and develop strong partnerships to
cultivate new initiatives that have the potential to take on a life
of their own. When it comes to innovation commercialization
and entrepreneurship, we are helping, indeed, to change the
academic culture at Pitt.
As our latest annual report showcases, we not only experienced a sizable jump in
invention disclosure submissions, innovation licenses, and the launching of new
companies, we also contributed signi?cantly to the development of new initiatives
and commercial partnerships that helped to attract millions of dollars in grants
and sponsored research in ?scal year 2012 as well as many new partners and
supporters, both internally and externally.
It’s important to note that all of these initiatives take a multifaceted approach to
commercialization, bringing together entrepreneurial education; multi-disciplinary
collaboration; Of?ce of Technology Management’s commercialization process;
and partnerships that include industry, entrepreneurs, investors, and the com-
munity. I believe that the broader scope of such initiatives will pay exponential
dividends down the road in enhancing the overall academic experience here
as well as boosting the region’s economic impact and quality of life.
Take the University’s recent Wallace H. Coulter Foundation partnership award, for
example. This structured collaboration (see page 16) brings together clinicians,
bioengineers, commercial partners, and new staff with extensive industry and
entrepreneurial experience in a systematic effort to identify problems and solve
Year in Review
5
Innovation Highlights
8
Pitt Innovator Pro?les
10
Engaging Innovators
22
Staff Directory
26
2012 Annual Report 3
them collaboratively. The goals are the development of new ideas
that can be transformed into useful, life-improving products and
new companies and the fostering of a culture that promotes
innovation commercialization and supports the University’s
growing community of Pitt Innovators. I expect great new things
to emerge from this ?ve-year program and other new initiatives.
Of course, we now face exciting new challenges as we continue
to ramp up the University’s commercialization activities and
strengthen its entrepreneurial culture. That’s why, for instance,
we’re continuing to build our Executive in Residence program,
and we’re working on a new initiative to develop an even stronger
start-up endeavor.
As you can imagine, vetting more than 300 innovations in a year
can prove daunting, but we are able to leverage our resources
and continue to engage many invaluable new partners in
effectively commercializing as many Pitt innovations as possible
for the bene?t of the community and humankind. As such, I would
like to thank our senior administrators, staff, and commercial
partners for contributing so signi?cantly to the University’s com-
mercialization success. I am grateful for your continued support
of both our long-term vision for innovation commercialization and
entrepreneurship at Pitt and our role as facilitator and catalyst.
I also extend my deepest appreciation to our Pitt Innovators, who
continue to demonstrate such vast imagination and ingenuity
in transforming their research into commercial products and
services. Their willingness to dream, explore, and invent contin-
ues to inspire us all.
Respectfully,
Marc S. Malandro
Associate Vice Chancellor for Technology Management
and Commercialization
University of Pittsburgh
Marc S. Malandro
2012 Annual Report 3
Offce of Technology Management 4
310
INVENTION DISCLOSURES
This record participation brings the
cumulative total to 2,632 invention
disclosures submitted for commercial
consideration since 1996.
OTM Impact at a Glance
49
U.S. PATENTS ISSUED
The University’s total patent portfolio of
innovations since 1996 now stands at
490 U.S. patents.
$780
MILLION IN TOTAL RESEARCH
EXPENDITURES IN 2012
OTM’s goal is to strive to identify
and effectively facilitate the
development of more commercially
viable innovations emerging from
Pitt’s collective research endeavor.
$6.8
MILLION IN TOTAL
REVENUE IN 2012
This includes $4.2 million in
licensing income for the year.
9
IN 2012
89
SINCE 1996
NEW START-UP
COMPANIES FORMED
Since 1996, OTM has facilitated
the launch of 89 start-up com-
panies around Pitt innovations—
a great success in perhaps the
most challenging aspect of Pitt’s
commercialization endeavors.
132
LICENSES/OPTIONS EXECUTED
OTM’s licensing managers experienced
their busiest year ever, pushing the
cumulative total to 817 licenses/options
to commercial partners.
2012 Annual Report 5
Year in Review
Partner with Pitt. It’s a simple message, really,
but one we have been conveying aggressively
to industry, investors, entrepreneurs, economic
development organizations, and even the
University of Pittsburgh’s own innovators in
recent years to foster innovation development
and commercialization collaboration across
campus and around the world.
It’s also a proactive initiative that has led
to new opportunities this past year, result-
ing in substantial increases in innovator
participation, technology licenses, start-up
companies, translational research grants,
and sponsored research partnerships.
By partners, we mean University leaders
and researchers, large pharmaceutical
companies, serial entrepreneurs, local
economic development agencies, alumni,
foundations, venture capitalists, and
successful business leaders who give
back as mentors, among others who
support Pitt’s commercialization. It’s a
team effort—a shared commitment of
expertise, time, money, and vision aimed
at transforming world-class research
into products and processes that will
bene?t humankind.
And it’s working well at Pitt as more and
more faculty, staff, and students embrace
this activity as an important part of their
academic research endeavor. Here’s how
the Of?ce of Technology Management
(OTM), in conjunction with the Of?ce
of Enterprise Development (OED) and
literally hundreds of Pitt Innovators who
participated in the process, fared in ?scal
year 2012.
Invention Disclosures
Innovation development activities surged
across campus in FY 2012, leading to
the submission of a record 310 invention
disclosures to OTM for commercial
consideration. That’s an almost 21 percent
increase from the previous year’s record
number. Invention disclosures represent
the ?rst step for Pitt Innovators in the
commercialization process, as they
alert the University to innovations with
commercial potential that emerge from
innovators’ research activities.
This past year’s performance also marks
a 319 percent increase over invention
disclosure submissions in 2003, a year
that became a signi?cant turning point for
Pitt’s commercialization activities. Back
in 2003, Pitt researchers submitted only
74 invention disclosures to OTM, which
sparked a strategic shift at OTM aimed
at attracting more innovators to—and
actively engaging them in—the innovation
commercialization process at Pitt. Since
then, the University has enjoyed a steady
climb in participation, culminating in this
past year’s milestone increase.
Invention disclosure submissions over
the past ?ve years have totaled 1,290.
Overall, Pitt Innovators have submitted
2,632 invention disclosures to OTM since
the inception of the of?ce in 1996.
Driving the recent momentum is a
combination of factors. Outreach efforts
to bring education and awareness to Pitt
faculty, staff, and students continue to
play an active role in the activities of OTM
and OED. Staff members also continue
to meet and work with researchers
individually even before innovations begin
to emerge from their activities, setting the
stage for commercialization. And more
departments, centers, and institutes are
working with OTM and OED to promote
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
244
254
225
257
310
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
INVENTION DISCLOSURES
0
30
60
90
120
150
0
30
60
90
120
58 58
41
80
105
132
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
LICENSES/OPTIONS
Offce of Technology Management 6
collaborative research programs with
translational components that lead to
greater innovation.
Licenses/Options
Ultimately, OTM’s goal is to disseminate
as many Pitt innovations as possible into
the commercial marketplace, where they
will bene?t humankind. As such, OTM’s
licensing managers have experienced
their busiest and best year ever in secur-
ing commercial partners to accomplish
OTM’s goal.
Their efforts in 2012 led to the execution
of 132 technology licenses or options
to commercial partners—an increase
of almost 26 percent from the previous
year’s licensing activity. This year’s
performance also demonstrates a higher
level of collaborative commercialization
activities with other universities with
which Pitt shares in the ownership of
the intellectual property. Of the total
number of licenses/options, 57 fell under
interinstitutional agreements in which Pitt
was not the lead institution in the deal.
That’s a 39 percent increase from the
previous year.
Another 68 represent regular licenses/
options, up from last year’s 59, and four
were sublicenses. Since 1996, OTM has
executed 817 technology licenses/options
with commercial partners. (Prior to 2010,
sublicenses and interinstitutional licenses
led by other institutions weren’t counted
in the of?cial totals.)
U.S. Patents Issued
The University’s patent portfolio continued
to grow substantially this past year.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Of?ce
awarded Pitt and its innovators 49 new
U.S. patents in FY 2012, up 32.4 percent
from the previous year. That brings the
?ve-year total to 187 and the total since
1996 to 490 patents for innovations
developed at the University. This was
achieved amidst a continued backlog
of pending patent applications and recent
patent law reforms.
Meanwhile, OTM continues to forge
ahead in facilitating the patent or copy-
right protection of its growing portfolio
of Pitt innovations. Working with a stable
of specialized patent attorneys, OTM in
FY 2012 facilitated the ?ling of 123 new
U.S. patent applications, marking a jump
of 41.4 percent over the previous year’s
new ?lings. Since 1996, OTM has ?led
1,084 new applications for U.S. patent
consideration.
Total Revenue
OTM’s general increase in commercial-
ization activity also has had a positive
effect on the generation of revenue from
this activity. Total revenue for FY 2012
rose to nearly $6.8 million, up more than
10.2 percent from FY 2011. Cumulative
revenue for the past ?ve years increased
to $34.6 million. Total revenue includes
licensing revenue, equity sales, and legal
fee reimbursement from licensees.
Of the 2012 total, licensing revenue
totaled more than $4.2 million, and the
University received nearly $2.6 million
in legal fee reimbursement.
Start-up Activity
Due in part to an increase in the number
of “platform” innovations developed
at Pitt and a more concerted effort by
OTM and OED to promote and facilitate
start-up activities, start-up activity this
past year more than quadrupled over
the previous year. Success was driven,
in part, by a combination that included
OTM licensing managers and executives
in residence, OED’s development and
implementation of the new Pitt Ventures
initiative and start-up process, and a
growing number of innovations with
more than one potentially pro?table
commercial application.
Year in Review continued
20
0
10
20
30
40
50
0
10
30
40
50
36
32
33
37 37
49
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
U.S. PATENTS ISSUED
4
0
2
6
8
$10M
$
9
,
0
9
4
,
1
9
2
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
TOTAL REVENUE
0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
$
6
,
5
1
7
,
3
4
8
$
6
,
0
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$
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0
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$
6
,
7
9
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,
6
3
9
Legal Fee
Reimbursements
Equity Sales
Licensing Income
2012 Annual Report 7
This past year, the University spun out nine new start-up
companies based on Pitt innovations, up from the
previous year’s two start-ups. They are as follows:
First Principles
Engineering, Inc.
Mechanical engineering
and materials science
professor Lisa Weiland has
taken an entrepreneurial
leave of absence to start
this local company. She
has developed a new
hydrokinetic energy-
harvesting device that
can adapt to inconsistent
water ?ow (see related
feature in this report on
page 11).
Windhoek
Healthcare LLC
Pediatrics professor
Alejandro Hoberman’s
new antibiotic formula for
infants that reduces diaper
rash and other unpleasant
side effects serves as
the basis for this recent
University spin-off.
SAVD Solar, Inc.
Hong Koo Kim, a professor
of electrical and computer
engineering, has invented
a new class of nano-
optic-based refractive
thin-?lm materials
and devices aimed at
capturing a signi?cantly
greater amount of solar
energy than existing bulk
metamaterials. Potential
applications for this new
company include devices
for optical beam shaping,
imaging, lithography,
optical data storage,
information processing,
and photovoltaics, among
other considerations.
Complexa, Inc.
This start-up has licensed
several Pitt technologies
developed by Bruce
Freeman, a professor
of pharmacology and
chemical biology. Among
the innovations are a
therapeutic treatment
for type 2 diabetes and
cardiovascular disease
using nitrated fatty acids
and keto fatty acids as
anti-in?ammatory agents.
Carmolex Inc.
Based on a novel com-
puter software system
developed by compu-
tational and systems
biology professor Carlos
Camacho, this Pittsburgh-
based start-up offers
enabling technologies for
the large-scale design,
synthesis, and validation
of small-molecule protein
antagonists for drug
discovery. The software
uses unique algorithms
that optimize and sig-
ni?cantly speed up the
screening of molecular
drug candidates against
protein-protein targets.
Enercode Inc.
Chemical and
petroleum
engineering
professor Di Gao
has developed a new
coating that is designed
to prevent ice from
accumulating on
the coated substrate.
The coating includes
silicone resins and silicone
oils that slowly leach out
of the coating and prevent
the adhesion of ice. This
start-up will pursue the
wind turbine industry
and others in which ice
is a problem.
Paradigm
Oncology, Inc.
This new company is
developing a diagnostic
service to predict patient
outcomes associated with
alkylator chemotherapy.
Enabling the diagnostics
is a set of biomark-
ers licensed by
the start-up that
was developed
by Robert Sobol
Jr., a professor
of pharmacology
and chemical biology
at Pitt.
Qrono Inc.
Sam Rothstein, a graduate
student in The Department
of Chemical and Petroleum
Engineering, and a team
led by department chair
Steven Little developed
novel microparticles that
serve as a controlled-
release drug delivery
system. That system is
the basis for
this new
start-up
company.
Cellular
Research
Laboratories, LLC
This new company
is based on a unique
antioxidant compound
designed by Distinguished
University Professor of
chemistry Peter Wipf
(shown below) and his
research team to slow the
aging process and extend
the quality of life. The
company plans to develop
a topical application with
the compound.
Offce of Technology Management 8
Innovating at Pitt
A RASH
SOLUTION
If Alejandro Hoberman,
the Jack L. Paradise MD
Endowed Professor of
Pediatric Research, gets
his way, fewer children
with acute otitis media, or
middle ear infection, will
wind up with side effects
like diaper rash or diarrhea
after taking an antibiotic.
He has come up with a
new antibiotic formulation,
which will reduce such
side effects while still
effectively eradicating
the infection.
PATENT PATIENCE
Medical device start-up company Cohera Medical, Inc., has been
celebrating its ?rst European sales and its continued fundraising
success this past year. Now it can celebrate perhaps one of its
greatest achievements to date: a new patent. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Of?ce has awarded Cohera Medical a patent for Hydrophilic
Biodegradable Adhesives, the basis of a product now called TissuGlu.
The patent application originally was ?led in 2008. The medical
adhesive, developed by Eric Beckman, the George M. Bevier Professor
of Engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering, and Michael
Buckley, a former associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery
at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, is being used
in lipoplasty surgery. The adhesive serves as the platform on which the
Pittsburgh company is being built. Meanwhile, the company continues
to build sales in Europe after launching the product in Germany in the
fall of 2011. And this past June, it succeeded in raising another $8.4
million in capital through a Series D round of ?nancing as it continued to
conduct clinical tests in the United States.
A BREATH OF FRESH … CAPITAL
Another $10 million round of capital for Pitt-based
spin-off ALung Technologies Inc. has given this local
medical device start-up some breathing room as it
prepares for its ?rst commercial sales in Germany. That
raises the funding total so far to $40 million from inves-
tors. ALung has been developing a portable arti?cial
lung device based on technologies originally developed
by William Federspiel—William Kepler Whiteford
Professor in the Departments of Chemical and
Petroleum Engineering, Surgery, and Bioengineering
and director of the Medical Devices Laboratory at
the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at
Pitt—and his team of researchers and licensed from
Pitt. The device, which works much like a kidney
dialysis machine, pumps a patient’s blood through a
cleaning process that removes carbon dioxide and adds oxygen.
BRIDGING THE (NERVE) GAP
When serious nerve damage occurs, trying to reconnect and repair
the nerve can prove, well, unnerving. Not so for Department of Plastic
Surgery professor Kacey Marra, though, who has found a novel
solution that more effectively bridges long gaps in damage and encour-
ages faster nerve regeneration. She has developed a biodegradable
polymer-based nerve guide that provides not only scaffolding between
damaged nerves but also a double-walled microsphere delivery system
for bioactive neurotrophic factors aimed at enhancing the regeneration
process until the damage is repaired. Her technology is designed for
use with another guide that already is on the market.
ORTHO-SENSORS
Associate Professor of
Chemistry Alexander Star
has found yet another novel
use for carbon nanotubes.
He has developed a tiny
pH sensor that con?gures
oxidized single-walled
nanotubes and a con-
ducting polymer into
chemiresistors.
His technology recently
attracted the attention
of start-up Ortho-tag,
Inc., a company based on
RFID tags developed by
Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering
professor Marlin Mickle
for monitoring the perfor-
mance of hip and other
bone prosthetics. The
company has licensed the
technology from Pitt for
use in detecting infection.
2012 Annual Report 9
BETTER SHOT
ON THE FIELD
Health and rehabilitation
sciences professor Rory
Cooper, always the
advocate for athletes with
disabilities, has developed
a highly adjustable chair
for novice contenders
pursuing shot put, discus,
and javelin throwing.
Cooper, the FISA/
Paralyzed Veterans
of America Chair and
Distinguished Professor
in the Department of
Rehabilitation Science
and Technology, and his
research team created the
chair to allow budding ath-
letes to adjust their chairs
as they develop their
styles, techniques, and
skills. The team worked in
collaboration with the U.S.
Department of Veterans
Affairs. Existing chairs
tend to be less adjustable
and custom made for
individual experienced
athletes, and they can lead
to poor performance,
fear of falling, and
injury for newer
athletes. The
new chair
design has
been licensed
to Accessible
Designs, Inc.
COPD VS. FDA-APPROVED ANTICONVULSANTS
David Perlmutter, the Vira I. Heinz Professor and chair of the Department
of Pediatrics, and his research team have discovered a targeted new
treatment for liver disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) using anticonvulsant drugs already approved by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration. Tests by his team have shown therapeutic
ef?cacy in treating the two diseases in animal models. The treatment
has been shown to alleviate signs and symptoms of alpha 1-antitrypsin
(AT) de?ciency, an inherited disorder that results in the formation of
insoluble protein aggregates in cells. Such aggregates can damage the
liver, lungs, and other organs, which can lead to COPD, liver disease,
and other disorders. In fact, AT de?ciency is the leading genetic cause of
the need for liver transplantation in children.
www.innovation.pitt.edu
TRUTH IN EATING, EXERCISE,
AND PUBLIC SAFETY
When it comes to eating too much of the wrong
foods or exercising too little, your eButton won’t
cover for you. That’s because this small wearable
computer—developed by Mingui Sun, professor of
neurological surgery, bioengineering, and electrical engineering, and
his students—contains an intelligent computer software system that
automatically will track and analyze your daily food intake and physical
activity. The device, worn on the front of your chest and containing
numerous miniature sensors, is designed to help people stay healthy,
especially those with diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other
conditions. The software system of this personal electronic assistant
segments video, identi?es foods, estimates food volume, and recognizes
physical activities. Interestingly, the eButton recently has been adapted
for use by police of?cers in what one day may become an intelligent
police badge designed to enhance public safety. Sun and his team
currently are working with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police to test and
develop such a device.
NEW ARTERIES: GRAFTS AND GROWTH
Ninety days. That’s roughly all it may take for a heart bypass
surgery patient to grow a fully regenerated artery, thanks to a new
biodegradable artery graft innovation developed by Yadong Wang,
associate professor of bioengineering, and his research team. Wang’s
vascular grafts are cell free, porous, and made of an elastic polymer
that also is suturable. Their porous nature allows cells to penetrate
the graft walls immediately, fostering the growth of new blood vessels
within a few days. Tests have shown that, within three months, the
new vessels are complete and the grafted polymer has disappeared,
resorbing into the body.
INNOVATION
SHOPPING
If you’re looking for a
cutting-edge innovation to
license from the University,
you now can ?nd it posted
on the new Innovation
Commercialization Web
site launched recently by
the Of?ces of Technology
Management and Enterprise
Development.
The new site not only gives
you searchable access to
all available technologies
by keywords on the home
page but also lets you know
about the latest computer
software being developed
on campus as well as new
research tools that
are emerging from
Pitt research.
In addition, Pitt
Innovators now
can go to the Web
site’s new Pitt Innovator
Library for information and
articles on everything from
commercialization basics
and intellectual property
issues to raising angel
investment and living the
entrepreneur’s life.
Offce of Technology Management 10
2012 Annual Report 11
Kinetic Energy and
Entrepreneurship
Mechanical engineering professor Lisa Weiland
and her colleagues are giving Pitt’s energy
research endeavor a big boost
M
echanical engineering professor Lisa Weiland would be
the ?rst to tell you that she learned a lot from her days of
studying the air ?ow dynamics of morphing aircraft—so
much so, in fact, that she has taken the principles that emerged from
her research and applied them to a new company and a novel device
that captures energy from unevenly ?owing streams … of water.
Indeed, this inventive and admittedly restless academic with an
entrepreneurial disposition has transformed her knowledge of
aerodynamics into a sort of “aquadynamics” and, ultimately, into
a hydrokinetic system that can generate electricity from shallow,
turbulently ?owing rivers and streams. And she’s so excited about the
potential for her device that she has taken an entrepreneurial leave
of absence from the University to launch her own company.
“I think you can reinvent yourself intellectually time and time again—
I personally think you should,” says Weiland, an associate professor
of mechanical engineering and materials science, of her move in
research focus from air to water and from aircraft to energy.
Weiland is not alone in using her own kinetic energy this past year
to give Pitt’s fast-growing energy research endeavor a serious
commercial boost. Electrical and computer engineering professor
Hong Koo Kim, whose previous work in electro-optics has led to
numerous devices and at least one start-up company, recently
developed a whole new class of nano-optic-based refractive thin-
?lm materials that this past year became the basis of a start-up
company called SAVD Solar, Inc.
Kim’s new materials—and new devices to accommodate those
materials—are designed to greatly improve the ability of solar panels
to capture energy over more traditional bulk metamaterials. The
new company is expected to develop products from the licensed
technology for optical beam shaping, lithography, optical data storage,
imaging, information processing, and photovoltaics.
Chemical and petroleum engineering professor Di Gao, meanwhile,
has set his sights on the wind energy industry. He has developed
a new deicing coating that has been licensed to start-up Enercode
Inc., whose initial commercial application targets giant windmills.
His coating basically is a unique silicone resin that also contains
silicone oils designed to slowly leach out of the coating. The surface
oils then prevent snow and ice from adhering to surfaces such as
the turbine blades of windmills.
Lisa Weiland
Offce of Technology Management 12
And electrical and computer engineering professors Kevin
Chen and Joel Falk, in partnership with the National Energy
Technology Laboratory and former Pitt student Michael
Bursic, have developed a laser device for measuring and
?ne-tuning the composition of gases being fed into power
plant turbines used to generate electricity. This technology
was licensed this past year by Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc.
Weiland is taking an entrepreneurial leave of absence to
build a company, called First Principles Engineering, Inc.,
based on her new invention. The innovation, while still in
the development stage, uniquely captures energy from the
uneven, sometimes turbulent ?ow of shallow water to rotate a
small turbine that, in turn, generates electricity. Most existing
hydroelectric systems require a strong, steady ?ow of water
to drive the turbines. Potential applications, she says, could
include municipalities and the military.
“Some rivers and streams have a lot of kinetic energy, but
they’re very shallow, making the water unsteady and turbu-
lent,” says Weiland, who studied the issue with engineering
colleagues William Clark and Daniel Cole, among others.
“So, when you put something into an unsteady ?ow, how
do you get a steady, repeating motion,” which is needed
to steadily turn a turbine?
Hence, the principles of aerodynamics. “It came from
an adaptive aircraft strategy,” she says of her innovation
concept, which works with a “repeating bouncing motion.”
She explains it like this: Her device works in a similar way
as when a person puts his or her hand out a car window
horizontally and then moves it up and down slightly against
the wind, making it “surf” on the wind. Her device works
similarly against the water’s current, creating a repeating
motion that turns the turbine.
Her device did get the attention of the U.S. Navy, which
awarded her start-up a Phase I Small Business Innovation
Research grant. She also has attracted the interest of
Pittsburgh-based Innovation Works, a state-funded economic
development agency that promotes innovation. So why does
she feel compelled to jump into the entrepreneurial fray
herself with her concept? “I don’t know; it’s a character
?aw,” Weiland jokes. “I’ve always had ants in my pants.
I need new mountains to climb.”
But she also believes in the potential for her innovation.
“I more than believe,” she corrects. “There is compelling
evidence to believe that it can get out there and be useful.
I feel a certain obligation to get it out there.
“I also feel a certain societal obligation,” she adds. “People
are paying for research, and they deserve a return. I can’t
let it die on the vine.”
Academic
Entrepreneur
D. Lansing Taylor takes a collaborative,
entrepreneurial, systems approach
to drug discovery
I
f ever an “academic entrepreneur” existed, D. Lansing Taylor,
without question, is what one might call the quintessential
“academic entrepreneur.”
During the span of Taylor’s long and noteworthy research career,
his research and teaching interests have taken him to three
renowned research universities and to at least four start-up
ventures built upon his work. So he understands not only the
importance of cutting-edge translational research and how to
take new ideas to market but also how to transform ideas into
companies, raise capital, and foster strategic collaborations
and partnerships.
Such academic entrepreneurial qualities and experiences are
serving Taylor well today as the Allegheny Foundation Professor
of Computational and Systems Biology in the University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of the University’s
Drug Discovery Institute (DDI).
Today, thanks to Taylor’s leadership and commercial foresight,
drug discovery research at Pitt epitomizes both the University’s
multidisciplinary, collaborative translational research philos ophy
and its evolution into a life sciences research powerhouse
that acknowledges and embraces the individualized
D. Lansing
Taylor
2012 Annual Report 13
complexities—biological systems—of the body and how it
holistically interacts with potential new drugs.
“We’re really dealing with the complexity of life rather than
simplifying it,” Taylor says of the institute’s focus today. “When
you take a drug, it’s usually designed to hit a particular protein.
The reality is that it interacts with a range of molecules, which
can cause side effects or an improved bene?t. A safe drug is
[one which] the side effects are minimal.
“We are applying both molecular and phenotypic discovery,
with complex measurements over time and space,” he
continues. “We now are more fully integrating computational
methods with experimental methods. … Our goal is to shorten
the time and decrease the cost of discovering new drugs. We
are changing the paradigm.”
The University ?rst launched the collaborative DDI in 2006.
At the center of the institute’s endeavor, at least initially, was
its state-of-the-art high-throughput screening facility, with
a repository capable of holding nearly 5 million chemical
compounds. The facility also is equipped with at least 10 robots
that can conduct automated assay plating and, ultimately,
provide researchers with countless drug screening tests.
Today, however, the institute combines such
capabilities with more predictive quantitative
systems pharmacology, which combines
computational and experimental methods
with chemistry and medicinal chemistry
to better address the complexities of drug
discovery. Its primary therapeutic target areas
are cancer, neurological diseases, infectious
diseases, and other areas with strong
scienti?c rationales.
Organizationally, DDI is structured around
those targeted areas as a “distributed
network of solutions,” Taylor says. “One of
our mantras is success through collaboration.
Our collaborators become our intellectual
drivers. So what DDI has to offer is [that]
we have the facilities and people here—and
a process to evaluate” potential research
collaborations and drug candidates.
Taylor accepted the role of director of DDI in November 2010
after spending almost 20 years starting and growing four
different life sciences companies in the Pittsburgh region. Taylor
is known as an entrepreneurial pioneer in high-content analysis
and screening. He began his academic career at Harvard
University, where he developed novel ?uorescence-based
reagents and imaging technologies along with ?uorescent analog
cytochemistry. In 1982, he became director of Carnegie Mellon
University’s Center for Fluorescence Research in the Biomedical
Sciences. From there, he launched his entrepreneurial career
in the early 1990s.
One of his companies, Cellomics, Inc., developed screening
methods aimed at automating cell and experimental animal drug
discovery. The company eventually was sold to Thermo Fisher
Scienti?c Inc. He also applied cellular and tissue systems biology
to diagnostics and drug safety via Cellumen and Cernostics, Inc.
He sold Cellumen in the summer of 2010 and today is applying
both his scienti?c knowledge and entrepreneurial acumen to his
leadership at DDI.
Says Taylor of his decision to join Pitt, “I wanted to spend the
last part of my career in academia.”
“We’re really dealing
with the complexity
of life rather than
simplifying it.”
Offce of Technology Management 14
G
raft-on patches that enable damaged organs to heal.
Powders that promote new tissue growth. Scaffolding
that provides a bio-framework to regrow arteries or
an esophagus ravaged by cancer. Such visionary innovations
are par for the course for researchers at the McGowan Institute
for Regenerative Medicine, which is gaining international
prominence in the ?eld. Leading the way is Pitt Innovator William
Wagner, professor of surgery, bioengineering, and chemical
engineering and the new director of the institute. While serving
as the institute’s leader, he continues to drive his own break-
through research endeavor as well.
Researchers in Wagner’s laboratory continue to develop promis-
ing new applications for biocomposites—synthetic engineered
materials that combine extracellular materials with man-made
polymers to create substances that can duplicate the properties
and behaviors of different tissues and promote new growth.
Biocomposites, Wagner notes, offer a number of potential
advantages over current alternatives such as GORE-TEX and
other materials now used in medical applications.
Innovating
Regeneration
Led by Professor William Wagner, the
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
and its research teams are developing
breakthrough innovations that promote
healing and tissue growth
William Wagner
2012 Annual Report 15
“The [biocomposite] material sutures better, and you can
engineer it so [that] surrounding cells will interact with it more
naturally,” Wagner says. “You want it to be natural from both
the biochemical and mechanical perspectives, and a biohybrid
composite gives you both components.”
An example of biocomposites’ potential bene?ts is a bio-
composite patch developed by Wagner’s lab to address a
long-standing medical challenge: helping organs weakened by
disease to gain the time needed to heal. So far, his team has
applied the material to abdominal walls and has developed
a heart patch from synthetic materials that are designed with
elasticity and the ability to break down eventually in the body.
A heart weakened by cardiac disease typically balloons outward
as it beats and attempts to compensate for its loss of strength.
Wagner’s heart patch, which is sutured to the exterior of the
damaged area, is engineered to mimic the natural ?exing and
stretching of healthy heart tissue, creating a supporting scaffold
to help the heart heal more effectively.
Animal trials show that the patch can support tissue healing and
may encourage regeneration. In a related research program,
Wagner’s team is developing an injectable material for the heart
that provides support similar to that of the patch. This NIH-funded
research continues toward eventual human trials, he says.
Wagner says that regenerating live tissue is the ultimate goal of
McGowan Institute researchers, but the ability to mimic tissue
behavior with synthetics provides a solid bridge or foundation to
help move toward that eventuality. Because the material can be
engineered to exhibit a variety of physical characteristics, it can
be matched to a variety of body tissues and used for a variety
of medical applications, such as abdominal wall repair, breast
reconstruction, and pelvic ?oor support.
One McGowan Institute spin-off company leveraging the syn-
thetic technology is Neograft Technologies, Inc., which developed
the Angioshield polymer sleeve and an electro-spinning technique
for creating the sleeves. Those sleeves are designed to support
veins used for coronary bypass grafts and protect them from
overdilation. The Of?ce of Technology Management (OTM)
facilitated the commercialization process and start-up launch,
providing expertise that Wagner calls vital to the institute’s
ongoing success.
“Our objective is always to spin out new technologies to advance
medicine,” Wagner says of the institute. “We need to make that
handoff so that commercialization happens. But to bring the
technology to the point of the handoff requires us to understand
regulatory pathways and current standards of care as well as
business planning and issues like reimbursement. That’s where
OTM’s help is essential.”
Says Wagner of the material used in the vein graft technology,
“This is a classic platform technology. Polymer chemistry enables
us to continually adapt the mechanics of these substances to
create new ones that meet speci?c medical requirements.
“We’re trying to take advances in molecular biology and cell
biology and our understanding of stem cells, materials science,
and chemical engineering and apply that knowledge to create
solutions to real-world problems,” Wagner says. “[The McGowan
Institute] doesn’t depend on any single technology, so our
researchers focus on the problem instead of the tool, and we
can adapt and improve the tools to meet our ultimate goal:
regenerative medicine that addresses tissue or organ failure.”
“Our objective is always to
spin out new technologies
to advance medicine.”
Offce of Technology Management 16
Other members of the leadership team include Stephen Badylak,
a surgery professor and deputy director of the McGowan Institute
for Regenerative Medicine, and Marc Malandro, director of OTM
and associate vice chancellor for technology management and
commercialization at Pitt.
Borovetz continues, “You certainly need exciting technical and
clinical opportunities, but you also need business and marketing
strategies. Many faculty [members] aren’t very knowledgeable
about these things. Now we have an attentive audience.”
During the start-up phase of the program this past year,
Khanwilkar and the leadership team put together a team of
35 advisors, including seven people from the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and UPMC Health Plan and
others from Pittsburgh’s business and venture investment
communities. They also met with dozens of clinicians and
engineering faculty members to promote the program’s goals
and solicit project applications.
As a result of those efforts, the Coulter program attracted 33
initial innovation development applications from bioengineering/
clinical research teams. The advisors then vetted those applica-
tions, considering factors such as commercial potential (market
size and clinical need), time to market, and identi?able commer-
cialization gaps, among others. The group then culled from those
applications 14 projects whose innovators were invited to submit
more-detailed applications. Those 14 also were asked as part
of the process to attend the Of?ce of Enterprise Development’s
From Benchtop to Bedside: What Every Scientist Needs to Know
educational course this past spring.
Of those 14, the program awarded funding to four innovation
development teams:
• Hand-held Force Magnifer: This microsurgical instrument
magni?es the sense of touch for surgeons conducting eye
and other sensitive surgeries and improves the control
of small movements. The team includes bioengineering
professor George Stetten and ophthalmology professor and
department chair Joel Schuman.
• Resorbable Calcium Phosphate Putty: This regenerative
bone ?ller is designed to stimulate new bone growth in
craniofacial bones and dental implants. Leading this team
are bioengineering professor Prashant Kumta and dental
medicine professor Charles Sfeir.
W
hen bioengineering professor Pratap Khanwilkar left
Utah last year after 28 years, you could say that he
came to the University of Pittsburgh simply to pursue yet
another entrepreneurial dream. After all, he left behind a com-
mendable legacy of cofounding six biotechnology/medical device
start-up companies while also teaching at the University of Utah.
In fact, though, this academic entrepreneur has joined a leader-
ship team that is setting the stage for the potential development
of many biotech/medical device start-ups over the next ?ve years
while also giving Pitt’s culture of innovation commercialization
and entrepreneurship an enormous boost. Khanwilkar is the
program director of Pitt’s new Coulter Translational Research
Partners II Program, which was launched in fall 2011 in the
Swanson School of Engineering Department of Bioengineering
with a $3.54 million ?ve-year grant from the Wallace H. Coulter
Foundation. Pitt was one of only six universities nationally to
receive the award. Khanwilkar also is serving as a professor of
bioengineering and an executive in residence in the Of?ce of
Technology Management (OTM), one of several key partners in
the new program.
“It’s really a start-up,” Khanwilkar says of the new program and
the entrepreneurial acumen needed to develop it into maturity.
“It’s a completely new program that Pitt has never done before.
There’s a huge need, though. That’s why I’m here. I believe I can
make a difference.”
The program, ?rst established by the Coulter Foundation,
encourages innovation development collaboration between
clinicians and bioengineering researchers. It also employs a
highly structured solicitation and vetting process that includes
internal and external advisors, mentors from the local business
community, and extensive entrepreneurial education for partici-
pating researchers. The goal is to develop health care improve-
ments that address unmet clinical needs and to accelerate their
development and commercialization into patient care.
“This provides a structured process for investigators to follow
along with funding,” Khanwilkar says. “It provides a little bit of
money and a whole lot of mentoring and brings the business
ecosystem to the table.”
Harvey Borovetz, Distinguished Professor, chair of the Department
of Bioengineering, and principal investigator of the program, adds,
“[Khanwilkar] brings an entirely new expertise in translational
research to the of?ces of faculty who are interested.”
Coulter Culture
This national foundation grant program elevates bioengineer/clinician collaboration,
community partnership, commercialization, and entrepreneurship
2012 Annual Report 17
• Anti-infammatory Gum Disease Treatment Using
Protein Microparticles: This controlled-release treatment
uses the protein CCL22 to attack in?ammation and induce
periodontal regeneration using the body’s immune system.
Key researchers are chemical and petroleum engineering
professor and chair Steven Little and Sfeir.
• Infection-reducing Regenerative Treatment for Patients
with Cardiac Device Implants: Bioengineering professor
Yadong Wang and School of Medicine professor David
Schwartzman have developed a treatment using biodegrad-
able spherical droplets to deliver ?broblast growth factor,
rifampin, and minocycline into implant sites over several
weeks to promote healing.
For those whose projects were not accepted for the Coulter
program, Khanwilkar says he still met with each group and
offered constructive feedback as to how to move forward in their
commercialization efforts. Some also were referred to another
new Swanson School program, the Center for Medical Innovation
(CMI), which is aimed at providing proof-of-concept funding and
guidance for earlier-stage innovations and their innovators. The
Coulter program also is providing funding for the CMI projects.
“Our vision for the Coulter program is more start-up companies
and [technology] licenses and building a culture of translation
at Pitt through awareness and education that develops serial
innovators,” Khanwilkar says.
Adds Borovetz, “We now have this array of people across multiple
disciplines who want to make this translation successful.”
Harvey Borovetz
Pratap Khanwilkar
Offce of Technology Management 18
A Universal
Vaccine Platform
Microbiology and molecular genetics professor
Ted Ross and his team at the Center for Vaccine
Research have developed a unique ?u vaccine
that has attracted the support of one of the
world’s largest vaccine manufacturers
I
f Ted Ross and his research team have their way, people
one day soon will have access to a universal ?u vaccine that
protects them regardless of the disease strain and may require
only one shot every 10 years or longer.
That proposition, backed by extensive research and intellectual
property developed by Ross and his team at the University
of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) and even
extended into other global health concerns, has not been lost
on the international pharmaceutical industry. In fact, Pitt and
CVR recently entered into a signi?cant long-term licensing and
sponsored research partnership with Sano? Pasteur, one of the
world’s largest vaccine manufacturers.
The partnership’s goal is to develop a single-platform vaccine
that protects people against multiple strains of in?uenza, which
2012 Annual Report 19
kills about 36,000 people each year in the United States alone.
If successful, this approach could streamline vaccine devel-
opment and help to ensure that more people than ever are
protected against common infectious diseases.
“Our goal is a vaccine that stimulates an immune response that
recognizes all strains of in?uenza but also has durability so we
do not have to reformulate it and inoculate people every year,”
says Ross, associate professor of microbiology and molecular
genetics and a CVR founder.
Ross and his research team developed the vaccine by using
algorithms and computer modeling to identify epitopes, portions
of antigens capable of stimulating an immune response, of
various ?u viruses. Once they identi?ed the similarities across
several ?u strains, they captured them and combined the
molecules within a single vaccine. This vaccine approach, called
computationally optimized broadly reactive antigen, or COBRA,
addresses three common ?u viruses—H1N1, H3N2, and
in?uenza B—and is being tested successfully in mice, ferrets,
and nonhuman primates—necessary precursors to eventual
human trials.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
a ?u vaccine’s effectiveness is largely the result of two factors:
the age and health of the person being vaccinated and the
similarities between the viruses in the vaccine and the ?u strains
circulating in the community. Ross’ single-platform approach
helps to ensure that the right strains are targeted and can be
manufactured in less time than current versions.
“A vaccine that works this way bene?ts the manufacturer by
driving down its development and manufacturing costs,” says
Ross, who compares his vaccine to a tetanus shot that’s admin-
istered once every 10 years, “but it also drives down health care
costs. Because it lasts longer and can eliminate the need for
an annual ?u shot, there’s a greater likelihood of compliance
in high-risk groups like the elderly.”
Ross notes that his lab’s COBRA approach also can be applied
to other pathogens such as HIV and dengue fever, which causes
an estimated 50 million infections each year in Asia, Africa,
and South America.
“Like in?uenza, these diseases have multiple strains that make
it a challenge to generate an effective vaccine,” he says. “Our
approach can ?nd the commonalities and enables us to develop
a gene sequence that is amenable to killed virus, live virus, or
emerging technology delivery platforms.”
CVR’s partnership with Sano? Pasteur, engineered with the
assistance of OTM, bene?ts both parties. CVR receives ongoing
?nancial support from a company capable of commercializing
the labs’ work. Sano? Pasteur, in turn, gains access to a
breakthrough vaccine platform.
“This partnership means a steady income for the lab,” Ross
says, “and that frees us to think about the science, to read more,
and explore—the things that enable us to be more innovative,
better scientists.”
“This partnership means a steady
income for the lab, and that frees
us to think about the science,
to read more, and explore—the
things that enable us to be more
innovative, better scientists.”
Ted Ross
Offce of Technology Management 20
Little Lab’s
Big Ideas
Engineering professor Steven Little
and his team are developing novel
drug delivery systems with better
precision and timing
V
isit www.littlelab.pitt.edu and you’re immediately advised
to “Think little.” Of course, it’s a play on the name of
the lab’s driving force, Steven Little, associate professor
and chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum
Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School
of Engineering. It’s also the mantra that guides his lab’s
research into synthetic materials that interact with cells and
mimic their behavior to deliver drugs or other substances
with greater precision and timing.
Take, for example, the lab’s novel treatment for periodontal
disease, a leading cause of tooth loss that also is linked to
increased heart disease, strokes, and premature births. Using
a polymer contained in dissolvable sutures, Little’s group
developed a microscopic capsule ?lled with a certain protein,
or chemokine. When they are placed in the pockets between
gums and teeth, where bacteria breed and trigger damaging
in?ammation, the capsules break down over time and release
the protein. The protein then acts like a homing signal to draw
regulatory T cells to ward off destructive in?ammation caused
by the infection.
Early animal studies show that the treatment can foster healing,
can create more ideal conditions for new bone and gum tissue
growth, and may help to strengthen the immune system to
better handle future bacterial attacks.
“Cells communicate on multiple levels, and there are nuances to
that communication,” Little explains. “If we can design a delivery
system that interacts in the same ways, then theoretically we
can exert greater control over the interaction by mimicking and
in?uencing cell behavior.”
Little equates current drug therapies, which he says bombard
cells indiscriminately, to broadcasting repeatedly over a
loudspeaker. Improving the delivery system will create a more
intimate, one-to-one cellular “conversation.”
“As we gain understanding about the way these delivery systems
behave, we increase our ability to guide that behavior,” he says.
Little’s technology offers broad commercialization opportuni-
ties—not only in medicine but also in areas such as agriculture.
To tap that potential, Little and Sam Rothstein, one of the lab’s
chemical engineering doctoral candidates, recently founded
Qrono Inc., which offers pharmaceutical, agricultural, and other
potential customers design and product development services.
2012 Annual Report 21
Steven Little
The desire to develop a pipeline of big ideas comes naturally to
Little, who arrived at Pitt in 2006. He received his doctorate from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied
under Robert Langer, a proli?c, world-renowned inventor whose
innovations have been licensed to more than 250 companies.
“We have to be both educators and innovators, so there are good
people to chase the ideas we generate,” Little explains. “There’s
nothing like seeing students develop con?dence, followed by
ideas, and then championing those ideas through the process of
creating a company and producing a real product. The experi-
ence is very rewarding.”
Chemical engineering rests at the heart of Little’s work, but he
stresses that widespread interaction among academic disciplines
drives his lab’s successes. “Delivery systems behavior is
based on fundamental chemical engineering concepts that
we understand,” he says. “But we also need collaborators
to provide critical know-how about the potential applications.
Our group includes people with backgrounds in chemistry,
medicine, immunology, pharmaceutical sciences, and even
physics. It’s that diversity that keeps us looking at things from
a range of perspectives.
“We want to change the way people think about delivery
systems and their role in medicine,” he adds. “One day, instead
of prescribing pills, a diagnosis will be recognized as a cellular
communication problem, and we’ll be able to design and ‘pro-
gram’ a drug formulation to interact with the body and address
that problem in a very targeted, speci?c way.”
Offce of Technology Management 22
Engaging Pitt Innovators
and Partners
Certainly record numbers of invention
disclosures and technology licenses/
options this past ?scal year would not
have occurred without the momentum
of a cultural shift here, driven largely by
collaboration and important long-term
partnerships. Translational research,
innovation commercialization, and
entrepreneurship require a healthy dose
of both elements to achieve the kind of
success experienced by the University
of Pittsburgh and its innovators.
Behind the scenes, though, such
endeavors also require a substantial
investment of time and creativity in
planning and implementing productive
events and facilitating meaningful
interactions internally and externally that
foster collaboration and partnerships. As
in past years, the Of?ce of Technology
Management (OTM) and the Of?ce of
Enterprise Development (OED), with
support from the University’s senior
administration, have made that investment
in an effort to proactively engage Pitt
Innovators and potential partners.
That’s where OTM and OED’s proactive
education and outreach; matchmaking;
innovation showcases; and opportunities
to pitch business opportunities to inves-
tors, entrepreneurs, and industry come
into play. Our goal in these activities is
to facilitate opportunities that enable Pitt
Innovators to change the world with their
imagination, ingenuity, and innovation.
Here’s what OTM and OED have been
doing this past year to engage Pitt
Innovators and partners:
New Web Portal
To provide a more informative, educational
Web portal for innovators and potential
external partners, OTM and OED this
past year worked with the Department of
University Marketing Communications to
undertake a major revamping and merg-
ing of their Web sites to create one central
hub focused on the function of innovation
commercialization. For Pitt Innovators, the
new site showcases commercialization
news; provides helpful links and directions
for submitting invention disclosures;
presents interactive opportunities; and
includes links to policies, forms, and
outside resources.
Among its highlights for innovators is
the new Pitt Innovator Library section,
with articles, how-to guides on commer-
cialization and starting companies,
www.innovation.pitt.edu
2012 Annual Report 23
videos, and other educational materials
covering various stages of the commer-
cialization process.
For potential Pitt Innovator partners,
the site not only includes a searchable
database of available technologies for
licensing but also separate links to
available computer software and newly
developed research tools available for
licensing by other researchers.
Education
In addition to the new educational
Web portal, OTM and the Of?ce of the
Provost, in partnership with the Joseph
M. Katz Graduate School of Business
Center for Executive Education, once
again conducted an innovation commer-
cialization course this past year for Pitt
faculty members, staff, and students
titled Academic Entrepreneurship: The
Business of Innovation Commercialization.
This seven-week course, now in its
11th year, addresses the early stages of
innovation development and commer-
cialization, including creative application
development, intellectual property issues,
market analysis, communicating the
value proposition, and commercialization
strategy, among other hands-on topics.
The course attracted at least 30 par-
ticipants from a diversity of academic
disciplines last year.
Similarly, last spring, OED held its own
for-credit course, From Benchtop to
Bedside: What Every Scientist Needs to
Know, with a record attendance of 45
faculty members, staff, and students.
This 16-week course not only examines
commercialization and intellectual prop-
erty issues, it also focuses on regulatory
hurdles, health insurance reimbursement,
funding, and other start-up company
challenges.
The course this past year also was
able to serve participants in the new
Coulter Translational Research Partners
II Program, which was launched
in the fall of 2011 in the Swanson
School of Engineering’s Department
of Bioengineering with a $3.54 million
?ve-year grant from the Wallace H.
Coulter Foundation. Pitt Innovators who
were involved in 14 innovation
development proposals that were
submitted for funding consideration
were required to take the course
last spring as part of their training
in preparation for their innovation
commercialization efforts.
OTM and OED staff members also
continued to provide introductory
seminars and workshops to
departments, centers, and insti-
tutes across campus throughout
the year as well as seminars
and lectures addressing patent law and
entrepreneurship.
Learning and Competing
OED extended its educational endeavors
this past year into several hands-on
activities that not only educated
participants in entrepreneurship and
commercialization but also provided
driven, competitive opportunities for
Pitt Innovators to promote the business
strategies for their innovations and
win cash awards.
OED jumped into ?scal year 2012
with its Wells Student Health Care
Entrepreneurship Competition, a new
Top: Paul Johnson (right), a
doctoral student at the University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
explains his TactSense tech-
nology during the Science2011
Technology Showcase.
Bottom: Johnson (left) with
Pitt alumnus Michael Wells,
who donated the funding to Pitt
to create the Michael G. Wells
Entrepreneurial Scholars Fund
and Wells Student Health Care
Entrepreneurship Competition
Offce of Technology Management 24
program funded by Pitt alumnus Michael
Wells and his newly established Michael
G. Wells Entrepreneurial Scholars Fund.
The competition was designed to promote
innovation development and entrepre-
neurship among Pitt’s health sciences
students. The inaugural winner of the
competition was Paul Johnson, a doctoral
student from the School of Medicine who
developed a “tactile feedback” system for
surgical tools. He was awarded $10,000
from the scholarship fund to move his
innovation closer to commercialization.
OED also assisted the Katz School’s
Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence in
its Randall Family Big Idea Competition
and worked with a number of Pitt student
Innovators in preparing their business
plans and elevator pitches. The winner,
Swanson School student Noah Johnson,
won $30,000 to further commercialize
a drug delivery system developed by
Yadong Wang, associate professor
of bioengineering.
Other competitive educational activities
included elevator pitch competitions
cohosted by OED and other regional
organizations promoting entrepreneurship
and economic development and several
technology showcases. The biggest
of the showcase events last year was
the opening reception and technology
showcase for the University’s annual
Science conference. OED staff members
worked for months beforehand with Pitt
Innovators, matching them with external
mentors and helping them to develop
their business cases for their innovations.
Nearly 300 people attended the event.
Other national showcases included an
academia/industry showcase sponsored
in part by Pitt at the annual conference of
the Association of University Technology
Managers in Anaheim, Calif.; the BIO
International Convention, which was held
this past June in Boston, Mass.; and
Biotech 2011 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Start-up Drive
OTM and OED have stepped up their
start-up development efforts considerably
this past year, thanks in part to their
new Executive in Residence program, an
increase in mentoring activities, and the
development of an enhanced start-up
initiative that’s being called Pitt Ventures.
Still in the works, this new initiative
includes a more assertive innovation and
business development process and new
activities aimed at building up a commu-
nity of partners to support start-ups as
they are spun out of the University.
A dedicated group of mentors from the
community, meanwhile, continues to work
closely with Pitt Innovators to better focus
their innovation applications, create more
effective value propositions and elevator
pitches, and craft business-oriented show-
case posters and planning documents.
Also working more closely with Pitt
Innovators are OTM’s own executives
in residence, who are cultivating new
ideas from University labs and guiding
those with medical devices and computer
software down the more entrepreneurial
commercialization path. Their efforts this
past year have led to several start-up
companies and partnerships with entre-
preneurs and investors. All told, OTM,
with OED’s assistance, spun out nine new
companies based on Pitt innovations, and
both of?ces anticipate similar levels of
activity in FY 2013.
Engaging Pitt Innovators
and Partners continued
Above: Innovators, business mentors,
investors, entrepreneurs, and other Pitt
partners share ideas and information during
the Science2011 Technology Showcase.
At least 250 people attended this inter-
active poster reception, aimed at bringing
together Pitt Innovators and potential
commercial partners to foster innovation
commercialization.
Below: Pharmacy and therapeutics profes-
sor Amy Donihi, second from left, accepts
her 2011 Pitt Innovator Award from Senior
Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences
Arthur S. Levine, Provost Patricia E. Beeson,
and Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg. The
award is given annually to Pitt Innovators
whose innovations were licensed to industry
or start-up companies during the previous
?scal year.
2012 Annual Report 25
I M A G I N AT I O N
I N G E N U I T Y
I N N OVAT I O N
U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H
Partner with Pitt
Internally, OTM and OED have accepted
leadership roles in at least two collabo-
rative partnerships, both of which bring
together Swanson School of Engineering
faculty members, staff, and students with
health sciences clinicians looking to solve
clinical problems. The aim of the Coulter
Translational Research Partners II Program
is to pursue the joint development of
later-stage innovations that ultimately will
improve patient care. OTM and OED serve
as the education and commercialization
pillars of the program (see related feature
on page 16).
On the earlier end of the development
spectrum is a similar program, called the
Center for Medical Innovation, aimed at
cultivating research collaborations that
lead to medical device development and
commercialization. OTM and OED likewise
play an integral role in that program,
providing education, expertise, and
commercialization guidance.
Externally, OTM and OED continue to
develop and promote the Partner with Pitt
campaign, taking it across the country
to generate interest in Pitt Innovators,
their innovations, and their research
programs. The campaign includes an
exhibit booth, brochures, and a growing
series of booklets showcasing some of
Pitt’s greatest collaborative research
strengths along with speci?c research
programs and some of the University’s
most innovative thought leaders in those
areas. Currently booklets are available
for Pitt’s endeavors in energy research,
vaccine research, cancer research, and
medical imaging research. This coming
year, the team will focus on drug discov-
ery and regenerative medicine, among
others. All of the materials are available
at www.innovation.pitt.edu.
The campaign also has led to dozens
of meetings at several
national conferences with
potential licensing and col-
laborative research partners.
Some of those meetings
have resulted in technology
licenses and sponsored
research agreements with
the likes of international
pharmaceutical giants Sano?
Pasteur and Johnson &
Johnson, among others.
Innovator Recognition
Once again, OTM, in part-
nership with the Of?ce of the
Provost, hosted its annual
Celebration of Innovation, a reception
designed to honor Pitt Innovators
whose innovations were licensed
during the previous ?scal year and
recognize all who have participated in
the commercialization process during
the year. Participating in the program,
which includes the Pitt Innovator
Awards ceremony, were Chancellor
Mark A. Nordenberg, Provost Patricia
E. Beeson, and Senior Vice Chancellor
for the Health Sciences Arthur S.
Levine. Close to 150 Pitt Innovators,
senior and departmental administra-
tors, and local partners joined in the
celebration.
Indeed, they have much to celebrate,
as all of these activities have generated
a level of momentum that has led to
a much greater and more active and
sustainable commercialization endeavor
at the University of Pittsburgh. And we
fully expect that to continue.
OTM’s Partner with Pitt
campaign includes a series
of reports showcasing some
of Pitt’s collaborative research
strengths, speci?c research
programs, and thought leaders
in those areas. OTM distributes
these materials at national
conferences via its Partner
with Pitt exhibit booth, which
showcases Pitt Innovators and
their research.
Partner with Pitt in ...
Vaccine
Research
Overview
The same kind of imagination and ingenuity that allowed
virologist Jonas Salk to develop the frst safe and effective
polio vaccine in 1955 at the University of Pittsburgh continues
to inspire faculty, staff, and student researchers to achieve
innovative excellence in vaccine research at Pitt today.
Today, that research legacy—aimed at eradicating everything
from swine fu and yellow fever to tuberculosis and HIV/
AIDS, and at reducing the threat of bioterrorism—fourishes
within the University’s collaborative, state-of-the-art Center
for Vaccine Research (CVR). University offcials launched the
center in 2006 in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center (UPMC), one of the largest academic medical
centers in the world.
CVR, which facilitates both basic and translational vaccine
research, is a natural extension of the Salk vaccine legacy along
with the University’s ongoing vaccine research programs in
cancer and AIDS. The center’s leadership works closely with
Pitt’s Center for Global Health, Center for Biologic Imaging,
Drug Discovery Institute, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer
Institute, and a host of cutting-edge Pitt laboratories, among
others, to carry out a research mission in which computational
modeling and animal models are key components. In addition,
CVR proactively works to develop long-term research collabo-
rations with industry partners.
The center’s research endeavor, which focuses largely
on emerging, highly pathogenic infectious diseases and
biodefense, couldn’t come at a more crucial time for the
global health community; despite recent advances in vaccine
research, infectious diseases still remain the leading cause
of death globally as well as a real threat to national security.
UNI VERSI TY OF PI TTSBURGH OFFI CE OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT OFFI CE OF ENTERPRI SE DEVELOPMENT
Partner with Pitt in ...
Energy
Research
Overview
Western Pennsylvania sits atop one of the largest reserves of natural gas in the country. The nation’s oil industry was born here. The region’s vast coal deposits led to an industrial revolu- tion that began here, and they continue to feed the region’s electricity needs today. Companies such as Westinghouse Electric Company LLC have ensured that nuclear energy research remains frmly entrenched in the Pittsburgh area. And the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) resides squarely within the region.
So it should come as little surprise that, today, the University of Pittsburgh’s world-class research endeavor aptly represents the enduring, pioneering spirit of the Pittsburgh region’s legacy of energy experience with a diversity of collaborative, multidis- ciplinary research.
Today, Pitt Innovators are working to make coal into a more effcient, cleaner energy source and transform it into new syn- thetic fuels. They’re developing new power plant technologies that would lead to little or no carbon dioxide emissions as well as methods to store, use, or effectively reuse this greenhouse gas. They’re designing new innovations for turbines used in generating electricity. They’re pursuing research breakthroughs in numerous renewable energy resources. They’re coming up with new ways to capture and store solar energy, and they’re studying more effcient hydrogen fuel cells.
UNI VERSI TY OF PI TTSBURGH OFFI CE OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT OFFI CE OF ENTERPRI SE DEVELOPMENT
Partner with Pitt in ...
Overview
Until recently, doctors could only make accurate postmortem
Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses. Only during an autopsy would
a forensic pathologist be able to search the brain for certain
types of amyloid deposits, or plaques, that may have settled in
parts of the deceased’s brain over time and attacked memory
and judgment, killing brain cells and ravaging the brain.
But imagine a world in which drug manufacturers and other
researchers, armed with imaging technologies that allow them
to detect Alzheimer’s early and to accurately track its progress,
can develop new therapeutic treatments more quickly and effectively.
Such complex diagnostic limitations have been vigorously overcome at the University of Pittsburgh thanks to a unique
long-term collaboration between William Klunk, professor of psychiatry and neurology, and Chester Mathis, professor
of radiology and director of Pitt’s PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Research Center and their access to an abundance
of research funding and world-class imaging resources at Pitt. Combining Mathis’ expertise in radiochemistry and Klunk’s
expertise in the study of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, the pair developed an entirely new imaging agent
now known widely as Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB). The new
noninvasive brain imaging innovation binds to those specifc
types of amyloid plaques, allowing doctors to view the plaques
using PET image-scanning technology and, ultimately, to diag-
nose and monitor the Alzheimer’s in patients. The University
has licensed the technology to a division of GE Healthcare,
which plans to use PiB to speed up the development of new
therapeutics for Alzheimer’s and other similar diseases.
Paul Chang, professor of radiology in Pitt’s School of Medicine
and director of the Division of Radiology Informatics at the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), developed a
novel computer system in the 1990s that could effciently store,
manage, and distribute digital radiology images throughout
Imaging
Research
Partner with Pitt in ...
Cancer
Research
Overview
Consider the following statistics: In 2012, more than 1.6 million
new cases of cancer are expected to arise in the United States,
according to the American Cancer Society, and more than
577,000 people are expected to die from cancer. These are grim
projections for a group of diseases that collectively remains
the second leading cause of death in the United States. This formidable reality is not lost on the University of
Pittsburgh and its University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
(UPCI), whose world-renowned cancer researchers—with
support from federal agencies, philanthropists, clinicians,
and the community—are fghting to greatly reduce those
numbers by attacking cancers in new and innovative ways.
Consequently, their powerhouse of cancer research is leading
to the development of novel diagnostic tools, targeted treat-
ments, and new vaccines, elevating the University to the top
tier of the world’s cancer research programs.
UNI VERSI TY OF PI TTSBURGH OFFI CE OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT OFFI CE OF ENTERPRI SE DEVELOPMENT
Offce of Technology Management 26
Of?ce of Technology Management
412-648-2206
www.innovation.pitt.edu
Marc Malandro
Associate Vice Chancellor for
Technology Management and
Commercialization
412-624-8787
Daniel Bates
Strategic Relations Manager
412-624-4474
Michelle Booden
Technology Licensing Manager,
Life Sciences
412-648-2220
Carla Crawford
Executive Assistant to the
Associate Vice Chancellor for
Technology Management and
Commercialization
412-383-7665
Alexander Ducruet
Senior Technology Licensing
Manager, Life Sciences
412-648-2219
Kelly Mertz
Financial Analysis and
Reporting Manager
412-383-7139
Stacey Peace
Accountant
412-648-2226
Martania Penn
Intellectual Property Assistant
412-648-2201
Lisa Spano
Technology Licensing
Assistant
412-648-2206
Harold Swift
Technology Licensing
Manager, Physical Sciences
412-648-2236
Jenifer Tarasi
Associate Director,
Intellectual Property
412-648-3220
Stacey Thomas
Accountant
412-648-2241
Maria Vanegas
Technology Licensing
Associate, Life Sciences
412-648-4004
Carolyn Weber
Technology Marketing
Manager
412-383-7140
Paul Petrovich
Assistant Director,
Technology Commercialization
412-624-3138
Amy Phillips
Business Development Manager
412-624-3150
Andrew Remes
Associate Director,
Business Development
412-624-3134
Karen Zellars
Administrative and
Program Coordinator
412-624-3160
Of?ce of Enterprise
Development, Health Sciences
412-624-3160
www.innovation.pitt.edu
University of Pittsburgh
Executives in Residence
Gregory Coticchia
Executive in Residence,
Computer Software and IT
412-624-3170
Michael Lang
Executive in Residence,
Medical Devices
440-725-5902
Sandy Latini
(Not Shown)
Business Manager
412-383-7664
Brittany Schrenker
Government Compliance
Administrator
412-648-2203
2012 Annual Report 27
The 2012 OTM annual report
is dedicated to our Pitt Innovators,
whose imagination, ingenuity, and
innovation are changing the world.
Of?ce of Technology Management
Of?ce of Enterprise Development, Health Sciences
www.innovation.pitt.edu
The University of Pittsburgh is an affrmative action, equal opportunity institution. Published in cooperation with the Department of University Marketing Communications. UMC85511-1012

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