The Innovation Institute partners with many organizations across Pitt to advance innovation and entrepreneurship. The Office of Economic Partnerships (OEP) is our sister organization involved in engaging industry and other external stakeholders with the University. In this guest post, the OEP manager of partnerships Paul-Valentin Pitou recounts his attendance last month at the JP Morgan Health care Conference in San Francisco, and the many ways external stakeholders can partner with Pitt.
One of the ways Pitt stimulates its innovation ecosystem is by creating thematic challenges that encourage Pitt faculty, students and staff to develop solutions in those areas that can make an impact in the world. Recent challenges have included the Performance Innovation Tournament that called for ideas for improving human performance, and the Philips Grand Challenge, sponsored by the sleep and respiratory care division of Philips Healthcare. Last year’s Pitt Innovation Challenge, sponsored by the university’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), picked up on the theme of human performance and awarded $475,000 last September to innovations ranging from a mobile app to prevent falls to a new ultrasound technique to immediately diagnose tendon damage in sports injuries.
Today, December 12, marks the 38th anniversary of the Bayh-Dole Act, which helped create the field of university technology transfer. Helping Pitt innovators translate lab discoveries at Pitt into products and services that make the world a better place and generate economic development opportunities lies at the heart of the Innovation Institute’s mission.
The Innovation Institute celebrated its 13th Annual Celebration of Innovation this week. (Read a recap here.) In his welcoming remarks, Pitt's Senior Vice Chancellor for Research Rob Rutenbar discussed how Pittsburgh will move past the disappointment (or relief) of not being selected for Amazon's next headquarters by continuing to organically build on its strengths.
The Pitt McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has racked up some impressive numbers in its 25-year existence. Researchers affiliated with McGowan have had 140 patents issued, filed more than 900 invention disclosures; had their technology licensed more than 170 times and have spun out nearly 30 companies from the University. We sat down with McGowan's director since 2011, William Wagner, to discuss the reasons behind its success and what exciting things are happening in its labs that are changing the way patients are treated for a wide range of diseases and injuries.