The 2017-2018 Fellows at the 2018 AUTM Annual Meeting
“The fellowship is an exceptional program which enabled me to ‘kick-start’ my technology-transfer career”
– Sven Hoffman, 2017-2018 fellow
Training the Next Generation
The AUTM Foundation has entered its third year of facilitating our Technology Transfer Career Training Program! The program offers academic scientists and engineers at the graduate or post-doctoral level an opportunity to transition to careers in technology transfer by providing formal training, networking and practical experience in this field.
The Technology Transfer Career Training Program pairs selected applicants with an experienced technology transfer mentor who offers in-depth, first-hand knowledge of the complexities of the profession. Fellows follow a core syllabus of educational webinars covering such topics as the fundamentals of technology transfer, invention disclosures from cradle to licensing, basic patenting, marketing, and negotiation. The program also provides each fellow a one-year AUTM membership, which includes access to AUTM’s Technology Transfer Practice Manual and more than 80 educational sessions. Fellows are also able to attend AUTM’s TOOLs and Essentials Meeting and Annual Meeting.
This year, we have three separately funded groups of Fellows, making our grand cohort total 15 Fellows! This is one of our most diverse cohorts yet, with students from the UK, Portugal, the US, Mexico, and Canada. You can learn more about our three groups below:
LifeArc
For the second year, UK-based medical research charity, LIfeArc has partnered with the AUTM Foundation to give students in the UK and EU an opportunity to take part in the Technology Transfer Career Training Program. In its first year, five competitive U.K. scholars were awarded the Fellowship (pictured above), and this year the partnership has been able to accept seven scholars to take part in this unique and life-changing opportunity. You can learn more about the partnership here.
Susan Riley Keyes
Thanks to the newly created Susan Riley Keyes Memorial Scholarship, the AUTM Foundation has been able to offer six positions in our Technology Transfer Career Training Program to individuals from small TTO offices throughout North America. We humbly accepted the invitation to continue Susan’s legacy of support, service and training and have accepted six fellows from the US, Mexico, and Canada to be apart of the 2018-2019 Cohort. All six of these scholars are from TTOs with 10 or less full time employees. You can learn more about Susan Riley Keyes and her legacy here.
Sponsorship
This year, the AUTM Foundation provided an opportunity for Universities interested in directly supporting a participant through sponsorship. This opportunity is a great way to catch new hires up to speed without burdening the current staff with training and mentoring responsibilities. Through this call for sponsors, the University of Alabama has generously committed to sponsoring two fellows for the 2018 Technology Transfer Career Training Program! Keep an eye out for information on how your University can sponsor a Fellow for the 2019 Cohort.
Interested in Mentoring?
The AUTM Foundation is always looking for established technology transfer professionals that are interested in mentoring Fellows for the Technology Transfer Career Training Program. Mentors contribute greatly to the success of the program and the future of Technology Transfer as a whole. Becoming a mentor is not only valuable to the Fellows, but to the mentor as well. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a mentor, please email kelly@autmfoundation.com with subject line “T3 Mentor.”
This Year’s Mentors
A big thank you to all of our mentors who passionately share their expertise and time to our talented fellows.
Shawn Hawkins
Richard Cox
Yatin Karpe
Hassan Naqvi
Nidhi Sabharwal
Michael Villalobos
Brian Shedd
David Day
Alan Naidoof
Kristen Leute
Darren Fast
Micheal Dilling
Joy Goswami
Mauricio Suarez
2018 – 2019 Technology Transfer Career Training Fellows
LifeArc Fellows
Lucy Barber University of Leeds
Isabel Ramos The Francis Crick Institute
Maithili Shroff University of Dundee
Shalini Pathak University of Dundee
Eleftheria Ledaki Brunel University London
Filipa Tome Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute
Monica Roman-Trufero MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences-Imperial College
Susan Riley Keyes Fellows
Alyssa Posca McMaster University
Drishi Vilkhu Sunnybrook Research Institute
Iva Bruhova Brock University
Misagh Naderi Louisiana State University
Sanaz Shahi Rowan University
Sergio Arias Martinez Instituto Politécnico Nacional
Sponsored Fellows
Hemali Patel University of Alabama at Birmingham
C. Scott Swindle University of Alabama at Birmingham