Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2024-45

CTR Workshop on Intellectual Property and Tech Transfer in Translational Research

Sponsored by

NSF ART (Accelerating Research Translation) Program at NJIT

National Academy of Inventor (NAI) – NJIT Chapter

Date and Venue: November 21, 2024, 9.00 AM – 3.00 PM; CKB – Agile Lab

Registration Requested: Please Click Here to Register by November 14, 2024

Full Announcement and Additional Information: Click Here

Brief Description: The Center for Translational Research is committed to promoting excellence in collaborative research, innovation partnerships, entrepreneurial pathways, education, training and infrastructure development to translate technology into applications with a high societal and economic impact. To follow up on the CTR mission to enhance the research, innovation and technology entrepreneurship ecosystem at NJIT, we have initiated a series of workshops on pathways to translational research and innovation partnerships, with panel discussions and breakout sessions giving faculty, postdocs and students an opportunity to interact with experts on early and advanced translational research, tech transfer, licensing and funding strategies for entrepreneurial activities.

Who Should Attend: Faculty, research staff, undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs and external partners who are pursuing or are interested in pathways to translational research and innovation with technology development for use-inspired applications and societal benefit should attend and would be benefited from the workshop. The workshop will focus on the need and processes of acquisition of Intellectual Property (such as patents and trademarks issued by the United States Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) and technology transfer (such as licensing) activities towards potential commercialization for innovation translation to market for societal use.

Why You Should Attend: You will have the opportunity to learn about recent developments at the USPTO towards streamlining the IP acquisition processes including application submission, review by patent examiners and office actions by Elizabeth Dougherty, Eastern Regional Outreach Director at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office who will give a Distinguished Keynote talk and also participate in the discussion session with inventors in academia and industry. The USPTO is hiring up to 1600 engineers and scientists to serve as USPTO patent examiners. Dr. Dougherty will host an information and recruitment session for faculty inventors to serve as patent examiners.

You will also have an opportunity to participate in the breakout session to learn about the NJIT’s new Technology Transfer Office with open discussion on licensing and enterprise development processes. IP acquisition and tech transfer processes are critical in the translation research pathways towards future funding, entrepreneurship and potential commercialization.

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Agenda

8.30 AM – 9.45 AM
Registration and Meet & Greet Networking with Breakfast

10.00 AM - 10.15 AM
Welcome Remarks and Program Outline
Atam Dhawan, Senior Vice Provost and Executive Director – CTR
Teik Lim, President, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Michael Johnson, President, New Jersey Innovation Institute
Pradeep Fulay, Pradeep Fulay, Program Director, NSF ART Program, Technology and Innovation Partnerships (TIP) Directorate

10.15 AM -11.00 AM
Distinguished Keynote Presentation
Elizabeth Dougherty, JD, Eastern Regional Outreach Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

11.00 AM - 12.30 PM
Distinguished Panel Session: Translational Research and Tech Transfer Processes in Academic and Industry

Govi Rao, Chief Executive Officer at Phase Change Solutions (Moderator)
John Ritter, Executive Director, Office of Technology Licensing Princeton University
Deborah Perez Fernandez, Executive Director, Technology Transfer, Rutgers University
Barry Datlof, Chief Business Development and Commercialization, Medical Technology Transfer, Medical Research and Development Command, Defense Health Agency (DHA)
David Zimmerman, Strategic Partnership Officer, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University
Greg Plaskon, Vice President – Intellectual Property, Stryker Orthopaedics, NJ
Judith Sheft, Executive Director, New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology

12.30 PM - 1.30 PM
Lunch with Experts – Roundtable Assigned Seats Networking

1.30 PM - 2.30 PM
Breakout Session – Technology Transfer and Licensing in Translation
Research - NJIT IP, Technology Transfer and Licensing
Shawn Chester, Associate Vice Provost for Research Collaborations
Sherie Dodson, Associate Director for Technology Transfer & Intellectual Property
Sanjiv Chokshi, Esq, Associate General Counsel

2.30 PM - 3.00 PM
Closing Remarks

3.00 PM – 4.00 PM
USPTO Patent Examiners Information Session
Recruitment of Faculty Inventor (by invitation only)
Elizabeth Dougherty, JD, Eastern Regional Outreach Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

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Fall 2024 NSF Virtual Grants Conference

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) invites you to the Fall 2024 NSF Virtual Grants Conference on December 9 – 12, 2024. This is an excellent opportunity to gain insights into NSF’s current issues, policies and procedures, and specific funding opportunities

Registration is free and opens on Wednesday, November 13, at 12 PM ET. Keep an eye on your inbox for the official "Registration is Open" email, where you will find all the details and the registration link to secure your spot. In the meantime, please visit Policy Office Outreach for resources and previous event recordings, such as the Spring 2024 Grants Conference recordings available on the Resource Center and our YouTube channel.  If you have any logistical questions about this virtual conference, please contact us at grants_conference@nsf.gov. 

NSF: Organismal Response to Climate Change (ORCC); Addressing Systems Challenges through Engineering Teams (ASCENT); Building Synthetic Microbial Communities for Biology, Mitigating Climate Change, Sustainability and Biotechnology (Synthetic Communities)

NIH: Shared Instrumentation Grant (SIG) Program (S10); High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grant Program (S10); Translational Neural Devices (R61/R33); Development of Biomarkers or Composite Biomarkers for Neurological and Neuromuscular Disorders (R61/R33); Innovation Grants to Nurture Initial Translational Efforts (IGNITE): Development and Validation of Model Systems to Facilitate Neurotherapeutic Discovery (R61/R33); BRAIN Initiative: Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization- Next Generation Sensor Technology Development (U01)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Information Innovation Office (I2O) Office-Wide; Young Faculty Award (YFA)

Department of Labor: Cybersecurity Upskilling Initiative

Department of Energy: Quantum Computing for Computational Chemistry (QC3); Advanced Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies to Drive National Goals

National Endowment of Humanities: Landmarks of American History and Culture, Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence; Digital Humanities Advancement Grants

Inside the HHS reorganization to prioritize AI and emerging tech:  The Department of Health and Human Services announced in July that it was reorganizing its internal operations to place more of an emphasis on data and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.  As part of the restructuring, HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology was renamed the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Micky Tripathi, who has been serving as the department’s acting chief artificial intelligence officer, was named as the head of the new joint office. HHS is currently in the process of looking to hire a permanent CAIO, chief technology officer and chief data officer, all of which will be overseen by Tripathi in his new role.  More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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NIST approves 14 new quantum encryption algorithms for standardization: The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced a new series of digital signature algorithms ready for the agency’s post-quantum cryptographic standardization process, following the finalization of the inaugural three earlier this year. 14 new algorithms are now candidates for PQC standardization after over a year of evaluation, the agency confirmed. These algorithms are intended to be implemented in networks prior to the advent of a potential fault-tolerant quantum computer. The algorithms are designed to protect against that future quantum computer's ability to process sufficiently large volumes of data and break the standard encryption schemes that protect today’s sensitive digital information.  The algorithms’ names include CROSS, FAEST, HAWK, LESS, MAYO, Mirath, MQOM, PERK, QR-UOV, RYDE, SDitH, SNOVA, SQIsign, UOV. These candidates will now enter the second round for standardization, which the agency expects to take 12 to 18 months. From NextGov website.