We have just announced our collaboration with the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC), an organization that promotes the efficient and effective transfer of knowledge and technology developed at academic institutions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

We are very excited to have a partnership with a group of some of the leading academic researchers and universities in the country. They include:

Baystate Health, Inc., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Biomedical Research Institute, Boston College, Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Joslin Diabetes Center, Inc., Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, McLean Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Tufts University, Tufts-New England Medical Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, University of Massachusetts-  Amherst, University of Massachusetts-  Boston, University of Massachusetts-  Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts-  Lowell.

We are excited to continue partnerships of this kind, if you are interested please contact me at Katie@iBridgeNetwork.org.

The iBridge Network will be on the road next week, April 13-15 in Irvine, CA, to participate in the eighth meeting of the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP). If you are unfamiliar with UIDP, but are interested in collaboration, particularly between university and industry participants, you should definitely read on. Founded in 2006, the UIDP originally addressed the complexities of negotiating sponsored research agreements at universities. Given the relative increase in industry contributions to research funding, smooth negotiation of this type of agreement becomes more and more important. (Take a look at the chart from the NSF below). Today, the mission of the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) is to nourish and expand collaborative partnerships between university and industry in the United States. Operational support is provided by the National Academies.

While this will be the first full meeting that I attend, I’ve been to a couple of sessions before, and have been impressed by the deep level of thought and conversation that takes place at these meetings. We will be demonstrating the iBridge Network at the conference, and I will be moderating a panel about Tools and Strategies to Drive the Innovation Agenda. There is plenty to discuss on this topic; I’m looking forward to a lively discussion!

Right after the meeting (on April 15-16), the group also will be hosting an Agreements Negotiation Workshop, focusing on effective strategies for negotiating clinical trials and engineering agreements.

If you’re going to be in Southern California next week and want to attend either of these meetings, you can either register for the UIDP meeting, or register for the Workshop on the UIDP Web site.