The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are taking the lead in a new University of Texas (UT) System initiative to move novel scientific processes and technology more quickly from the lab into the marketplace.
The Health Science Center and UTSA have hired Kenneth W. Porter, Ph.D., M.B.A., to jointly manage the new consortium that will include the Health Science Center and its medical research division in Edinburg and medical education division in Harlingen, UTSA, University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas Pan American. Dr. Porter also will serve as director of the newly combined Health Science Center-UTSA Office of Technology Ventures.
“This is the first example in the UT System of a partnership to promote a regional technology transfer system,” said Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research at the Health Science Center.
The new initiative is an expansion of the partnership between the Health Science Center and UTSA called the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute. So far, the partnership has worked to seed new research and educational collaborations, including the recruitment of top researchers to the two schools. However, until now, the marketing of new products and protection of intellectual property was administered separately at each school.
The expanded partnership takes advantage of Dr. Porter’s extensive experience as an administrator, scientist and businessman in the educational arena to recruit faculty-researchers to South Texas, protect intellectual property and spin off companies that will ultimately lead to more rapid dissemination of the new knowledge generated by the partner institutions to South Texas and beyond.
Dr. Porter comes to San Antonio from the University of Colorado, where he increased the institution’s invention disclosures, licenses executed and license income by 300 percent from 2001 to 2005. He also has patented a number of products from his own laboratory research. As a practicing chemist at Duke earlier in his career, he directed biochemical research and participated in the human genome sequencing project.
“We are very excited about being able to recruit someone of Dr. Porter’s caliber,” Dr. Herman said. “He has the expertise, enthusiasm and energy to significantly impact the activity, visibility and interest in technology transfer not only at the Health Science Center, but also at UTSA and throughout South Texas.”
