Academic-industry Partnerships Research Articles

Industry Innovation and Classroom Constraints

iFixit's Technical Writing Project provides an example of an innovative academia-industry partnership that introduces students to the field of UX. The project bridges the industry-academia divide by leveraging private-sector flexibility along with UX's transdisciplinary nature in the design of a modular, academically-recognizable service learning project that has been successfully incorporated as coursework across multiple university departments. While gaining hands-on experience in UX design, students are exposed to best practices in information architecture, SEO, usability testing, content strategy, and categorization. At project's end, student work is published on iFixit's wiki-style website, which is accessed by 85 million users annually. Developed and implemented within the constraints of the academic context, innovative programmatic features—such as offering modifiable project scopes and timelines, providing students and instructors with substantive feedback and support from professional staff, and dividing the project into clear milestones—ensure that the project maintains academic rigor while simultaneously meeting the needs of its industry partner.

Industry-academic partnerships: an approach to accelerate innovation

BackgroundBiotechnology companies are process-driven organizations and often struggle with their ability to innovate. Universities, on the other hand, thrive on discovery and variation as a source of innovation. As such, properly structured academic-industry partnerships in medical technology development may enhance and accelerate innovation. Through joint industry-academic efforts, our objective was to develop a technology aimed at global cervical cancer prevention. MethodsOur Center for Medical Innovation assembled a multidisciplinary team of students, surgical residents, and clinical faculty to enter in the University of Utah's annual Bench-to-Bedside competition. Bench-to-Bedside is a university program centered on medical innovation. Teams are given access to university resources and are provided $500.00 for prototype development. Participation by team members are on a volunteer basis. Our industry partner presented the validated need and business mentorship. The team studied the therapeutic landscape, environmental constraints, and used simulation to understand human factors design and usage requirements. A physical device was manufactured by first creating a digital image (SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD). Then, using a 3-dimensional printer (Stratasys Objet30 Prime 3D printer), the image was translated into a physical object. Tissue burn depth analysis was performed on raw chicken breasts warmed to room temperature. Varying combinations of time and temperature were tested, and burn depth and diameter were measured 30 min after each trial. An arithmetic mean was calculated for each corresponding time and temperature combination. User comprehension of operation and sterilization was tested via a participant validation study. Clinical obstetricians and gynecologists were given explicit instructions on usage details and then asked to operate the device. Participant behaviors and questions were recorded. ResultsOur efforts resulted in a functional battery-powered hand-held thermocoagulation prototype in just 72 d. Total cost of development was <$500. Proof of concept trials at 100°C demonstrated an average ablated depth and diameter of 4.7 mm and 23.3 mm, respectively, corresponding to treatment efficacy of all grades of precancerous cervical lesions. User comprehension studies showed variable understanding with respect to operation and sterilization instructions. ConclusionsOur experience with using industry-academic partnerships as a means to create medical technologies resulted in the rapid production of a low-cost device that could potentially serve as an integral piece of the “screen-and-treat” approach to premalignant cervical lesions as outlined by World Health Organization. This case study highlights the impact of accelerating medical advances through industry-academic partnership that leverages their combined resources.

Academic-industry Collaborations in Translational Stroke Research.

Academic-industry collaborations are an emerging format of translational stroke research. Next to classic contract research models, a multitude of collaboration models has been developed, some of which even allowing for multinational or intercontinental research programs. This development has recently been paralleled by first successful attempts to overcome the translational stroke research road block, such as the unprecedented success of novel endovascular approaches or the advent of the multicenter preclinical trial concept. While the first underlines the role of the industry as a major innovation driver in stroke research, the latter will require enrollment of industrial partners for optimal output. Moreover, academic-industry partnerships are invaluable to bridge the translational "valley of death" as well as funding gaps in times of dwindling public funding and declining high risk capital investments. However, these collaborations are also subject to relevant challenges because interests, values, and aims often significantly differ between cademia and industry. Here, we describe common academic-industry collaboration models as well as associated benefits and challenges in the stroke research arena. We also suggest strategies for improved planning, implementation, guidance, and utilization of academic-industry collaborations to the maximum mutual benefit.

Cardiac catheterization: consequences for the endothelium and potential for nanomedicine.

WIREs Nanomedicine and NanobiotechnologyVolume 8, Issue 3 p. 493-493 CorrigendumFree Access Cardiac catheterization: consequences for the endothelium and potential for nanomedicine This article corrects the following: Cardiac catheterization: consequences for the endothelium and potential for nanomedicine Peter Sobolewski, Miroslawa El Fray, Volume 7Issue 3Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology pages: 458-473 First Published online: November 27, 2014 First published: 21 April 2016 https://doi.org/10.1002/wnan.1405AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat In Sobolewski and El Fray,1 the Acknowledgement section was incomplete in the published article. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was supported by EU Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways: UNITISS, Understanding Interactions of Human Tissue with Medical Devices, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IAPP/286174. Additionally, the authors wish to thank Judith Kandel, David M Eckmann, MD PhD, Steven Franklin, PhD, and Jarosław Goracy, MD for helpful discussion and Karen Sobolewski for help with illustration and figure preparation. Here is the complete text: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was supported by EU Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways: UNITISS, Understanding Interactions of Human Tissue with Medical Devices, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IAPP/286174 and by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education within the co-financed international project in the years 2012-2016. Additionally, the authors wish to thank Judith Kandel, David M Eckmann, MD PhD, Steven Franklin, PhD, and Jarosław Goracy, MD for helpful discussion and Karen Sobolewski for help with illustration and figure preparation. We apologize for this error. REFERENCE 1 Sobolewski P, El Fray M. Cardiac catheterization: consequences for the endothelium and potential for nanomedicine. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2015, 7: 458– 473. Volume8, Issue3May/June 2016Pages 493-493 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Pathways to cleaner production in the Americas I: bridging industry-academia gaps in the transition to sustainability

The transition to sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is hindered by low demand for environmentally-benign industrial development strategies, and a limited supply of professionals to enact such strategies. The “Pathways to Cleaner Production in the Americas” project was a multinational effort aimed at facilitating the transition to sustainability in the region by addressing both of these concerns. The project incorporated multidisciplinary education in business, engineering, and the environment that enhanced sustainability awareness, technical competence and innovative skills of industry professionals, while exposing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to cleaner production (CP) opportunities. In an alliance of nine universities in eight countries, project partners trained 648 university students to assess CP opportunities, while directly benefiting 136 MSMEs. The project developed a unique industry-academic partnership model for experiential learning. Faculty members collaborated with CP industry experts in their respective countries to prepare their students to conduct energy, process and material audits, and develop recommendations for improving financial and environmental performance. The project's CP experts supervised student interns and provided follow-up assistance to the MSMEs to implement the prioritized recommendations. The universities also hosted workshops for industry participants to learn best practices developed through the project and strategies to implement those in their enterprises. In this paper, we share the most valuable lessons from this model, which can be more widely adopted to facilitate industry-academic engagement in the transition to sustainability in LAC and other parts of the world.

Strategy to achieve biomarker-driven immunosuppression after solid organ transplantation by an academic-industry partnership within the European BIO-DrIM consortium

Solid organ transplantation has emerged as the “gold standard” therapy for end-stage organ failure as it improves both quality of life and survival. Despite the progress in short-term graft survival, that is closely associated with the impressive reduction of acute rejections within the first year, long-term graft and patient survival remain almost un-changed and unsatisfactory. Incomplete control of chronic allograft injury but particularly the adverse effects of long-term immunosuppression, such as graft toxicity, diabetes, cardiovascular events, infections, and tumours continue to challenge the long-term success. In general, immunosuppression is applied as one-size-fits-all strategy. This can result in over- and under-immunosuppression of patients with low and high alloresponsiveness, respectively. Trial- and -error strategies to minimize or even completely wean of immunosuppression have a high failure rate. Consequently, there is an unmet medical need to develop biomarkers allowing objective risk stratification of transplant patients. To achieve this goal, we engaged in an academic-industrial partnership. The central focus of the European-wide BIO-DrIM consortium (BIOmarker-Driven IMmmunosuppression) is the implementation of biomarker-guided strategies for personalizing immunosuppression to improve the long-term outcome and to decrease the adverse effects and costs of chronic immunosuppression in solid organ transplant patients. The concept includes four innovative investigator-driven clinical trials designed by the consortium.

Erratum to: Benchmarks for ethically credible partnerships between industry and academic health centers: beyond disclosure of financial conflicts of interest.

Relationships between industry and university-based researchers have been commonplace for decades and have received notable attention concerning the conflicts of interest these relationships may harbor. While new efforts are being made to update conflict of interest policies and make industry relationships with academia more transparent, the development of broader institutional partnerships between industry and academic health centers challenges the efficacy of current policy to effectively manage these innovative partnerships. In this paper, we argue that existing strategies to reduce conflicts of interest are not sufficient to address the emerging models of industry-academic partnerships because they focus too narrowly on financial matters and are not comprehensive enough to mitigate all ethical risk. Moreover, conflict-of-interest strategies are not designed to promote best practices nor the scientific and social benefits of academic-industry collaboration. We propose a framework of principles and benchmarks for “ethically credible partnerships” between industry and academic health centers and describe how this framework may provide a practical and comprehensive approach for designing and evaluating such partnerships.

Advances in the monitoring of geo-structure subjected to climate loading

The paper presents results achieved within the project MAGIC, a project funded by the European Commission under the Marie-Curie Industry Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) scheme. The project MAGIC aims to advance the state-of-the art in the monitoring of geo-structures subjected to climate loading by filling some of the gaps in current monitoring technologies. The project involves a partnership between academic and industrial partners to boost knowledge transfer and promote the development of 'industrial' instruments and services. The paper presents developments concerning the measurement of pore-water tension (suction in excess of 100 kPa) and the integration of geotechnical and geophysical monitoring.

Dynamic culture of mesenchymal stem cells on thermo-responsive PNIPAM substrate

Event Abstract Back to Event Dynamic culture of mesenchymal stem cells on thermo-responsive PNIPAM substrate George Altankov1 and Maria Bianchi2 1 ICREA and Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Molecular Dynamics at Cell-Biomaterials Interface, Spain 2 Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, Molecular Dynamics at Cell-Biomaterials Interface, Spain As of today, stem cell-based therapies are still hindered by the insufficient knowledge of the signals that govern stem cell behavior. Stem cell niche is a dynamic microenvironment that balances stem cells activity to maintain tissue homeostasis and repair. The development of strategies to mimic this dynamic niche environment provides insight to our understanding how to control the behavior of stem cells. In this work we used smart thermo-responsive polymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) for culturing of adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) applying periodic temperature cycles to perturb the cell-substratum interactions. We further studied the functional behavior of stem cells following their two principal properties: the capability for self-renewal (i.ee. the symmetric growth) and to differentiate (asymmetric cell division). Material and Methods: 2.0×104 cells/well ADSCs of 2nd passage were cultured on regular tissue culture polystyrene (control) or on thermo-responsive polymer (PNIPAAm) substrate (Nunc UpCell™) and further submitted to equal thermo-cycling consisting of 20 min cooling (37ºC to 24ºC) and 20 min heating (24ºC to 37ºC), twice per day using specially designed thermo-plate with circulating water jacked fitted to a standard CO2 incubator. For the assessment of symmetric cell division the cells were propagated in basal medium with passaging at each 3rd day and counted before seeding again for the next passage in the initial density. The cumulative population doubling level (CPDL) was calculated and compared for up to 13th passage monitoring also the overall cell morphology and fibronectin matrix secretion as indirect measure for ADSCs ageing. For assessing the asymmetric cell growth the ADSC were switched to osteogenic differentiation medium and again subjected to dynamic thermo-cycling condition. The kinetics of cells growth, alkaline phosphatase activity (AP) and Ca deposition (Alisarin red) were assayed at 3, 7, 14 and 21 dais. Results and Discussion: This is the first study identifying in vitro the effect of thermos-cycling (2 cycles per day) on the behaviour of ADSCs on PNIPAM substrate. The general conclusion was that periodic alterations in the adhesive phenotype of ADSCs significantly alter their differentiation potential but not the symmetric cells renewal in an undifferentiated state. This work was supported by CIBER-BBN (Spain) and the European Commission through the FP7 Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) project FIBROGELNET; The valuable support of the project MAT2012-38359-C03-03 HEALINSYNERGY, funded by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation is also acknowledged. Keywords: Cell Adhesion, Cell Differentiation, stem cell, Smart material Conference: 10th World Biomaterials Congress, Montréal, Canada, 17 May - 22 May, 2016. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Adhesive biomaterials Citation: Altankov G and Bianchi M (2016). Dynamic culture of mesenchymal stem cells on thermo-responsive PNIPAM substrate. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress. doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.02120 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Mar 2016; Published Online: 30 Mar 2016. Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers George Altankov Maria Bianchi Google George Altankov Maria Bianchi Google Scholar George Altankov Maria Bianchi PubMed George Altankov Maria Bianchi Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Academic-Industry Partnership in Russia and Abroad

The article examines academic-industry partnership as a decisive factor in the increase of national competitiveness in light of comparative studies. The authors consider features of integration process in Turkey and Russia, forms and areas of cooperation. Principals of Turkish Higher Education (HE) reforming, strengthening universities’ role in development of state innovative system, caused by the increase of science financing, by the conduct of majority researches at universities and giving of primary attention to science are shown. On a background of international comparisons possibilities of Russian universities to accelerate innovative development are limited because of under-financing, reducing of researchers’ number, insufficient orientation of students in research work. Development of scientific potential and capitalization of institutions’ scientific reputation are presented actual in both countries. Studying Turkish experience of academic-industry partnership has led to revealing constructive ideas, which are expedient in solving common problems, such as private-state cooperation in professional training, creation of quality culture, intensification of international partnership in scientific and academic spheres.

Benchmarks for ethically credible partnerships between industry and academic health centers: beyond disclosure of financial conflicts of interest.

Relationships between industry and university-based researchers have been commonplace for decades and have received notable attention concerning the conflicts of interest these relationships may harbor. While new efforts are being made to update conflict of interest policies and make industry relationships with academia more transparent, the development of broader institutional partnerships between industry and academic health centers challenges the efficacy of current policy to effectively manage these innovative partnerships. In this paper, we argue that existing strategies to reduce conflicts of interest are not sufficient to address the emerging models of industry-academic partnerships because they focus too narrowly on financial matters and are not comprehensive enough to mitigate all ethical risk. Moreover, conflict-of-interest strategies are not designed to promote best practices nor the scientific and social benefits of academic-industry collaboration. We propose a framework of principles and benchmarks for “ethically credible partnerships” between industry and academic health centers and describe how this framework may provide a practical and comprehensive approach for designing and evaluating such partnerships.

Extending the potential of x-ray free-electron lasers to industrial applications—an initiatory attempt at coherent diffractive imaging on car-related nanomaterials

Recent advances in x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) open up new pathways for contributing to industrial research-and-development activities. In this article, we describe our initiatory attempt at using the SPring-8 Ångström compact free-electron laser (SACLA) for industrial applications. The attempt was conducted by the authors through the industry-academia partnership program initiated by RIKEN, aimed at examining the potential of XFELs for the analysis of car-related nanomaterials. Using the infrastructures developed at SACLA, we performed single-shot coherent diffractive imaging experiments on automotive exhaust catalysts and succeeded in obtaining the reconstructed images. This effort has paved the way for the future use of XFELs in the research-and-development activity of automotive exhaust catalysts.

Bridging science and technology through academic–industry partnerships

Partnerships that foster the translation of scientific advances emerging from academic research organizations into commercialized products at private firms are a policy tool that has attracted increased interest. This paper examines empirical data from the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation, an agency that funds partnerships between universities and private companies. We assess the effect on participating firms’ innovative performance, comparing patent count, publication count and proportion of cross-institutional publications between funded and unfunded firms. Specifically, we measure the impact on each of these variables based on three dimensions – small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), younger firms, and size of the collaboration firms participated in – to establish boundary conditions. Our results suggest that receiving funding affects firms’ innovative behavior differently depending on the type of firm, where (1) peer-reviewed publications increased significantly more for SMEs and larger projects, (2) granted patents increased significantly up to 4 years after funding for young firms and those in larger projects, and (3) proportion of cross-institutional publications increased significantly more 3 years after funding for all three sample specifications.

Industry Support of Medical Research: Important Opportunity or Treacherous Pitfall?

Pharmaceutical and device manufacturers fund more than half of the medical research in the U.S. Research funding by for-profit companies has increased over the past 20years, while federal funding has declined. Research funding from for-profit medical companies is seen as tainted by many academicians because of potential biases and prior misbehavior by both investigators and companies. Yet NIH is encouraging partnerships between the public and private sectors to enhance scientific discovery. There are instances, such as methods for improving drug adherence and post-marketing drug surveillance, where the interests of academician researchers and industry could be aligned. We provide examples of ethically performed industry-funded research and a set of principles and benchmarks for ethically credible academic-industry partnerships that could allow academic researchers, for-profit companies, and the public to benefit.

What does pharma want from academic drug discovery?

The pharmaceutical industry needs to collaborate with a wide group of stakeholders to identify and develop effective treatments for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, in particular academic partners. There are multiple advantages to industry-academic partnerships. Such collaborations bring together significant depth and breadth of complimentary expertise. Academia can often be the source of ‘disruptive innovations’, including new targets, biomarkers, and delivery approaches, allowing new insights, technologies and model systems to be developed from unexpected sources, either directly from academia or via the biotech companies which may have spun out of academic teams. Funding sources, such as charities or investors, may allow academic groups to make orthologous bets on novel treatment approaches. It is important for patients that industry and academia work closely together to develop the best molecules against validated targets with the ability to determine the right dose and the right patient populations. Johnson & Johnson Innovation was established in order to access innovative approaches, with Innovation Centres located in California, Boston, London and Asia Pacific with the ability to invest in or directly collaborate with academic teams or biotech spin offs. So what is industry looking for from academic drug discovery? In the ideal situation, the academic researchers will have a novel lead molecule which is likely to be safe, well tolerated and developable, with a validated or at least plausible biological hypothesis that can be tested early. However, significant value can be generated earlier than this new methods can develop molecules against previously intractable targets. Alternatively, academic drug discoverers may focus on the demonstration of the effects of treatment combinations which may be beyond the bandwidth of industry, but are likely to be of increasing importance. There is significant value in academic drug discovery, but this value relies on harnessing the unique aspects of academic research as opposed to replicating the drug discovery apparatus found within small and large industry. It is important that industry and academia work together for the benefits of the patients.

Adoptive cellular therapy: a race to the finish line.

Adoptive T cell transfer for cancer, chronic infection, and autoimmunity is an emerging field that shows promise in recent trials. Using the principles of synthetic biology, advances in cell culture and genetic engineering have made it possible to generate human T cells that display desired specificities and enhanced functionalities compared with the natural immune system. The prospects for widespread availability of engineered T cells have changed dramatically, given the recent entry of the pharmaceutical industry to this arena. Here, we discuss some of the challenges--such as regulatory, cost, and manufacturing--and opportunities, including personalized gene-modified T cells, that face the field of adoptive cellular therapy.

Leveraging an Industrial–Academic Partnership To Optimize Small Molecule Process Development within the Pharmaceutical Industry

There is a growing trend in Ireland toward greater collaboration between academia and the pharmaceutical industry. This is an activity encouraged at a national policy level as a means of providing researchers from academic institutions the opportunity to gain important first-hand experience in a commercial research environment, while also providing industry access to expertise and resources to develop new and improved processes for timely medicines. The participating company benefits in terms of its growth, the evolution of its strategic research and development, and the creation of new knowledge that it can use to generate commercial advantage. The research institute benefits in terms of developing skill sets, intellectual property, and publications, in addition to access to identified current industry challenges. A case study is provided describing the collaborative partnership between a synthetic chemistry research team at University College Cork (UCC) and Eli Lilly and Company.

Industry-Academia Partnership for Sustainable Development in Palestine

Signing cooperation agreements is considered as the first step in building industry-academia partnership, but it is not enough as far as they stay on paper. These partnership agreements have to enhance the economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental protection and global responsibilities, while solving the industrial technical and logistic problems. Cooperation may include carrying out scientific research activities and applying the results of these researches to solve real problems of industry. The current partnership situation in Palestine shows a weak cooperation, hence steps to improve the partnership are urgent. European experience of industry-academia partnership can be the base for developing similar programs and activities for Palestine and other developing countries. This paper discusses the existing status of industry- academia partnership with relevance to engineering education and the horizons of implementing new scenarios and strategies in developing countries particularly in Palestine. In order to close the gap between academia and industry it is suggested to implement curricula improvement by including sustainability concepts on one hand and improving teaching methods on the other hand.

Academic‐Industry Partnerships: Preparing Tomorrow's Plastics Professionals

Academic‐Industry Partnerships: Preparing Tomorrow's Plastics Professionals

Design, methods, and participant characteristics of the Impact of Personal Genomics (PGen) Study, a prospective cohort study of direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing customers.

Designed in collaboration with 23andMe and Pathway Genomics, the Impact of Personal Genomics (PGen) Study serves as a model for academic-industry partnership and provides a longitudinal dataset for studying psychosocial, behavioral, and health outcomes related to direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing (PGT). Web-based surveys administered at three time points, and linked to individual-level PGT results, provide data on 1,464 PGT customers, of which 71% completed each follow-up survey and 64% completed all three surveys. The cohort includes 15.7% individuals of non-white ethnicity, and encompasses a range of income, education, and health levels. Over 90% of participants agreed to re-contact for future research.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13073-014-0096-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.