The UI Carver College of Medicine quarterly alumni magazine

Fall 2006

• Foreward
• Leading by Example
• Right on the Money
• Growing Iowa’s Economy
• Making Science Work
• Caring for the Larger Community
• News Briefs
• Alumni news
• In memoriam

Like many other states, Iowa is turning to its public universities to generate economic growth and create new businesses. The UI Carver College of Medicine will play an essential role in the success of these efforts.

State leaders have long aspired to propel Iowa to the front ranks of the emerging biosciences economy. In 2003, the Iowa Department of Economic Development engaged the Battelle Memorial Institute to study how to achieve that goal. Not surprisingly, Battelle came up with a blueprint that relies heavily on the scientific muscle of the state's two public research universities, the UI and Iowa State University.

“There are new ideas, new innovations that come out of The University of Iowa and Iowa State,” said Meredith Hay, UI vice president for research. “We want to keep that intellectual property within the state and use it to expand economic opportunities in Iowa.”

Tapping state universities to play a role in job creation and economic development is not universally popular. Some critics argue that these institutions exist to educate future generations of scientists, artists, philosophers, scholars and professionals, and to discover and create new knowledge free from the influence of commercial motivations. Nevertheless, the governor, the Iowa Legislature, the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, and the universities themselves all have embraced the endeavor.

“State leaders have made a commitment to support science based on its importance to Iowa's economy,” said François Abboud, MD, ('61 R) Edith King Pearson Chair of Internal Medicine and UI associate vice president for research. “In large measure, that support of science is being channeled through the universities.”

For its part, the UI is energetically mobilizing state and institutional resources to fulfill its mandate. The UI's $8 million share of a $20 million state appropriation will fund three areas of strategic importance to the overall effort. In line with the Battelle plan, $2 million will endow entrepreneurial faculty appointments, another $2.7 million will go to expand the UI's Technology Innovation Center, and the remainder, about $3.3 million, will kick-start specific projects undertaken through core technology “platforms” organized around UI scientific strengths with the potential to produce commercial innovations.

The faculty endowment fund will provide about $100,000 a year for two entrepreneurial professorships, giving the individual faculty members two to three years to devote a significant portion of their time to commercializing their discoveries. The Technology Innovation Center, a start-up business incubator located at the UI's Oakdale Campus, provides below-market leases for office and laboratory space as well as other support, but it is full and will need to expand to accommodate new tenants.

The technology-based platforms are where much of the work of translating scientific discoveries into marketable innovations will take place. The Battelle study identified areas of particular strength where the universities' scientific capabilities could combine with existing business enterprise to form the basis for potential investment and job creation in Iowa. Each platform is led by both a university scientist and an industry leader and will award grants to individual projects that show promise for commercialization of new technology.

The College's Role

The UI Carver College of Medicine is a vital partner in the UI's efforts to spark increased biotechnology investment in Iowa.

Indeed, the College's faculty generates the lion's share of patents filed by the UI Research Foundation. The Research Foundation's records show that of 238 U.S. and foreign patents received since fiscal year 2002, 185 (78 percent) had at least one UI Carver College of Medicine investigator. It stands to reason that a similarly hefty share of the UI's income from royalties and licensing agreements, which reached an estimated $16.3 million in fiscal year 2006, can be traced to the inventive prowess of the College's faculty.

Moreover, the College has made a clear commitment to support faculty members who wish to pursue commercial ventures. It does so through its Office of Economic and Business Development, led by Michael Kienzle ('74 BS, '77 MD), professor of internal medicine and special assistant to the dean. The office helps faculty members navigate the commercialization process and facilitates contact between investigators and business leaders.

“My role is to connect people with other people and programs,” Kienzle said, “and to link the research enterprise with the broader market.”

Kienzle has been working to foster business enterprise by College faculty since before the Battelle report coalesced into a program of action at the University and state levels. He credits Dean Jean Robillard ('74 R) for taking the initiative to create the office. “It really was his insistence that kicked this off,” Kienzle said.

Indeed, the College stands to benefit financially from inventions that score big in the market. A percentage of royalty and licensing income above $100,000 a year goes to the College and department of the individual faculty member whose work is represented by the patent earning the income. (The faculty members themselves receive the first $100,000 a patent earns, plus a percentage of future earnings.)

The College's initiatives now are fusing with those of the University, Kienzle said. “The activities are too complex and too expensive for the College to do itself,” he noted. “The only way to accomplish what we've set out to do is to participate in the University efforts.”

The Biomedical Ventures Group that Kienzle spearheaded two years ago has merged into the UI's Entrepreneurial Ventures Group with University-wide participation. And the College is working closely with the UI Tippie College of Business John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center to provide support specifically aimed at medical faculty.

This level of organization is attracting notice from many faculty members. “Now the infrastructure and support are there, so we're seeing a lot more interest on the part of the faculty,” Kienzle said. “From what was a little band of hopeful people, it's starting to seem like something with a lot of focus.”

Already that focus is helping advance UI faculty member discoveries and inventions into the market arena. One prospect is a discovery by Gregory Hageman, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and others that variations in complement factor H and factor B account for nearly 75 percent of age-related macular degeneration cases. Hageman has teamed with Optherion, Inc., to develop treatments based on the findings. The potential overall market for drugs to treat the incurable disease, which affects about 20 million Americans, could exceed $4 billion. (See story.)

Another prospect involves technology developed partly at the UI to help physicians process and interpret data from radiological exams. The four faculty investigators—Eric Hoffman, PhD, professor of radiology, internal medicine, and biomedical engineering; Geoffrey McLennan, PhD, professor of internal medicine; Joseph Reinhardt, PhD, associate professor of biomedical engineering; and Milan Sonka, PhD, professor of electrical and computer engineering—formed VIDA Diagnostics and entered into a licensing agreement with the UI Research Foundation to begin to market the software.

These examples suggest that faculty members are, in Kienzle's words, “inherently entrepreneurial.” They write grants to obtain financial support for their ideas, then plan, organize and carry out large scientific projects.

“This is adding another dimension to the science,” he said. “Part of the reason we do research is to create better treatments. We understand that sick people get better through innovations. If the goal is to advance science to improve human health, one way to do that is to turn ideas into products.

“Seen in that light, most faculty recognize this is part of the University's mission.”

Not all faculty members want to engage in business enterprise. “Our philosophy is that no one is required to participate,” Kienzle said. “But for those who do, we'll put a lot of energy and work into educating them and supporting their activities.”

Kienzle said the College also is keen to reach out to Iowa graduates in the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech industries whose expertise and knowledge might help guide the UI's business development efforts.