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Karthik Gopalakrishnan, Director of Licensing and New Businesses at the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), is Lisa’s guest on this episode of Tech Transfer IP. Karthik has over 15 years of experience valuing assets and technology in a variety of scientific disciplines, marketing and negotiating agreements and contracts, evaluating business plans, creating startups, and fundraising.
Karthik earned a Masters of Science degree in Biotechnology from the MS University of Baroda and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Karthik completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Listen as Karthik shares his journey to UAB and what the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship aims to achieve. He talks about how his office is structured and how much intellectual property information, patents and licenses are granted on average each year.
Karthik talks about what he thinks is important when it comes to managing innovation to have the greatest chance of success and the role of corporate partners in technology transfer at UAB. Karthik talks about two of his offices’ biggest successes and some of their biggest challenges. Karthik also shares the value he believes organizations like AUTM bring to the industry, his take on credentials, and his main vision for UAB over the years to come.
In this episode:
- [01:54] Welcome to the show, Karthik!
- [02:12] Karthik shares his background and journey to the UAB.
- [05:01] Karthik discusses the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UAB and what it wants to achieve.
- [06:51] How is your office structured?
- [09:26] Karthik talks about the number of intellectual property disclosures, patents granted, and licenses granted per year.
- [11:34] Karthik shares how they intend to achieve their goals in the next few years.
- [14:02] Karthik talks about the strategies they used to advance their translation goals.
- [16:40] What do you think is most important to managing innovation in order to have the greatest chance of success?
- [18:35] Karthik explains the role the corporate partners have played in technology transfer at UAB.
- [19:50] Karthik says he learned not to guess at decisions that were made early on in the industry.
- [21:31] Karthik shares some of his office’s biggest success stories.
- [23:56] Karthik talks about a recent FDA approval.
- [24:53] Karthik talks about the two biggest challenges facing his office.
- [27:48] UAB does not currently have programs to promote and support women entrepreneurs.
- [28:55] Karthik talks about the organizations they are a part of, like AUTM, and the value he believes they bring to him.
- [30:12] Do you think the credentials make a difference?
- [31:40] Karthik shares his vision for UAB over the next five years.
- [33:11] Thanks for being on the show!
