Bio Innovation Center
Translational Research, Innovation & Technology Transfer
The office of Translational Research, Innovation, and Technology Transfer provides enhanced pathways and expanded access opportunities for students, researchers, and faculty who have biomedical ideas with the potential for commercialization or licensing.
We are committed to discovering, developing, and accelerating breakthrough biotechnologies that dramatically improve patient experiences and outcomes while aiding in the economic growth of the region and beyond.
We offer resources for Albany Medical College students, researchers, and clinicians to advance their creative biomedical ideas into unique commercialized realities, and we partner with regional startups, small businesses, and others who are interested in collaborating with our diverse medical experts, researchers, and students.
In addition, we provide business advisory resources and clinical support through virtual incubation. We have been certified by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation as a New York State Business Incubator through March 2024. In 2021, we were awarded a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Growth Accelerator Fund Competition prize in recognition of our commitment to supporting bio innovation, especially in support of female innovators and other underserved populations, in the Capital Region of New York.
Services Offered
- Scouting for disclosures through regular meetings with faculty
- Support through the invention disclosure process and presentation to the Patent Advisory Committee
- Early patentability research
- Strategic market analysis
- Competitive analysis
- Prototyping support and proof of concept manufacturing assistance
- Approach potential partners and, in collaboration with Legal, negotiate all licenses and agreements
- Evaluate the grant landscape with researchers (especially translational research-focused grants)
- Identify and prepare materials for potential angel and venture capital investors
- Identify regional pitch and business plan competition opportunities
- Identify potential partners for sponsored research or licenses
- Connections to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, including state and local funding opportunities
- Identify off-site partners for research and commercialization
- Identify key milestones and create a commercialization roadmap
- Provide basic cost estimates for various steps in the process
- Assist in corporate formation
- Board selection and team building
- Prototyping support and network
- Pitch development
- Business plan canvas
- Customer discovery at all stages
- Reimbursement strategy
- Early regulatory intervention
Educational & Professional Development Programs
Held annually in the fall and sponsored in collaboration with Innovate 518 and the UAlbany Innovation Center, the Bio Innovation Boot Camp is designed for anyone - from students to industry participants - interested in learning more about the biotech and bio innovation commercialization process.
Led by experts in key topic areas, weekly sessions cover the lifecycle of a successful commercialization project, from developing a business model and protecting intellectual property, to financing the company, identifying customers, and navigating the FDA's clinical trials process.
In addition, regional entrepreneurs and and representatives from local startups discuss their experiences in the commercialization process, while hands-on activities and group work help participants implement the concepts discussed into their own inventions.
The series culminates with an optional pitch competition open to the public, where participants have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, with cash and in-kind prizes to support their innovation awarded to the top pitches.
The Clinical Immersion Program provides undergraduate students pursuing biomedical engineering degrees from partner institutions with hands-on experience in problem identification and solution development.
Students round in a clinical setting, shadowing and observing clinicians, then, during their capstone class or other practicum-style course, develop a potential solution to the procedures or processes that were identified.
Previous participants have attended Union College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University at Buffalo.
The Innovation Seminar series is a brown bag-style lunch-and-learn series on relevant topics within the commercialization and innovation space.
We also offer connections to regional educational programming offered by ecosystem partners.
Contact Us
[email protected]
518-264-3590
Stephanie Dosiek, PhD
Director
[email protected]
Amy Johnson
Entrepreneur-in-residence
[email protected]
Brendan Laing
Engineer-in-residence
[email protected]