NCI Tech Transfer Center: Innovation through Collaboration‪ ‬ Inside Cancer Careers

In this episode of Inside Cancer Careers, we will learn about the technology transfer training opportunities available at the NCI. Dr. Laura Prestia, the Senior Innovation Manager, and Dr. Laurie Whitney, the Supervisory Technology Transfer Manager at NCI's Tech Transfer Center, will share their insights. Later, we will hear from Dr. Trang Vu, a Research and Development Scientist at viTToria Biotherapeutics, and Dr. Sabina Kaczanowska, a Staff Scientist in the Pediatric Oncology Branch at NCI's Center for Cancer Research, who will share their experiences as Tech Transfer alums. 

 

Show Notes: 

 

Laurie Whitney, Ph.D. 

Laura Prestia, Ph.D. 

NCI Technology Transfer Center (TTC) 

The NIH Catalyst Newsletter 

US Patent and Trademark Office 

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) 

TTC Fellowships & Training 

Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit 

Cancer Research Training Award (CRTA) 

Technology Transfer University (TTU) 

Technology Transfer Ambassadors Program (TTAP) 

Transition to Industry Program (T2I) 

Foundation for Advanced Education in Sciences (FAES) 

  

Ad: Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments and Suggestions on the National Cancer Institute’s Support of Early Career, Mentored Cancer Researchers and Trainees  

  

Sabina Kaczanowska, Ph.D. 

NCI's CCR Pediatric Oncology Branch 

Trang Vu, Ph.D. 

viTToria Biotherapeutics 

NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR) 

Advancing Innovations through Mentorship (AIM) 

Intramural Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (iCURE) 

Transition to Industry Program (T2I) 

  

Your Turn Recommendations: 

Utica Coffee Roasting Company 

Wegmans Grocery Store 

Lessons in Chemistry Book (Streaming on Apple TV) 

NIH All About Grants Podcast 

TRANSCRIPT
 

 

Oliver Bogler 

Hello and welcome to Inside cancer careers a podcast from the National Cancer Institute. I'm your host, Oliver Bogler. I work at the NCI in the Center for Cancer Training. On Inside Cancer Careers we explore all the different ways that people join the fight against disease and hear their stories. Today we're talking about tech transfer. Listen through to the end of the show to hear our guests make some interesting recommendations and where we invite you to take your turn.  

 

Scientific discovery has inherent value in advancing knowledge and understanding, often represented in scientific papers, sometimes in scientific textbooks, and in rare instances in popular books. But in order for it to have an effect on the broader society, discoveries are launched out of academia into the private sector, where they form the basis of new products that can be offered broadly, to meet the needs of the people who can benefit from them. An important early step in this path is technology transfer, itself a body of knowledge and skills. Today, we're speaking with experts in this area, and are going to hear about programs that were created to help anyone interested in such work learn about it. With me in this first segment, our two colleagues from NCI’s Technology Transfer Center. Dr. Laura Prestia, Senior Innovation Manager.  

 

Laura Prestia 

Hello.  

 

Oliver Bogler 

And Dr. Laurie Whitney, Supervisory Technology Transfer Manager.  

 

Laurie Whitney 

Hello there.  

 

Oliver Bogler 

Welcome to you both. So let's start with the fundamentals. What is technology transfer? And why is it important in today's cancer research and innovation landscape? 

 

Laura Prestia 

So I'll take this one, this is Laura. So tech transfer is the transfer of knowledge, data, information from one organization to another, and it can involve collaborations and managing the agreements between those two collaborators. It can involve patenting and protecting new discoveries,