"We're like the kindling that gets the fire going," says Dr. Bryan Hartley, an associate professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who's working on a way to improve the diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer.
He's also a member of the university's Innovation Ambassadors program, a group of faculty members who spend six hours a week learning about commercialization, intellectual property, entrepreneurship, and other topics in order to help their colleagues commercialize their ideas and inventions, the Tennessean reports.
The program was launched in 2022 at the behest of the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization, which co-directs it with the Wond'ry, Vanderbilt's Innovation Center.
"Having an ambassador program shows that innovation and entrepreneurship are valued and encouraged," says CTTC's senior licensing officer, who co-directs the program with CTTC director and Vanderbilt University assistant vice chancellor Alan Bentley, MS.
When faculty members see their peers "having an impact in this space," Swaney says, "they feel empowered and supported to act."
Of the 20 current Innovation Ambassadors, 13 are primarily from the university's medical school.
The goal is to enable them share with others in their departments the information and
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Three social enterprises were recognized at the 2013 President’s Challenge Social Enterprise Award for their major contributions to society. SATA CommHealth and Bliss Restaurant landed Social Enterprise of the Year titles, while Bettr Barista Coffee Academy bagged the award for Social Enterprise Start-up of the Year.