NEW YORK (Feb. 27, 2007) — Alan Paau has been named to the newly created position of vice provost for technology transfer and economic development at Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medical College. He has also been named executive director of the Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise and Commercialization (CCTEC). Previously, Mr. Paau was assistant vice chancellor for technology transfer and intellectual property services at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Mr. Paau, who will spend approximately 40 percent of his time working at Weill Cornell, began work on Jan. 3.
"This new position is important to our efforts to expedite and realize the potential of benefits of new medical discoveries made at Weill Cornell, taking breakthroughs made in the lab and translating them to new treatments for patients," says Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. "Alan Paau's impressive record in health sciences technology transfer at UCSD will enhance similar efforts here at Weill Cornell."
"We are looking forward to seeing Alan spend almost half of his time working at Weill Cornell, where he will serve an important role by encouraging and facilitating new creative partnerships with industry," says Dr. David P. Hajjar, dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and vice provost and executive vice dean for research at Weill Cornell Medical College.
"We are delighted that Alan Paau will be assuming leadership of CCTEC, which spearheads Cornell's efforts in technology transfer and intellectual property-led economic development," says Robert C. Richardson, senior vice provost for research at Cornell. "Cornell's world-class scientists and scholars generate intellectual property in areas as diverse as biodegradable wipes that detect biohazards, microscopy techniques that image living tissue, and wine grapes that thrive in cool climates like in central New York state. CCTEC's mission is to assure the timely and efficient transfer of new knowledge and discoveries to the public for its benefit."
Mr. Paau says, "I look forward to this exciting opportunity because Cornell is committed to partnering with industry so that innovations that result from its powerful research and clinical engines can be developed into beneficial products and services for the public."
Since 1998 Mr. Paau has led the technology transfer office at UCSD, where gross revenues in 2005 totaled $21 million and where he supervised the formation of 77 new companies founded on licensed UCSD innovations and executed more than 440 commercial licenses and options. He developed a successful "Startup Boot Camp" program that stimulates and promotes an entrepreneurial culture at UCSD by bringing together faculty, lawyers, accountants, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Previously, he was executive director of the Iowa State University Research Foundation, where he developed a focused technology transfer approach, and associate director of the Biotechnology Center at Ohio State University, with responsibilities in research administration, technology management and industry liaison. Mr. Paau held faculty appointments in several departments while at Iowa State and Ohio State. He holds eight U.S. and 15 foreign patents, and he has published more than 30 research articles.
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Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College — located in New York City — is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in such areas as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, AIDS, obesity, cancer and psychiatry — and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries behind the human body and the malfunctions that result in serious medical disorders. Weill Cornell Medical College is the birthplace of many medical advances — from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., and most recently, the world's first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. Weill Cornell's Physician Organization includes 650 clinical faculty, who provide the highest quality of care to their patients.
Lezlie Greenberg
leg2003@med.cornell.edu