University College Dublin (UCD), in partnership with St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG) and the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (MMUH), have announced the opening of Ireland’s first in-hospital Knowledge Transfer (KT) Offices.
Develop commercial potential of research outputs
The KT Offices have been established to develop the commercial potential of the research outputs emerging from both hospitals and to extend the reach of their medical advancements to a greater number of patients worldwide.
The KT Offices will protect the resulting intellectual property, assess its commercial potential, and where appropriate licence this IP to life science companies or create new start-up companies to bring the innovations to market.
The KT Offices will be led by Dr Ena Walsh, UCD’s life sciences knowledge transfer expert, who will provide a wealth of resources and advice to clinicians to enable the market potential of their innovations to be fully realised.
Tom Flanagan, director of enterprise and commercialisation at UCD, said: “The future of healthcare in Ireland is being shaped through research and innovation and both SVHG and the Mater have strong track records in the delivery of high quality research that provides meaningful impact to their patients.
Ensure innovations reach their full market potential
"The KT Offices will ensure that these innovations reach their full market potential and in doing so will increase access for more patients worldwide to new medical diagnostics and therapeutics.”
Professor Michael Keane, acting CEO, St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH), said: “UCD’s reputation in the commercialisation of innovative research, particularly within the life sciences sector, is exceptional, and we are confident that this initiative will enhance the potential reach of our clinicians’ life-saving healthcare advancements.”
Gordon Dunne, chief executive, the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (MMUH), said: “At the Mater Hospital we encourage our staff to become involved in healthcare innovation, whether it’s an idea for a new medical device or a solution for improving service delivery, we support them in exploring and developing their ideas for the benefit of our patients.
"UCD’s KT Office at the Mater will provide robust support structures for our clinicians in revealing the true potential of these innovations and increasing patient access to innovative healthcare.”
The KT Offices will accompany the ongoing quality health research that is rooted within several centres at both hospitals, including the UCD Clinical Research Centre (CRC), which sits across both the Mater and St Vincent’s - the Education and Research Centre at St Vincent’s, and the Clinical Trials Research Unit at the Mater.
Clinicians can meet with Dr Walsh the first Wednesday of each month in SVUH and the first Friday of each month in the Mater.