Keith Davis is a former professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center, according to a University press release.
JCEB serves College of Arts and Sciences faculty in helping them with industry contracts and the commercialization of activities, according to JCEB’s website.
Davis has a Ph.D. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from the University of Colorado Boulder. He is also former director of the Plant Biotechnology Center at the Ohio State University, according to the university.
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Larry Singell said in the release Davis’ experience is what made him right for the position.
“Keith Davis values the culture of translational research and understands how to implement the processes necessary to enhance interactions with industry partners and, in turn, the establishment of new companies,” Singell said in the release. “In this new position, Keith will ensure faculty are able to focus on their core strengths in basic research while collaborating with them to identify new opportunities for intellectual property development and ?commercialization.”
Until 2006, Davis worked for Icoria Inc., a biotechnology company, and its earlier incorporation, Paradigm Genetics. Through the years, he worked as the director of plant research, the vice president of agricultural biotechnology and an executive consultant.
Bill Brizzard, the director of technology commercialization for the IU Research and Technology Corporation; Johanna E. Salazar, JCEB Assistant Director; and JCEB discovery scientist Zhixin Chen will all aid Davis as director of the center, according to the University.
Davis said in the release he believes there is a lot of untapped potential in several great research discoveries being made by IU-Bloomington faculty and that he is looking forward to finding ways to use this new understanding to solve real-world issues.
Davis said he also hopes to collaborate with former IU graduates who are now successful entrepreneurs and want to see IU become more engaged in translational ?research.
“Faculty need to focus on their core research objectives while we can offer skill sets to liaise with industry, including identifying potential industry partners, developing research plans and finalizing contractual arrangements,” Davis said in the release. “We will also offer assistance with meeting reporting requirements, analyzing conflict of interest issues, developing strategies to make IU core facilities available for supporting local technology corporations and with identifying opportunities for faculty to participate in translational research programs at other Indiana institutions like the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute at (IU-Purdue University ?Indianapolis).”
Kathrine Schulze
