As the University’s tech transfer office, Drexel Applied Innovation’s mission is to expand the impact of Drexel research through comprehensive tech transfer. FY23 was an important milestone year for the team, which became fully staffed in all three core functions of academic tech transfer (Intellectual Property & Agreements, Industry Engagement and Entrepreneurial Advancement) for the first time since embarking on a journey to re-imagine Drexel’s tech transfer program in FY20.

For FY23, Drexel Applied Innovation executed 10 licenses, was issued 26 US patents, and generated $727K in revenue. They also had a number of highlights during FY23 across their key success drivers which are (1) increasing faculty engagement, (2) strengthening their value proposition, (3) increasing synergies through coordination and collaboration and (4) improving transparency and enabling scale.

Faculty Engagement: Drexel Applied Innovation cannot achieve its mission without faculty engagement and buy-in, and that is why being a visible and actively contributing member of the Drexel research community is of the highest priority at Drexel Applied Innovation. They are grateful for the opportunities given to their team to participate in events, committees, and research retreats, such as the 2022 Pharmacology & Physiology Research Retreat, DUCOM Research Committee meetings, and other gatherings with faculty and academic leadership. Through these interactions, they are not only able to communicate to faculty about what they do but learn where and how they can best assist them in their research and innovation endeavors.

Value Proposition: Innovation is hard, and that is why the team strives to assemble services, programs, and resources to increase the chances of success for their innovators. In January 2023, Drexel became a partner institution in the 5-year, $15M NSF I-Corps Hub Northeast Region, joining nine other institutions including Princeton, Yale, Rutgers, and University of Delaware, to help deliver entrepreneurial training for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the Northeast region. The I-Corps program is a great way to increase the competitiveness of research proposals, find opportunities for industry collaboration and funding, and to explore the formation of a startup company. As Drexel’s PI on the grant, Shintaro Kaido, Vice Provost for Innovation and Executive Director of Drexel Applied Innovation, is grateful for the I-Corps Faculty Lead, Dr. Caroline Schauer, and her support which enabled them to meet or exceed their commitments to NSF this year. They are also very grateful for DUCOM Research Committee members and their help to make I-Corps more relevant and accessible for their researchers.

Also in January, Drexel Applied Innovation launched the Drexel University Innovation Fund (DUIF), which invests in early-stage student, alumni, and tech transfer startups coming out of Drexel. DUIF invests $150,000 per startup in up to five startups per year, making it one of the largest programs of its kind nationally, but perhaps the most compelling feature of DUIF is that the University aspires to play the role of a “family and friends investor” and come in before most professional capital. As President Fry said in the program announcement, “We want to double down on our innovators and problem solvers.” DUIF’s primary aim is to enable founders to commit to the venture and shorten the time to professional capital.

In FY22, the Industry Engagement team was formed with the mission to connect Drexel intellectual property and their inventors to unmet industry needs and innovation challenges. In FY23, the first full year of operations, the Industry Engagement team connected 12 faculty members in the College of Engineering, College of Medicine, and School of Biomedical Engineering to over 1,400 companies through targeted marketing campaigns. Drexel Applied Innovation is excited to report that one of those connections made in FY23 has resulted in a 2-year $2.6M grant award from a private foundation.

Coordination and Collaboration: FY23 was a year of new partnerships as well as forging of the old. The Charles D. Close School for Entrepreneurship and Drexel Applied Innovation worked together to launch the Drexel University Innovation Fund (DUIF) and co-designed a credit-bearing course titled ENTP T380 “The Venture Capital Experience,” where Drexel students work with the DUIF Investment Advisory Committee to review potential investments. They also collaborated on Drexel Startup Fest, Drexel Startups Fund, and the Raynier Seed Fund for Underserved Startup Founders in the Greater Philadelphia Region.

Drexel Applied Innovation played a key role in the launch of Drexel Medicine Diagnostics (DMD), a clinical diagnostic business launched by DUCOM in FY23, by working closely with DUCOM and University leadership to construct the business case and operational plan. DMD offers a range of testing services from microbiology, toxicology screens, viral and bacterial testing including tick-borne diseases.

The Drexel Coulter Translational Research Program awards up to $700K per year in translational research efforts of Drexel innovation, which has the potential to improve patient care. Starting in FY24, Drexel Applied Innovation will provide 50% salary support for the Coulter Project Director as well as the Assistant Director. With this new partnership, Drexel Applied Innovation and the Coulter Program will work together to create a greater impact.

Lastly, the team is very excited about teaming up with the Graduate College and sponsoring the annual “Excellence in Expanding the Impact of Research” award.

Transparency for Scale: In FY23, the Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) launched the Clarity Project to improve transparency by defining processes, roles, and responsibilities so that the ORI can maintain its Carnegie R1 status and grow. The Clarity Project covers the entire scope of ORI and its intersections with faculty, schools and colleges, and administrative units. As part of the Clarity Project, Drexel Applied Innovation’s key processes for IP development, transactions such as licenses, and marketing campaigns are now formally defined and implemented as weekly meetings. This will break down the silos and increase team synergies.

The Drexel Applied Innovation team is filled with a sense of gratitude for its innovators, partners, and collaborators. They look forward to expanding their partnerships and collaboration in FY24 and also taking on new challenges, such as going for institutional funding opportunities to enhance their innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Research Core Facilities at Drexel University promote discovery, creativity, and impact by providing access to advanced instrumentation and services, expertise on experimental design and data analysis, and technical training to Drexel students, researchers, faculty, and external academic and industry partners. The Materials Characterization Core, Cell Imaging Center, and University Research Computing Facility host some of the most cutting-edge instrumental and technical capabilities on campus and are hubs of high-impact research, innovation, collaboration, and learning. This year these centrally-reporting core facilities served over 150 Drexel faculty and over 400 researchers including undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral students, and research scientists from 10 of Drexel’s Colleges and Schools. Researchers using the ORI Cores authored over 500 peer-reviewed publications this year – almost 40% of Drexel’s total research output. Research expenditures for those same investigators was $48M – over 30% of Drexel’s total research expenditures in FY2023.

As part of Drexel’s commitment to community engagement, the Materials Characterization Core and Cell Imaging Center provided hands-on research experiences to participants in the University City Science Center’s Building an Understanding of Laboratory Basics (BULB) program. Cores hosted tours for visitors to Drexel’s Philly Materials Day (right image) and partnered with the Philadelphia Society for Microscopy to host an in-person Joint Symposium on Interdisciplinary Microscopy Studies that included invited presentations from Drexel, the Academy of Natural Sciences, UPenn, and the Naval Research Laboratory. Cores continues to be critical for recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.

Materials Characterization Core (MCC) – The MCC is a multi-user facility that provides technical expertise and instrumentation for research in variety of areas including nanoscience and engineering, polymer research, biomedical engineering, and chemistry and physics of solid materials. The MCC occupies a 3,500 square foot laboratory in the Bossone Research Enterprise Building on Drexel's main campus that houses several electron microscopes, X-ray diffractometers, an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, and a suite of sample preparation tools.

In AY 2022-2023, 160 MCC users clocked 8,188 instrument hours. Users represented 40 faculty research groups from 5 Drexel Colleges and Schools.

Additional highlights include:

• Acquired Zeiss Xradia Versa 620 3D X-ray Microscope ($1.2M NSF MRI Award and $526K ORI Cost Share).
• Acquired critically important upgrade for X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer ($330K direct investment).
• Development of in situ electrochemical testing holder for scanning electron microscope. Funded by NSF MRI award and Scholarly Materials Research Award (Chris Li – MSE).
• Provided support for several Drexel courses including demos for 83 incoming freshmen participating in the MSE 2-Day Materials Course.
• Provided demos for 24 high school students participating in the ASM Materials Camp.

Cell Imaging Center (CIC) – The CIC is a multi-user facility housed in purpose-built imaging suites in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building and in the Bossone Research Center. The CIC serves the light microscopy needs of Drexel researchers from a variety of academic colleges and departments including the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering, the School of Biomedical Engineering, and the College of Medicine.

In AY 2022-2023, 83 CIC users clocked 3,629 instrument hours. Users represented 28 faculty research groups from 4 Drexel Colleges and Schools.

Additional highlights include:

• Acquired new BD FACS Symphony A1 Flow Cytometer to replace an aging system.
• Established the CIC Advisory Committee under the leadership of Prof. Catherine von Reyn from Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences.
• CIC organized demo and hands – on activity for fifteen BMES 421/621: Medical Imaging systems class students.
• CIC organized tours for the biology graduate student recruitment and orientation events.

University Research Computing Facility (URCF) – The URCF provides high-performance scientific computing and secure storage of protected health information to both the Drexel community and other universities in the Philadelphia area. The URCF’s 1,600 square-foot data center houses the Picotte cluster, which consists of Standard CPU Nodes, Large Memory Nodes, GPU Nodes and storage, and was acquired through a combined $1.2 million investment funded by Drexel and an award from the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation program. Picotte was named in honor of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, the first Native American to earn a medical degree and a Drexel alum.

In AY 2022-2023, 229 URCF users clocked 8,138,026 core-hours on Picotte. Users represented 98 faculty research groups from 9 Drexel Colleges and Schools.

Additional highlights include:

• Reorganization of the URCF including new Director level position in the ORI Research Core Facilities org and reconstitution of the URCF Governance Board as an Advisory Committee to align with other ORI core facilities.
• Hired Dr. Linh Ngo as Director of High-Performance Computing to lead the URCF.
• Launched a Research Computing Workshop Series in the Fall 2023 quarter. The series includes two core workshops on Linux and Research Computing on Picotte, and one two-session introduction to Python programming. URCF hopes to introduce users to basic concepts in advanced research computing through regular workshops in Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. They plan to offer the series as a concentrated one-week bootcamp during Summer quarter 2024.
• Awarded NSF MRI grant (Lead PI Joshua Agar – MEM) for $3.9M to develop Storage and Compute Resources for Data Intensive Science and Engineering (DISE). The DISE system is anticipated to provide a data storage solution to most of Drexel’s research community and high-speed compute capabilities for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.

University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR) – In AY ‘22-23, University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR) provided animal husbandry, medical assistance, research assistance and guidance to 49 PIs and research laboratories at three Drexel campuses, including an average daily census of 2217 enclosures housing 5160 mice and rats. The animal care and use program received Continued Full Accreditation from AAALAC, International and inspections from the USDA were successful with no findings. ULAR management worked with the RBOT team to continue to utilize InfoEd and to evaluate vendors for COEUS replacement software including the animal care module. Additionally, ULAR staff received continuing education at local and national AALAS meetings; Carlton Reed, Floor Leader received the AALAS Purina Laboratory Animal Technician Award and Alex Middlebrook, Animal Care Technician, passed the AALAS Exam and is a certified Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician. Furthermore, Dr. Huneke continues to serve as an AAALAC, International Council member, is a member of the BOD for the Pennsylvania Society of Biomedical Research and Americans for Medical Progress, and was chosen to serve as the National AALAS representative to ICLAS (International Council for Laboratory Animal Science), where he was elected as a member of the governing board and vice chair of the Americas committee.

COEUS Replacement Project

While COEUS has served the university and carried it through 10+ years of proposal and protocol management, improvements in software over the last decade brings a host of new system options that have the capability to vastly improve efficiency and transparency across the many administrative processes associated with the work of the ORI.

In preparation, the ORI spent the second half of the academic year engaged in a process to find the right research administration system for Drexel. A committee of 50 from across the university, including faculty, administrators, ORI business owners, and central administrative teams (think IT, HR, etc.) engaged deeply in evaluation of 8 vendor offerings that encompass all functional areas the ORI manages, including sponsored programs, research compliance, and innovation. What has been seen to date in terms of improvements in these systems coupled with the CLARITY project work described above to inform how the new software will be used is exceptional. These systems and process improvements will provide the power to shift the way the ORI works to an efficient, transparent environment with the ability to think even more strategically about collective work through data-informed discussions and decision-making.

Operations Teams Merger

To improve operations and reduce administrative burden within the Office of Research & Innovation, the Finance & Operations and Research Systems & Analytics teams, operating as separate sub-functional teams, were merged into the singular Research Business Operations & Technology (RBOT) team in May 2023.

The team was created to improve business processes, communications, data management, and access to services by aligning several interrelated functions under a single umbrella. The new RBOT team, comprised of 8 ORI colleagues, has been hard at work documenting while improving processes and working to refine service delivery with the goal of significantly reducing ORI’s level of administrative burden.

RBOT Activity Highlights

• Welcomed 17 new hires during AY ’22-23 powered by a streamlined hiring process.
• Implemented Concourse, a new, more efficient payment system for Community Advisory Board members.
• Delivered timely quarterly and ad hoc research metric reports to track performance and drive strategic planning and decision-making.
• Designed and delivered an improved quarterly newsletter.
• Successfully launched the first ORI LinkedIn page.

The Regulatory Affairs & Research Compliance team comprises several programs, including HRPP-IRB, IACUC, Radiation Safety, IBC, Quality Assurance, and Research Compliance (Export Control, COI, and Research Integrity). These programs ensure Drexel University’s research is conducted ethically and with integrity while adhering to the regulations, requirements, and best practice standards.

The 2022-2023 year for the team was primarily a transition year with new leadership in each of the programmatic areas to transition the programs from emerging to evolving through the following:

1. Implemented team and programmatic level strategic planning to identify future improvements while utilizing project management tools to ensure consistent implementation and communication.
2. Integrated with other operational units within ORI, faculty, staff, departments, and other functional stakeholders across Drexel University (e.g., HR, Provost Office, OGC, Procurement/Tax).
3. Conducted several education sessions with our ORI partners across campus on varying topics (e.g., Research Blood Draw, Community Advisory Board, Data Management & Sharing, IRB and IACUC overviews, Research Compliance, COI, and Principal Investigator Responsibilities).
4. The IRB and IACUC were inspected over the last 18th months by the FDA and USDA, respectively, and resulted in clean reports with no adverse findings.

HRPP-IRB

Turn-Around Times and Volumes
Over the last year, the HRPP-IRB has been focused on improving turn-around time and submission responsiveness. This has led to over a 61% improvement in response time, from, on average, 29 days to 11 days for initial feedback. For expedited amendments, on average, submissions are completed within 2 business days. The HRPP-IRB has observed a 2% growth in submissions compared to 2021-2022.

Improvements
Over the last year, the HRPP-IRB has created or revised several resources, including but not limited to: “Quick Tips for Exempt Submissions,” a revised information sheet for exempt research, and human subjects study closure guidance.

Animal Welfare, IACUC, and IBC

Reviews and Meetings
During the 2022-2023 year, the IACUC and IBC reviewed the following submissions:

• IACUC - Total Approved Protocols: 62
• IACUC - Total Meetings Held: 12
• IBC - Total Approved Protocols: 32 (30 of which had corresponding IACUC protocols)
• IBC Total Approved Meetings: 10

Improvements
Over the last year, the Animal Welfare Office, in coordination with the IACUC, has created or revised several resources, including but not limited to: “Policy on the Use of Image or Sound Recordings in Animal Facilities,” “Research or Teaching Laboratories,” “Policy for Animal Number Justifications,” “Rodent Breeding Policy,” and “Policy for Surgery and Post Surgery Care in Rodents.” The Animal Welfare Office also implemented an updated Post-Approval-Monitoring program, with educational sessions and guidance to our research community.

Quality Assurance
The Research Quality Assurance program is a recent development and implementation for ORI, In addition to monitoring as required per federal requirements and the institution, this program is also critical to the CLARITY project and ensuring that the team has developed transparent guidelines, standard operating procedures, and other tools that will help ensure effective compliance that is value-added to our research community. As part of this work, processes, templates, and communication plans have been established, and the team is grateful to all who have participated.

Guidelines and SOPs
The following guidelines and SOPs have been finalized over the last year:

• ORI-002: Procedures for Principal Investigator Eligibility and Responsibilities [PDF]
  
• ORI-003: Departing Faculty Guideline and Checklist [PDF]
  
• ORI-101: Procedures for Research Blood Draws [PDF]
  
• ORI-201: Community Advisory Board Member Guideline [PDF]

Training
In addition to guideline and SOP training commencing with each document's release, ORI also has established an in-person training for Research Blood Draws that provides individuals with a certificate and is sponsored by the Office of Research and Innovation. During the last 12 months, over 20 Drexel University Staff, Students, and Faculty have completed the training and received their certificate as part of career development for research personnel.

Research Compliance

Reviews:

• Export Control/Research Security:
  • 189 Restricted party screenings (88 required detailed review/further action)
  • 407 Travel Registrations reviewed (15 requiring detailed review to sanctioned countries)
  • 93 International Visitor/Visa Reviews
  • 2 Research Security Facility site audits
• COI:
  • 380 COI reviews (standard COEUS routing)
  • 15 COI reviews (updated Smartsheet process)
  • 16 Comprehensive Management plans
• Research Integrity:
  • 5 Research Integrity/misconduct investigations

Improvements
Over the last year, several new processes and improvements have occurred, including implementing an electronic COI form and international travel registration review process in conjunction with Global Engagement.

Overall, the Regulatory Affairs and Research Compliance Team's future goals will be centered on continuing to evolve its programs into mature programs that serve their research participants, faculty, staff, students, and the University. By continuing to fulfill these purposes, these programs help maintain the integrity of the research enterprise, protect participants' rights and welfare, and uphold Drexel University’s high standard for research outcomes.

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is responsible for all pre-award and non-financial post-award management of sponsored activities that have resulted from a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. In AY 22-23, OSP comprised of a Grants Team, Contracts Team, and a newly developed Subawards Team. In addition, the Research Businesses Shared Services (RBSS) unit was moved from ORI’s Finance & Administration team and joined OSP. Having grants, contracts, subawards, and shared services within the same unit strengthens OSP’s ability to provide best practices and strong support to the research community throughout the lifecycle of awards.

During the AY 22-23 year, the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) focused internally to review, assess, and streamline processes and standard operating procedures to enhance their customer service to Drexel’s research community. OSP also worked with other units within ORI and other central offices to review and revise processes to ensure best practices in compliance as well as conformance to regulations and policies to establish best practices in research administration. Moreover, OSP has identified key areas to improve and prioritized the need for written guidance in order to provide clarity and transparency to Drexel’s research community. In addition, OSP has provided the opportunity to view NCURA webinars on key topics in research administration to provide ongoing professional development.

Highlights for each unit with the Office of Sponsored Programs Include:

Overall

• OSP attended regional and national conferences for professional development to improve best practices at Drexel
• Mapped internal processes and SOPs in preparation of a new eRA system implementation
• Developed roles and responsibilities matrix for clarity between teams

Grants Team 

• Coordinated processes with Research Accounting Services (RAS) for award set-ups, financial documentation, and fund assignments
• Developed internal process for Login.gov requirement by many federal agencies
• Streamlined hand-off process to the Contracts Team for various types of agreements and contracts

Contracts Team 

• Developed a Visiting Scientist Agreement template with the Office of General Counsel (OGC)
• Worked with the OGC to develop a process for all independent contractor and consulting agreements for sponsored activities to flow through OSP to provide better compliance and clarity of who is engaged in research
• Received training and guidance from Research Compliance and Applied Innovation to streamline processes and ensure compliance on contracts and agreements, especially in the areas of FCOI, export control, and intellectual property

Subawards Team

• Reviewed current process and identify areas for improvement
• Improved turnaround times while catching up with a backlog of outstanding agreements
• Ensured subrecipient monitoring procedures are in place to follow Uniform Guidance compliance

Research Business Shared Services 

• Improved communication, collaboration, and trust with units supported by RBSS to better understand processes and how to do research at Drexel
• Reviewed terms and conditions with PIs at the proposal and award stages for better understanding and clarity of roles and responsibilities
• Supported community collaborators by providing guidance and assistance on how to complete required documents at the proposal and award stages

In October 2022, Tanvi became a member of the Intellectual Property & Agreements team in Drexel Applied Innovation, reporting to Senior Associate Vice Provost for IP & Agreements Robert McGrath. Tanvi’s efforts will focus on the commercialization of new inventions developed by Drexel innovators, securing intellectual property protection, communicating to potential partners, and negotiating licensing agreements.

Lillie joined Drexel Applied Innovation in January 2023 to collaborate with department heads, faculty, and personnel across the University as we strengthen our partnerships and engagements, support to the entrepreneurial community, and develop our capital initiatives.

Chelsea joined ORI on July 31, leading the Startup Funding Program and reporting to Vice Provost for Innovation, Shintaro Kaido. In this role, she manages the Drexel University Innovation Fund, Drexel Angels, and the Raynier Seed Fund for Underserved Entrepreneurs as a member of the Entrepreneurial Advancement team.

Marisa joined Drexel on July 31 and oversees research quality assurance that includes monitoring, support, trainings, policies, and procedures for ORI units.

Heidi joined the IRB Team in February 2023, bringing 10 years of compliance experience in Institutional Review Board at the University of Missouri. Heidi provides compliance expertise to assist and support investigators and the IRB.

ORI would like to welcome Dr. Elan Mitchell-Gee who joined Drexel University as the Director of Export Control and Research Security. Elan joins us with expansive knowledge and experience in the area of Export Control. Her previous experience includes working as Senior Export Policy Analyst with the U.S. Department of Commerce on human landing systems, nuclear technology controls, foreign policy, and exporter outreach and education. Elan holds a Bachelors of Arts in International Studies from Spelman College and a PhD in International Relations from Howard University.

Having joined Drexel in October 2022, Cassie leads the Research Compliance and Regulatory Affairs team and oversees human research protections, animal welfare, research integrity, export controls, research security, and research conflicts of interests.

Charlie joined the Research Development team in October 2022. He is a former Senior Standards Management Analyst who conducted research, data analysis, and stakeholder interviews to inform minimum standards for B Corp Certification. Charlie has experience as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant in Spreadsheet Modeling for Management and Economics.

Jennifer joined the Research Development team in January 2023. As an accomplished senior administrator and operations director in secondary education, she brings experience in planning and managing complex in person, virtual and hybrid events, and programs for multiple stakeholders. Prior this role, Jennifer was a secondary school English teacher.

Celia is the newest member of the Research Development. She brings experience as a grant writing and project consultant for a nationwide grants firm. Celia is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). Her past roles include Assistant Director of Development and Major Gifts, and Director of Development, both in the non-profit social and educational services sectors.

Sarah joined the Research Development team in October 2022 as Graphic Designer. She brings more than 8 years of educational media product and materials development including websites, videos, graphics, poster events, press briefs and writing copy that utilize visual literacy and hierarchy tools. Most recently, Sarah served as project manager for Drexel’s participation in the AAAS 2023 Annual meeting.

Sue joined the Office of Sponsored Programs’ Grants team in October 2022, bringing over 10 years of research administration experience in both higher education and hospital settings.

Ekin joined the Sponsored Programs team in March 2023 and provides support for the administration and processing of contracts and agreements for sponsored research projects across the University. Ekin drafts, reviews, and negotiates various types of contracts, cooperative agreements, sponsored research agreements and sub-recipient agreements with private, industry, and federal partners on behalf of the University.

Jeannine joined ORI in January 2023, bringing over 15 years of financial experience. Jeannine provides administrative aid to business and financial operations in support of the activities and functions of the Office of Research.

Linh joined ORI on August 14, leading the monitoring of the computing hardware/networking for the various HPC systems and reporting to Operations Director for Research Core Facilities and URCF Faculty Director, Dr. Craig Johnson. In this role, he will manage the design, installation, monitoring and maintenance of hardware, software and networking equipment for HPC systems in the URCF.