Office of Innovation & Partnerships: Innovation Concierge

The Office of Innovation & Partnerships (OIP) is a one-stop-shop for innovation, entrepreneurial assistance, and industry partnerships. Run by Patrick Reed, OIP serves as the traditional academic technology transfer office at LSU Health. If your research has resulted in an innovation that you believe might be patentable or a novel research material that could benefit the broader scientific community, Reed encourages you to submit a disclosure form. OIP's website has links to the appropriate forms, a breakdown of the process, and other valuable resources for innovators.

OIP works closely with faculty, staff and students to evaluate the innovation for patentability (if applicable) and marketability and endeavors to find the appropriate industry partner to license the technology. LSU returns 40% of all licensing revenue to the inventors. Alternatively, for those interested in starting a company and commercializing the invention themselves, OIP can provide early advice, help navigate conflicts of interest, and make connections to useful resources in the city, state, and region.

In addition to kickstarting OIP's evaluation of an innovation, submitting a disclosure also makes any LSU Health employee eligible for LSU's proof-of-concept fund, Leveraging Innovation for Technology Transfer (LIFT2). This is a system-wide competition, and our campus has secured around one-third of all the granted funds over the last 13 rounds. LIFT2 accepts applications on a monthly rolling basis with awards up to $50,000 ($75,000 with justification). Like all grant proposals, these must be routed through the Office of Research Services.

Dr. Timothy Foster, who holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology and Ophthalmology, called Reed "a consummate professional" and described the assistance provided by the Office and especially Reed as instrumental to his academic and research success.

"Patrick and his office have assisted us with multiple successful LIFT2 applications, intellectual property filings, MTA's, non-disclosure agreements, and with licensing/commercialization of our IP to industry," he said. "This included negotiating sponsored research agreements as part of the rights to license LSUHSC IP, which has facilitated ongoing funding of our research endeavors. Most importantly, Patrick has always made time to discuss our views and represented our best interests to industry sponsors, including defending our academic freedoms and responsibilities. In our experience, Patrick has made dealing with OIP as transparent, quick and painless as possible.”

In addition to marketing LSU Health's innovations to would-be licensees, OIP is interested in growing research partnerships and other collaborations with industry and other non-governmental external partners. If your new research program is too early stage to have generated an innovation, it might be ripe for industry partnering. Teaming up with industry can provide access to proprietary materials and equipment as well as the expertise of leaders in the relevant market. If investigators would like to explore this option, they should contact Reed to discuss their research and their ideal collaborative partner.

Finally, OIP assists LSU Health's investigators with all material transfer requests and confidentiality agreements. Contact Reed directly if you need one of these agreements put in place. OIP will quickly review, negotiate, and execute all MTAs and CDAs.

Innovation Disclosure Form
Research Material Disclosure Form and Addenda