Van Dam's staff makes sure research efforts are well supported

In the year since being named to lead the University's new Office of the Vice President of Research, Andries van Dam has hired a team of individuals to help him advocate for the University's research community on and off campus.

"The fact that Brown set up this office is a very concrete indicator that the University is spending a lot more money in supporting the research enterprise - even just organizationally - than it has in the past," van Dam said in a recent interview. "We have new and higher-level positions, new seed funds, new space on the way. So the commitments are very tangible."

The office has several components, but two major ones at this time are research administration and technology partnerships. Here is a look at some of the people charged with overseeing them.

Regina White, associate vice president, research administration: White's arrival at Brown in September marks her return to university research administration. She had worked at Harvard University and the University of Vermont before joining the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C.

"The experience in federal government was enriching," she said, but the position at Brown offered "a wonderful opportunity ... given the excitement and energy emerging around research right now."

White's position oversees all aspects of research administration at the University, serves as the advocate for faculty throughout the grant seeking and oversight process, and assists the vice president for research and the University in developing, implementing, and monitoring policies and procedures that govern the conduct of research at Brown, including Conflict of Interest, Intellectual Property, and Copyright policies.

The top priority for her office this year is outreach and education, particularly about sources of funding, policies, procedures and applications, she said. Workshops and presentations are being developed for faculty and department administrators, she said.

Norm Hebert, director, Office of Research Administration: Hebert has worked in the Office of Research Administration since January 1985. In the past few years, the office has refocused itself to become more service oriented, especially in the following areas:

• Pre-award research administration, which includes proposal review, identification of funding sources, negotiation of agreements, and serving as the general liaison between University faculty and sponsors;
• Post-award sponsored project administration - the accounting end of things, including all cash management, financial reporting, and monitoring of awards;
• Services for staffing the Institutional Review Board, which is responsible for assuring compliance when dealing with human research participants;
• Tracking and maintaining University equipment and inventory, regardless of funds.

A yet-to-be-hired assistant vice president for research initiatives will be working in van Dam's office. This person will be responsible for developing strategic communications plans for the research enterprise at Brown in collaboration with appropriate University offices, and for managing research partnerships with internal constituents, with affiliated organization, and with public and private partners, including private corporations and government agencies.

Brown Technology Partnerships (BTP)

Charles Kingdon, associate vice president for technology partnerships: Kingdon joined Brown in early November. His office is responsible for fostering research partnerships among the University and academic, corporate, public, government, and venture communities. In particular, BTP has a special focus on intellectual property and technology-related partnerships that further the societal impact and reach of the University's research.

David Kiszkiss, director of commercial development: Kiszkiss came to Brown after working in technology transfer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

At Brown, Kiszkiss focuses on matching faculty with investors and companies to form technology advancements for practical applications. Although such efforts helped bring in a small sum of money to Brown, "the goal of such efforts is to bring what our scientists develop to the public," he said.

Kiszkiss meets with faculty when they "have something that looks promising," he said. Together, he and the faculty member or members will discuss next steps, which may entail licensing the development to companies, or sometimes starting a new company.

Inventions made at Brown are patented and licensed by BTP, and license revenues are distributed under the University's Patent Policy.