This course will focus on the mechanisms currently utilized to bring discoveries to the marketplace. Specifically, the course will provide practical examples on how to expand a research program from an individual investigator working alone to setting up strategic collaborations. Potential collaborative partnerships include academics, biotech companies, and government agencies. Students will understand the importance of a cooperative work environment and how to nurture these partnerships. The course will provide examples of how to recognize the key characteristics of new basic science findings that are relevant to human health and outline how to engage in further development of these findings. It will take students through the basics of how to develop a business plan, utilizing the expertise of faculty who have been successful in taking their research to market. And it will require students to think “outside the box” and generate novel strategies to take their own ideas derived from new knowledge to propose a product that will fit a Canadian economic target.
