This session is part of our UTSW AI INNOVATIONS CHALLENGE. We enthusiastically invite you to attend talks from presernters at UT Southwestern, Technology companies, Venture Capitalists, and other UT institutions. The conference link has the full list of talks. 

2:00 PM - Launch 
Presenter: Dr. Susheel Kumar
Manager for Business Development,
Office for Technology Development, UT Southwestern

Overview: 

This talk will delve into the critical role of the Office for Technology Development (OTD) at UT Southwestern (UTSW) in supporting faculty and inventors. The speaker will discuss the mission of OTD, which includes managing inventions, patents, licenses, startup creation, and product development. The session will highlight how OTD facilitates collaboration and sponsored research agreements with industry partners, handles material and data transfer agreements, and provides strategic intellectual property management guidance (IP). The presentation will also cover the educational and mentoring resources available for technology commercialization and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the technology transfer continuum from research and development to commercialization. Attendees will gain insights into how UTSW captures the commercial value of inventions, maximizes the real-world impact of research results, and balances academic technology transfer with institutional and public benefits.

Bio:  

Dr. Susheel Kumar is the Manager of Business Development at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Office of Technology Development, passionately bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world applications. With a rich background in neuroscience, including over a decade of research experience, a doctoral degree in the field, and time spent as a postdoctoral researcher and research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Susheel Kumar brings a comprehensive understanding of the intersection between research and commercialization. 

2:30 PM - AI assets arising from academic research at UTSW
Presenter: Dr. Isamu Hartman
Assistant Director of Technology Commercialization
Office for Technology Development, UT Southwestern

Overview: 

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within academic research has swiftly transitioned from a novel concept to a ubiquitous tool. This talk will explore the evolution of AI techniques in academia, focusing on traditional AI methods such as machine learning and deep learning that have become standard for extracting insights from large datasets. The speaker will discuss key AI-related assets that typically arise from academic research: large, annotated, machine-readable datasets; novel AI training methods; and trained AI models that perform useful functions. The session will cover strategies for managing these assets to ensure universities capture their value through access fees, revenue-sharing, and rights to publish and use trained models. Special attention will be given to managing clinical datasets from academic medical centers, emphasizing the importance of balancing legal compliance and the pursuit of public good. This talk aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the commercialization opportunities and challenges associated with AI in academic research. 

Bio:  

Dr. Isamu Hartman is Assistant Director of Technology Commercialization at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Office for Technology Development. Dr. Hartman has been with the office for ten years, during which he has seen a marked increase in the number of AI-related commercialization and industry partnership opportunities coming through his office. He recently shared his lessons from managing these opportunities in a blog post entitled “AI Assets Arising from Academic Research.”  Dr. Hartman has a PhD in Immunology from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from the Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas.