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What’s Inside At the Forefront Success Primary objective People ForeFront ForeFront Program overview ForeFront’s new initiatives Research Views Responding to the reader Fatigue and illness Adolescent nutrition and lifestyle Basic research: the foundation for medicine Learning to walk...again Researchers in the making Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS) Program 2006 Reader Resources At the Forefront The evolution of AHFMR’s Technology Commercialization Program What a difference 14 years can make. AHFMR’s Technology Commercialization (TC) Program was very small when the Edmonton Sun profiled it in June 1992. The story was one of promise. The article focused on the potential of new medical devices and therapies, and highlighted a few inventions, including a computer-controlled artificial leg developed by University of Alberta professor Dr. Richard Stein. Fast-forward to March 2006, and an Edmonton Journal story on another Stein invention: the WalkAide, an electronic medical device which makes walking easier for patients who experience foot drop (the inability to lift the foot) due to stroke or spinal cord injury. The device grew out of the research profiled in 1992, and its development received support from the TC Program. But the Journal article has a distinctly different flavour when compared to its forerunner. It is a story of promise fulfilled: an Alberta innovator whose invention is on the market and making a significant difference in many people’s quality of life. Success The success doesn’t surprise Dr. Bill Cochrane, the former dean of medicine and president of the University of Calgary. A successful entrepreneur, Dr. Cochrane believes passionately in the potential for commercialization of health-related research in Alberta. “AHFMR’s establishment in 1980 was a visionary act that set the stage for world-class scientific achievement. Alberta-based researchers are contributing cures, therapies, evidence, and knowledge that help us all live better and healthier lives. “Early on, AHFMR recognized that some of these discoveries could be the bases for new business ventures. In 1985, it established the Technology Commercialization Program, one of Canada’s first technology-transfer programs. Helping researchers take innovations from the lab to the marketplace is an important extension of AHFMR’s role in funding research, and contributes to the future economic growth of the province.” Primary objective This has always been the primary objective of the TC Program: to assist Alberta innovators in taking new health-related ideas and scientific findings and developing them into technology aimed at improving health. Since its inception, the program has invested more than $24 million to support technology-commercialization activities. While the TC Program has been expanding, its focus on people has remained constant. This emphasis has now been broadened to include support not only for innovators, but also for those people with the wide variety of skills and experience necessary to build and support successful biotech and health-related industries in Alberta. People “Technology commercialization is important for the development and application of new technologies that will both improve health care, and diversify and contribute to the economy,” says Bob Miller, vice-chancellor for Research at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a member of the international board which evaluated all of AHFMR’s operations in 2004. “The critical element in technology commercialization is people—not only the innovators who come up with the ideas, but a range of other people with skills in many areas, such as intellectual property, applied research, marketing, sales, and business development. “That’s what I like about AHFMR’s new direction for technology commercialization. The program is all about supporting people. AHFMR listened to recommendations and changed the program so it is in line with what’s needed in Alberta.” ForeFront The Foundation has also renamed its TC Program ForeFront—which reflects this more comprehensive support for people, projects, and industry. The ForeFront Program has two objectives: – To build industry capacity through the support of people with the necessary skills and experience – To support projects at the pre-commercialization stage ForeFront will build on its support for people by piloting new initiatives, while continuing to fund pre-commercialization projects. “The establishment of our program was a promising addition to Alberta’s innovation system,” says Linda Humphreys, AHFMR’s vice-president of Corporate Affairs and Commercialization. “We charted our course for supporting innovators in the province. Results to date show that by providing support for people we can help improve health, foster a vibrant health industry, create exciting career opportunities, and establish successful companies. ForeFront builds on this foundation. Our goal is to strengthen Alberta’s pipeline for the transfer of medical and health research into products and processes that will ultimately improve health—not just for Albertans, but for people around the world.” Charting Progress 2006 highlights AHFMR’s past successes and future initiatives in supporting technology commercialization in Alberta. For a copy of the report, please visit our web site at www. ahfmr.ab.ca or contact Tina Blake at tina.blake@ahfmr.ab.ca. Forefront Program overview Career development: – Internship Program – MBT/MBA Studentship Award (in development) Industry development: – Executive-in-Residence Award – Senior Recruitment Health Industry Award (in development) – Industrial Researcher Award (in development) Technology development: – Three phases of project funding – Mentorship – Education ForeFront’s new initiatives Executive-in-Residence Award brings in senior-level management with relevant industry experience and appropriate networks to advance the application of research and technologies to the next levels of commercialization. This project began in January 2006 and will be evaluated after the first year. Senior Recruitment Health Industry Award (in development) brings in needed expertise in a wide variety of critical areas by supporting the salaries of new recruits at the senior technical and management levels in Alberta-based medical/health companies. Industrial Researcher Award (in development) provides support for Alberta-based companies to recruit recent graduates with master’s and doctoral degrees to conduct research that benefits the organizations. Studentship Award (in development) supports students in the Masters in Biomedical Technology (M.B.T.) program at the University of Calgary, or the Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) program in Technology Commercialization at the University of Alberta. Back to Top