Welcome to the Bayh-Dole Bulletin, a monthly newsletter from the Bayh-Dole Coalition. The Bayh-Dole Coalition is a diverse group of innovation-oriented organizations and individuals committed to celebrating and protecting the Bayh-Dole Act, as well as informing policymakers and the public of its many benefits.
Bayh-Dole Bulletin: Edition 11
About the Bayh-Dole Coalition
A Word From Our Executive Director
There’s an old adage that says, “May you live in interesting times,” which we certainly do. However, times of upheaval are also times of opportunity. Now that our institutions are being challenged to prove their public worth, we are fortunate that we can meet the test. We can show objectively and subjectively that the Bayh-Dole system is a driver of the nation’s wealth and national security. However, statistics don’t win minds and hearts, stories do. That’s why we are rolling out our 2025 “Faces of American Innovation” report and honoring our 2025 American Innovator Award recipients in Washington, D.C., on June 4-5.
Once again, we have five inspiring stories illustrating the dedication and sacrifice needed to turn publicly funded inventions into useful products, improving lives here and around the world. And while the government workforce is under intense scrutiny, two of our winners exemplify the best of our civil servants, who should be stewards upholding the public interest even when intense political pressures are wielded against them to misuse their authorities. Now is the time to make our case, and that’s why it’s so important for you to join us in Washington, D.C., as we honor our 2025 award winners and meet with key policymakers on Capitol Hill.
We have the data and the stories, now we need to present them — with your help. RSVP here!
March Coalition Highlights
- Press Release: Bayh-Dole Coalition Urges President Trump to Reverse Agency Violations of the Bayh-Dole Act (3/14)
- Letter: Bayh-Dole Coalition Letter to President Trump RE: Agency Violations of Bayh-Dole (3/14)
- Interview: Federal News Network, “A new look at Biden-era rules for the National Science Foundation” (3/7)
- Op-ed: Dr. Rachel Dorin, RealClearMarkets, “To Drive U.S. Innovation, We Must Support Startups” (3/6)
- Infographic: Impact of the Bayh-Dole Act and Academic Technology Transfer (3/3)
Upcoming Events & Coalition Priorities
On Wednesday, June 4, and Thursday, June 5, 2025, the Bayh-Dole Coalition will host our third-annual “American Innovator Award” Ceremony and “Faces of American Innovation” Capitol Hill Briefing. Over these two days, we will honor the five researchers, entrepreneurs, and administrators profiled in our soon-to-be-released 2025 “Faces of American Innovation” report, celebrate the Bayh-Dole Act’s 45th year, and meet with members of Congress.
RSVP here — and please share the link with interested parties in your network!
The morning programming for each day will be open to the public. The afternoon programming will be exclusive to Bayh-Dole Coalition members — if you are interested in becoming a member and having access to these exclusive portions, apply here.
Member Corner
- Debbie Arnold, Associate Director of License & Government Compliance at the University of Utah Technology Licensing Office.
- Becky Hernandez, Director for Operations, Patents and Compliance at Caltech Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships.
- Mitchell Rosenfeld, J.D., Founder and Managing Director of Equip Advisors LLC.
- Will Zerhouni, J.D., Managing Director at TRGP Capital.
- CoMotion at the University of Washington, a partner of the University of Washington (UW) community that helps to transform ideas into impact.
- The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a R1 research university with one of the nation’s top tech transfer offices.
- On Wednesday, April 9, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM ET, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center will host its Global IP Summit. This event brings together diverse and compelling voices to discuss the pressing intellectual property (IP) issues of the moment, and how business and government can work together to solve them.
- On Tuesday, April 15, from 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM ET, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center will host its 2025 World IP Day celebration highlighting the extraordinary role intellectual property plays in supporting innovation and creativity and driving global economic growth.
Does your organization have an upcoming event? We’d love to feature it in our newsletter and events calendar! Submit the information here.
Member Spotlight
This month’s member spotlight is a past American Innovator Award recipient, Dr. Yan Wang, William Smith Foundation Dean’s Professor of Mechanical & Materials Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute! Dr. Wang co-founded two startups, Ascend Elements and AM Batteries, to take his technologies from lab to market. In 2023, he received the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s inaugural American Innovator Award for pioneering a lithium car battery recycling technique that has the potential to end our dependence on gas-powered cars. Since then, Ascend Elements has raised over $700 million, built the first sustainable cathode precursor manufacturing facility in North America, was named one of “America’s Top GreenTech Companies of 2024” by TIME, and earned the top spot in Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies in automotive of 2024.”
“Without the Bayh-Dole Act, the technologies developed in my university lab might have stayed on the shelf instead of becoming real-world applications helping build a cleaner, more sustainable future. I’ve seen firsthand how technology transfer bridges the gap between discovery and impact, empowering researchers like myself to become entrepreneurs and enabling ideas to become industry-shaping solutions. There is still much work to do to achieve sustainable energy independence, making it all the more important that we continue to protect the Bayh-Dole Act and the innovation it enables.” — Dr. Yan Wang, Ph.D., William Smith Foundation Dean’s Professor of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
