The Bayh-Dole Bulletin | Edition 25
Bayh-Dole Bulletin: Edition 25
Welcome to the Bayh-Dole Bulletin, a monthly newsletter from the Bayh-Dole Coalition. The Bayh-Dole Coalition is a 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.
If you were forwarded this email and would like to receive future communications, please join our mailing list here.
⭐⭐⭐ Special Announcement ⭐⭐⭐
Last call to RSVP to our June 3 & 4 Faces of American Innovation Events!
About the Bayh-Dole Coalition
A Word From Our Executive Director
As you get our May newsletter, we are on the verge of our 2026 Faces of American Innovation events in Washington, D.C. The Bayh-Dole Coalition was created to make policymakers, the media, and the American public aware of the importance of the Bayh-Dole Act to our national well-being. For almost 50 years, with little fanfare or recognition, it has made the nation wealthier while improving human wellness here and around the world. Citing the statistics and products developed under Bayh-Dole are impressive — but nothing brings its impact home quite like the stories of those who dedicated their time, money, and reputations to take a promising invention out of the laboratory and into the marketplace where it can be used. While Bayh-Dole sets the conditions and creates incentives for such efforts, it does not guarantee success, so those setting out on this daunting journey face great risks. Even with the best of efforts, many more inventions fail than successfully make it through this process.
This year, we are also inducting Jere Glover into our Hall of Fame. This honor is reserved for those whose extraordinary efforts helped create and preserve the Bayh-Dole system. After Congress passed the bill after the election of 1980, those who opposed it — because it took authority from the Washington bureaucracy and placed technology management in the hands of those making federally funded inventions — were urging then-President Carter not to sign it into law. But Jere Glover and Milton Stewart, who were in the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, contacted the president’s chief of staff, arguing that the law would greatly assist small companies and universities in reversing America’s innovation slide. Because of that effort, Bayh-Dole was signed into law at the last possible moment. Jere then went on to help create the SBIR and STTR programs and remains a strong advocate for our innovation system.
I hope you can join us in celebrating our American Innovator Award winners and our new inductee into our Hall of Fame. Even if you can’t attend, please help us make more people aware that we all benefit because of the Bayh-Dole Act — and recognize the incredible public and private sector entrepreneurs who have done so much over the past 50 years so that we can continue to prosper and benefit well into the future.
May Coalition Highlights
- Article: St. Louis Public Radio, “St. Louis researchers receive recognition for groundbreaking Alzheimer’s diagnostic test” (5/28)
- Radio segment: St. Louis on the Air, “St. Louis researchers receive recognition for groundbreaking Alzheimer’s diagnostic test” (5/26)
- Article: The Record (WashU), “Bateman and Holtzman receive 2026 American Innovator Award” (5/26)
- Press release: WashU Medicine, “Bateman and Holtzman receive 2026 American Innovator Award” (5/22)
- Article: Axis Imaging News, “How PSMA PET Moved From Chemistry Bench to Prostate Cancer Care” (5/22)
- Article: Mississippi Public Broadcasting, “Dr. Colleen Scott to receive Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2026 American Innovator Award” (5/21)
- Column: IPWatchdog, “Beware the Siren’s Call of Industrial Policy” (5/14)
- Column: AUTM, “Changing the Government Research and Development System Has Serious Consequences” (5/14)
- TV segment: WTVA, “Mississippi State chemist earns national honor for cancer research breakthrough” (5/12)
- Press release: Mississippi State University, “Cancer-detecting breakthrough earns MSU’s Scott national ‘American Innovator’ recognition” (5/11)
- Press release: Carnegie Mellon University, “Bayh-Dole Coalition Honors Carmel Majidi for Breakthroughs in Electronics Cooling and Robotics” (5/11)
- Press release: Bayh-Dole Coalition, “Bayh-Dole Coalition Unveils 2026 Faces of American Innovation Report” (5/11)
Upcoming Events & Coalition Priorities
On Wednesday, June 3, and Thursday, June 4, 2026, the Bayh-Dole Coalition will host our fourth-annual American Innovator Award ceremony and Faces of American Innovation Capitol Hill briefing.
This year’s two-day program will bring together leaders from across industries to highlight the groundbreaking individuals featured in our 2026 Faces of American Innovation report and to engage in timely conversations around the future of Bayh-Dole and the U.S. innovation system.
This year’s American Innovator Award recipients include:
- Dr. Eric Fossum, vice provost of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer and senior professor at Dartmouth College, and Dr. Sabrina Kemeny, co-founder of tech startup TAP Systems, Inc.
- Dr. Colleen Scott, chemist and associate professor at Mississippi State University.
- Dr. Randall Bateman and Dr. David Holtzman, neurologists and professors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
- Dr. Carmel Majidi, entrepreneur and engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
- Dr. Robert Dannals, professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Dr. Martin Pomper, professor and chair of radiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/ES1XqDSr6fW393AC7. We welcome you to share this invitation with your network. Please submit an individual response to the RSVP form for each person interested in attending.
A full schedule of events can be found below. Times are subject to slight change.
Wednesday, June 3 — Top of the Hill Banquet & Conference Center, Minuteman Ballroom (1 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002):
8:45 AM-1:15 PM: Open to all
- 8:45 AM: Continental breakfast
- 9:20 AM: Opening remarks by Brian O’Shaughnessy
- 9:30 AM: Remarks by Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC-02)
- 9:50 AM: Remarks by USPTO Deputy Director Coke Stewart
- 10:15 AM: Induction of Jere Glover into Bayh-Dole Coalition Hall of Fame (presented by Karen Kerrigan)
- 10:25 AM: Break
- 10:35 AM: 2026 American Innovator Award Ceremony (moderated by Joseph P. Allen)
- 11:35 AM: Break
- 11:45 AM: Panel — Tech Transfer Today: Navigating a Shifting Bayh-Dole Landscape (moderated by Joseph P. Allen)
- 12:30 PM: Lunch
1:15 PM-2:15 PM: Bayh-Dole Coalition members-only
- 1:15 PM: Panel — From Lab to Lawmakers: Advancing Bayh-Dole Through Advocacy
- 1:45 PM: Prep session for Capitol Hill meetings
Thursday, June 4 — Russell Senate Office Building, Room 385 (2 Constitution Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002):
8:45 AM-11:00 AM: Open to all
- 8:45 AM: Continental breakfast
- 9:10 AM: Opening remarks by Joseph P. Allen
- 9:15 AM: Remarks by Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA-03)
- 9:30 AM: Remarks by USPTO Deputy Director Coke Stewart
- 9:45 AM: 2026 Faces of American Innovation report briefing with 2026 American Innovator Awardees (moderated by Joseph P. Allen)
11:00 AM-4:00 PM: Bayh-Dole Coalition members-only
- Capitol Hill meetings
Interested in attending the exclusive portions, but not a member? Become one today!
Member Corner
- Virginia Commonwealth University TechTransfer and Ventures
- June 1-12: The IP Policy Institute at The University of Akron School of Law (IPPI) is partnering with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to host the WIPO-U.S. Summer School on Intellectual Property! This two-week course, held online via Microsoft Teams, focuses on IP law in the United States of America and will consist of lectures, case studies, simulation exercises, and group discussions on selected IP topics.
- June 22-25: Biotechnology Innovation Organization will host BIO 2026 in San Diego! The BIO International Convention is the largest and most comprehensive event for biotechnology, representing the full ecosystem of biotech with 20,000 industry leaders from around the world.
- October 18-21: Licensing Executives Society USA-Canada will host its 2026 Annual Meeting in San Diego! The program will deliver in-depth content, networking, keynotes, panel discussions, roundtables, and hands-on workshops designed to help you stay ahead in today’s fast-moving IP landscape.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please apply here! If you are a member and your organization has an upcoming event, submit the information here to be featured in our newsletter and events calendar.
Member Spotlight
Our May member spotlight is Deborah Wince-Smith! Deborah is a longtime champion of the Bayh-Dole Act and one of the key leaders responsible for protecting and implementing the law in its early years. As the first Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Deborah oversaw federal technology transfer policy and helped ensure Bayh-Dole was implemented as Congress intended. She played a critical role in safeguarding federally funded innovations from being transferred abroad through international agreements and guided federal agencies in adopting the Federal Technology Transfer Act. She was inducted into the Bayh-Dole Coalition Hall of Fame in 2025.
“From the earliest days of the Bayh-Dole Act, it was clear that America’s long-term competitiveness would depend on our ability to move breakthrough discoveries from laboratories into the marketplace. Bayh-Dole created a transformational framework that empowered universities, federal laboratories, small businesses, and private industry to collaborate. These partnerships have generated extraordinary economic growth, strengthened U.S. technological leadership, and improved countless lives across the world. As international competition intensifies, preserving the integrity of the Bayh-Dole system and protecting America’s innovation future is more important than ever.” — Deborah Wince-Smith, President & CEO, Council on Competitiveness
Get Involved
If you’re interested in formally joining the Bayh-Dole Coalition or donating to our organization, please do so below!