Michael P. Straightiff joined the University of Virginia Patent Foundation as director Sept. 21, bringing to the organization an expanded focus on business development and new-venture creation.

Formerly director of biomedical engineering commercialization in Case Western Reserve University’s Technology Transfer Office, Straightiff has managed high-profile research, development and commercialization partnerships with several large biomedical technology companies and has been involved in the formation of a number of technology start-ups.

Straightiff ’s “background includes success in forming new businesses, raising investment capital and licensing intellectual property,” said W. Mark Crowell, executive director and associate vice president for innovation partnerships and commercialization at U.Va.
“His unique insight on innovation management and translational research will help to strengthen the Patent Foundation’s efforts to support the University’s inventive researchers and, increasingly, entrepreneurs as we work to enhance the innovation ecosystem at U.Va. and in central Virginia.”

Among Straightiff ’s top priorities are “strengthening relationships with University innovators, continuing to develop creative industrial partnerships, and fostering the region’s burgeoning entrepreneurial and innovation communities,” he said.

“Through these efforts, we will achieve a higher number and quality of invention disclosures, we will make more strategic investments and intellectual property decisions, and we will ultimately create a larger impact for University of Virginia innovations on society.”

Straightiff ’s goals are reflective of the University’s priorities, said Thomas C. Skalak, Ph.D., vice president for research.

“U.Va. is deeply committed to playing a central role in winning America’s future. One critical path to that goal is through the dissemination of new knowledge that creates high-value jobs and economic strength, and we are confident that Michael brings a highly creative approach to building the University’s innovation enterprise,” Skalak said.

Throughout Skalak’s tenure, the University has placed increasing importance on its technology commercialization and economic development activities, embracing industry and other organizations through dynamic collaborations like the Wallace H. Coulter Translational Research Partnership and strategic research partnerships with major corporations and industry leaders such as AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Rolls-Royce.

“The University of Virginia is an exceptional institution with world-class faculty, students, research and patient care,” Straightiff said. “These resources, coupled with strong institutional commitments to industrial partnerships and commercialization, create a critical component of a robust innovation economy. As a result, U.Va. is poised to become a national leader in business development, strategic partnerships and technology commercialization.”

Erik L. Hewlett, M.D., chairman of the Patent Foundation board and of the search committee that recommended Straightiff, said the Patent Foundation will continue to manage and commercialize the innovative technological discoveries generated by the University community while U.Va. and Patent Foundation officials further develop an integrated model for enhanced service to U.Va. inventors.

“Michael has the ideal background, experience, philosophy and spirit to lead the foundation as the enhanced working relationship with the Universitymatures,” said Hewlett, a professor of internal medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health in the School of Medicine.

Straightiff previously was a senior licensing associate and a consultant for Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc., where he managed a diverse portfolio of technologies in engineering, physical sciences and life sciences. He also worked as a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after serving as a research assistant at the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center.

For more information about Straightiff, visit www.uvapf.org. Contact him at [email protected] or 434.982.3709.