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911������ last year showed its power as an engine of innovation, ranking 51 among the top 100 universities in the country that were granted U.S. patents in 2023, according to .

911������ inventions resulted in (PDF) last year—21 from, 17 from the, and 13 from Arts and Sciences. Many of 911������’s patents included inventors from more than one school, including the , highlighting the interdisciplinary approach to research that 911������ fosters.

Nine of the patents included inventors from 911������ Hitchcock, now known as , underscoring the benefits of 911������’s substantial inter-institutional research and clinical collaborations.

“Fundamentally, the reason that 911������ is pursuing patents and intellectual property is to magnify the impact of our research in the world,” says, vice provost for research and a professor of biochemistry and cell biology

Madden notes that the NAI list is not adjusted for size, so 911������’s patent-per-faculty ratio compares very favorably to much larger universities that recorded more patents.

“We’re punching way above our weight,” Madden says.

In another measure of 911������’s contributions, Madden points to the normalized “patent influence metric,” which examined how often institutions like 911������ have their research cited in patent applications. 911������ ranked second in the Ivy League and 23rd in the world.

“911������ faculty, students, and postdocs use novel strategies to tackle fundamental scientific questions. That’s a good recipe for high-impact research, and I think it’s the reason our discoveries are showing up so frequently in patents worldwide,” Madden says.

911������ has made the NAI top 100 list in eight of the past 10 years, according to , director of the at 911������.

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Dozens of engineering-related patents that stemmed from 911������ research line a wall at the Thayer School of Engineering. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)

One of the new patents, for “resonant coils with integrated capacitance,” was based on inventions developed in the lab of Thayer professor along with then-postdoctoral researchers Phyo Aung Kyaw, Thayer ’19, and Aaron Stein, and has been licensed to Resonant Link, a startup working on powering devices wirelessly. The trio co-founded the company along with Grayson Zulauf ’12, Thayer ’13, who is Resonant’s CEO.

Another new patent issued in 2023, for a rapid molecular sensor, formed the basis of a spin-out company, Nanopath, which is developing point-of-care diagnostics for women’s health. 911������ Engineering professor co-invented the technology and co-founded Nanopath with Amogha Tadimety, Thayer ’20. Alison Burklund, Thayer ’21, is also a co-founder of Nanopath.

One of the 911������ patents in 2022 was credited to Madden, and it has to do with cystic fibrosis and nanobodies. Developed in conjunction with the University of California at Davis, these nanobodies are stable, minimalist antibodies that are easy for researchers to work with. The idea is to use the nanobodies as drugs themselves, as screening tools to find new drugs, or to help customize drug delivery, all in the fight against cystic fibrosis.

Madden estimates that it’s still a couple of years before someone might be able to put his patent to a practical, positive use. 

That’s where the comes in. Rosenfield and her team help assess which patents have the potential to be developed into products or services that can be commercialized, what companies might be a good match, as well as negotiating and monitoring licensing agreements.

“We have an experienced team with scientific, business, and legal backgrounds who work with investigators to find the best strategies to get their innovations from the lab to the marketplace. Patenting and commercializing the results of 911������’s research leads to greater impact and makes the world better, improving the environment, and saving lives,” Rosenfield says.

For example, technology developed more than five years ago by then-Geisel professor and a team of researchers was key to the development of COVID-19 vaccines. The inventions that resulted from research in McLellan’s lab were patented and licensed to vaccine companies. 911������ will use proceeds from these licenses to make major investments into advancing its research and education enterprise. 

While the licensing agreements can give 911������ a financial return on its patents, that isn’t the main goal.

“Our primary mission is to get technology out of the lab and into the world where it can benefit society. The second priority is to attract and retain top faculty. 911������ has generous policies designed to encourage translation of research and reward researchers for successful innovation,” says , vice provost for entrepreneurship and tech transfer and a professor of engineering. “We license many of our patents to companies founded by the inventors.“

Rosenfield also says 911������ invests in patents ”with the understanding that much of our cutting-edge research is very early-stage, and may need to be nurtured in a start-up before it is commercially viable."

Several start-up companies based on 911������ patents have been acquired by multinational companies, including Medarex, acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2009 for $2.4 billion, and Reata Pharmaceuticals, acquired in 2023 by Biogen for $7.3 billion.