Queen's researcher seeks next big discovery
January 31, 2013
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Susan Cole is the first-ever Researcher-in-Residence at PARTEQ Innovations, the technology transfer arm of Queen’s University. The former Queen’s Deputy Provost and PARTEQ board member will help mentor and assist researchers in the life sciences who are considering protecting their discoveries for the purpose of commercialization.
Dr. Cole will be working closely with Michael Wells, manager of commercial development in life sciences at PARTEQ.
“As an active researcher at the ‘front lines,’ I’m in a unique position to keep an eye and ear out for new and interesting ideas and suggest that researchers talk to PARTEQ,” says Dr. Cole, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Cancer Biology and the Bracken Chair in Genetics and Molecular Medicine. “I hope I can also suggest ways to help researchers avoid premature public disclosure that would compromise their ability to protect the potential intellectual property associated with their discoveries.”
Dr. Cole co-invented PARTEQ’s most-licensed technology with Roger Deeley, Vice-Dean Research, Queen’s Health Sciences/Vice-President, Health Sciences Research, Kingston General Hospital. The technology provides a gene coding for multidrug resistance protein (MRP). This discovery has been instrumental in advancing scientists’ understanding of drug resistance in tumors. It has been licensed to more than 30 companies worldwide and their original research paper on MRP has been cited more than 2,500 times since 1992.
“Twenty years ago PARTEQ was critical to my success,” says Dr. Cole. “We would have lost our world leadership role in this field of research if it wasn’t for PARTEQ. It also allowed us to access more funding when we needed it most. Our discovery would not have had the impact it had if it hadn’t synergized with industry.”
“One of the best ways for a researcher to understand what’s involved in commercializing their work is to hear about it from someone within their own ranks,” says John Molloy, President and CEO of PARTEQ. “Dr. Cole brings a unique perspective into how discovery research can have broad and long-lasting impacts.”
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