The evolution of research on the UF Health Jacksonville campus continues to move forward rapidly. The new centers we established last year — the Center for Data Solutions and the Center for Research Training — are building momentum and providing new resources for our growing community of researchers. The restructuring of the Office of Research Affairs and the subsequent launch of a new web portal intake system are providing more clarity and efficiency around research processes at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville.

We have leveraged key opportunities to better align with our colleagues in Gainesville, most notably the successful merger of the two institutional review boards into a stronger, cross-institutional IRB. As always, we encourage feedback on any aspects of the new research ecosystem and how to better champion the enterprise’s mission of healing, comforting, educating and discovering.

In 2020, we are focusing on accelerating efforts in two key areas: program building and entrepreneurship. Both areas are tied to our need to explore new revenue streams to support and grow research. Both will require strategic investments aligned with the institutional mission and leveraging of local and national partnerships, as well as enhanced understanding of the numbers behind our finances and productivity.

PROGRAMMATIC GROWTH

Throughout the year, we will engage our campus more around the “business model for research.” A key source of revenue for an academic research enterprise such as ours is access to “indirect dollars” that are generated from federal and state grants, as well as from foundations and industry contracts. When an investigator receives funding, the agency pays an extra amount to our institution to cover “indirect costs.” These funds provide a vital pool of money that can be leveraged to invest back into the research system, thus enhancing ongoing efforts and advancing new initiatives.

Motivated by this, we are strategically focusing our investments to help grow existing research programs and establish new ones that successfully compete for larger “programmatic” funding. This strategy will generate future dollars for our campus. This is in contrast to investing in efforts that are more terminal in nature and do not lead to additional dollars for our institution.

Rather than make these investments through single, once-a-year efforts, we are embracing a more fluid and ongoing model that continually evaluates real-time opportunities and associated metrics. The establishment of new partnerships in Gainesville and across the state will help drive the success of these investments.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

This year, we will launch a new entrepreneurship program. This program, the first of its kind for our campus, will make sure intellectual property from faculty and staff is protected through a more robust alignment with colleagues at UF Innovate in Gainesville.

Through this program, we will offer faculty and staff access to a validated business development methodology. This provides opportunities to systematically dive deeper into a potential opportunity — a process called “ideation.” We will be able to understand the underlying market and develop pitch decks that can be explored with local and regional investors.

As with the programmatic growth, this effort requires strategic investment of funds, leveraging of key partnerships and close tracking of metrics related to the return on investment. We are excited about this opportunity and look forward to receiving feedback as it is rolled out.

Direct any questions about the new entrepreneurship program to Tina Bottini, senior assistant dean for research at the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville. If you have questions about or suggestions for programmatic growth, contact Alexander Parker, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research at the college.