Faculty scientists at IU are at the leading edge of new discoveries, addressing such issues as human health, the environment, new therapeutic interventions, and software solutions. However, our faculty scientists are not always sufficiently aware of how their research can lead to new economic opportunities and innovation pipelines. The focus of the Faculty Innovation Ambassadors (FIA) Program is to prepare faculty to identify and cultivate these opportunities necessary for reaching IU 2030 Goals in innovation. This program will provide faculty with peer-delivered access to information and assistance related to innovation and commercialization on campus.
Faculty Ambassadors will develop a community of practice to promote translation of faculty research and will become a direct resource to their colleagues as a trusted source to navigate understanding translational activities related to intellectual property development. ICO intends to provide guidance and training to these faculty scientists by providing them with an understanding of how basic science and technology is assessed and developed into commercial products and innovations. This will be accomplished by providing workshop intensives on topics directly related to intellectual property assessment, development, management, evaluation, and commercialization. The FIA Program is conceived as a 1-year program with continued faculty alumni engagement for shared learning and continuing education.
Our FIA Program will promote an understanding of Innovation and Commercialization through four facets:
This program will be launched through a series of intensive workshops. The workshops will be co-taught by a team consisting of ICO staff and guest lecturers (or technical expert such as a patent attorney) with a focus on intellectual property, commercialization, entrepreneurism and economic development. We anticipate bringing in guest lecturers with specific experience in areas such as intellectual property, business strategy, venture creation, and early-stage funding. These workshops will highlight the overview of the processes, outline expectations for each component, highlight the benefits of available resources, connect concepts to university wide metrics, and provide an overview of the broader ecosystem.
The workshops will address:
Introduction to technology transfer (Tech Transfer 101)
Commercialization evaluation, stage gate process, and market evaluation
Industry Partnering and Startups
Faculty Ambassadors will be provided exclusive opportunities to join ICO and IUR staff to participate in community events and networking opportunities. These engagement events will provide faculty to increase their external networks, broaden their understanding of the innovation ecosystem, and increase their probability to identify opportunities to support and further their research. ICO and IUR staff will facilitate introductions to community members to facility developing connections and relationship building with local industry partners.
Faculty Ambassadors will be expected to present brief updates at monthly department level meetings on selected topics. These brief presentations will be co-developed with ICO staff to provide high-level updates, guidance, and communication of upcoming opportunities for faculty. Faculty Ambassadors will provide ICO with feedback from faculty on topics of interest.
ICO will plan and execute biannual half day Ambassador Summits for all current and previous Ambassadors. This will allow for ongoing engagement and continuing education of topics of interest. This will also provide a platform for group level feedback to ICO on the Program and provide the opportunity for Ambassador to present shared learnings.
Meet the 2026 Faculty Innovation Ambassadors:
Damir Cavar, associate professor of computational linguistics at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at IU Bloomington. Cavar researches quantum computing for natural language processing, with a focus on health and life sciences applications.
Kay Choi, professor of molecular and cellular biochemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington. Choi is exploring molecular mechanisms that govern RNA-protein interactions, viral replication and RNA-based therapeutics for the development of antiviral strategies.
Amar Flood, professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington. Flood’s research involves the design, synthesis and characterization in supramolecular chemistry such as anion recognition and the world’s brightest fluorescent materials known as SMILES.
John Gallien, assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine at the IU School of Medicine. Gallien aims to develop better and more sustainable solutions to improve the delivery of healthcare and patient outcomes.
Alexander Gumennik, director of the FAMES Lab at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at IU Bloomington. Gumennik’s lab is investigating the use of fiber devices in digital communication and networking for next-generation internet technologies and biomedical applications such as minimally invasive procedures, tissue engineering and wound healing.
Young Hwan You, director of undergraduate research and associate professor of mathematics at IU East. You’s work focuses on partial differential equations, mathematical finance, and data science applications such as deep learning and machine learning. You also explores data-science-based topics to further undergraduate research opportunities.
Milos Marinkovic, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the IU School of Medicine. He researches extracellular matrix biology and its application in aging and regenerative bone tissue engineering.
J.D. Mendez, professor of chemistry at IU Columbus. Mendez’s research combines chitin, a natural polymer in the exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans, and advanced 3D-printing techniques for applications in bioprinting and medical devices. Mendez also develops games to improve students’ understanding of complex chemistry topics.
Thomas Snaddon, the James F. Jackson Associate Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington. His lab focuses on the design and development of new concepts in organic synthesis and catalysis for applications in biology and medicine.
Jason Tennessen, associate chair for research and facilities for biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington. Tennessen’s lab is using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a genetic model to study aerobic glycolysis to understand its regulation in the context of normal animal growth and physiology.
Ian Webb, associate professor in the School of Science at IU Indianapolis. Webb’s research focuses on developing advanced ion mobility/mass spectrometry tools for structural and complex mixture analysis applications.
Elizabeth Yeh, professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and pharmacology and the vice chair for research at the IU School of Medicine. Yeh’s lab develops novel therapeutic strategies for HER2-positive and triple negative breast cancers.
