Michael W. Long, Ph.D., Joins OU as Technology Transfer Mentor-in-Residence

Michael W. Long, Ph.D., joins OU as technology transfer mentor-in-residence
Michael W. Long, Ph.D., has joined OU as Technology Transfer Mentor-in-Residence.

Inventions, patents and commercializing OU’s research all serve to raise the University’s visibility as a research center and increase the potential to generate revenue through licensing and spinoff corporations.

 

To further this goal, effective February 1, Northville resident Michael W. Long, Ph.D., has joined the University as a Mentor-in-Residence (MIR) for Intellectual Property (IP) development and commercialization.

 

He will work within the The Research Office and report to Interim Vice Provost for Research Arik Dvir, Ph.D. It is sponsored in part by a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

 

Dr. Long is part of a re-vitalized Technology Transfer Office within The Research Office. Following the University’s practices, the Vice Provost for Research has a lead role in all decisions involving IP, patent process, and commercialization, with the Office of Legal Affairs providing legal expertise.

 

As Mentor-in-Residence, Dr. Long will actively help OU faculty who are conducting research and/or pursuing applied projects to develop and guide their IP toward commercialization ― whether licensing or spinning off a startup. He will also explore IP potential within different units on campus, establishing methodologies to evaluate the commercial potential of faculty or student IP.

 

Dr. Long will lead the outreach that will educate faculty on the fundamentals and processes of commercialization. He also plans to build relationships between Oakland faculty, students, alumni and the OU Incubator.

 

Dr. Long received his Ph.D. from the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Physiology. Following three years of post-doctoral training at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the University of Michigan recruited him to become a professor in its Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Long was a Principal Investigator on multiple grants, raising approximately $30 million in funding. The University of Michigan used a number of his patents to spin off a company that he then directed.

 

Dr. Long was a scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), a non-profit organization dedicated to curing blood cancers, and was an established investigator at the American Heart Association (AHA). He has served as a grant review committee member for the AHA, the LLS, the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.

 

Dr. Long’s business experience covers a wide variety of leadership roles as chief executive and chief operating officer. In the course of founding four biotechnology companies, he recruited and led management teams, interacted with institutional investors (private equity and venture capital), the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical companies of all sizes.

 

Dr. Long held a major leadership role as a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society board member, serving on its executive committee and on core committees for development, medical and scientific advisory and CEO recruitment. He also conceived, championed and chaired the LLS Therapy Acceleration Program, the group’s venture philanthropy arm.