QB3’s New Year’s resolutions

2012 is right around the bend. What might QB3 get up to over the next year? We talked to our director, Reg Kelly, who gave us a peek into his plans.

In the coming year QB3 will link more with patient advocacy groups to better understand the needs of the medical community. This will guide research, technology development, and entrepreneurial investments to fill these needs. “We are trying to be more user-driven in our innovation,” Kelly says. Targeting patients as users of biomedical innovations and catering to their needs taps into a huge market potential, attracting investors to the table. Ultimately, the products brought to market will provide critical solutions to improve health. Kelly will be working with Margaret Anderson of Faster Cures to develop a collaboration in the coming months. Faster Cures is a D.C.-based non-profit that bridges research, industry, policy, patients and investors to accelerate and improve healthcare.

Along these lines, Kelly would like QB3 to become a leader in the emerging field of systems pharmacology. This area of research uses computational biology to develop multi-drug cocktails against diseases, such as some types of cancer, that are resistant to single drug treatments. “I would like to see QB3-UCSF develop more of an international reputation for excellence in a scientific area,” Kelly says. “We have the top-ranked pharmacy school in the country, and strong research programs in genetics and systems biology. This puts us in the sweet spot to become a powerful player in the field of systems pharmacology.” He suggests bridging all three QB3 campuses to accomplish this. UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz offer computational expertise to perfectly complement UCSF’s expertise in medicine.

QB3 also aims to improve the efficacy of its entrepreneurial programs in the upcoming year. “We have the basic elements of what we do in place, but we have to execute better,” Kelly says. QB3 will work with Deloitte consultants to identify weaknesses and areas to work on. Formalizing and systematizing programs will be a top priority. “The Startup-in-a-Box program is a good start,” Kelly says. “We plan to do more along those lines.” Kelly suggests a similar mentoring program to enrich the incubator experience, providing startup scientists with business management skills. Overall, developing a playbook for the QB3 experience will improve both efficiency and efficacy in accomplishing program goals. On a larger scale, such a playbook will serve as a model for other organizations who would like to follow in QB3’s footsteps.

Stay tuned to the QB3 website as Reg & co’s new plans, collaborations and innovations unfold over 2012!