Technology transfer: learning from lost opportunities and sharing best practices Experiences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA

One significant aspect of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's charitable mission is to ensure that its research results benefit society at large. This is accomplished through researcher education, securing appropriate intellectual property protection and licensing so that inventions are developed into useful products. The Swan-Ganz and Barath balloon catheters each represent different stages in the evolution of technology transfer at Cedars-Sinai. To capture revenues from its own technologies, Cedars-Sinai learned about the benefit of having established technology transfer practices through its experience with a blockbuster invention developed before its Technology Transfer Office existed. Cedars-Sinai subsequently felt that it should share its technology transfer experience and train researchers and administrators in Central and Eastern Europe.