While playing with them, the professor of medical science and engineering and her lab members created a tiny plastic particle that could safely transport fragile drugs such as insulin or gene therapy through the harsh conditions in the intestinal tract. Her bright idea, published in the journal Nature in 1997, may someday mean that people who require injections for diseases such as diabetes, cancer and AIDS might instead take drugs or gene therapy orally. She worked with the Brown University Research Foundation, a nonprofit corporation formed to hold and license patents and work with companies that could take inventions to market. When faculty members make a discovery, they are obligated to disclose it to the University. Research foundation director William Jackson determines whether inventions and intellectual property such as software have commercial potential.
Commercial potential is determined by whether the foundation can find interested businesses.
It does this by regular contact with potential investors through the Brown Venture Forum. The research foundation will grant a license to a company that wants the exclusive right to use the invention, in some cases before it has a patent, Jackson said. The company agrees to pay fees and royalties that are distributed to the University and the inventor or inventors according to the University's patent policy. Under the patent policy, the University's portion is split among the inventor's department, the inventor's lab, and University research, which is controlled by Peder Estrup, dean of the Graduate School and research . Estrup said the money has been accumulating slowly over the years, so how to spend it hasn't been much of an issue.