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Review
. 2022 May 30;9(1):100026.
doi: 10.1016/j.acpath.2022.100026. eCollection 2022.

Rules of engagement: Promoting academic-industry partnership in the era of digital pathology and artificial intelligence

Liron Pantanowitz  1 , Marilyn M Bui  2 , Chhavi Chauhan  3 , Ehab ElGabry  4 , Lewis Hassell  5 , Zaibo Li  6 , Anil V Parwani  6 , Mohamed E Salama  7 , Manu M Sebastian  8 , David Tulman  9 , Suryanarayana Vepa  10 , Michael J Becich  11
Affiliations
Review

Rules of engagement: Promoting academic-industry partnership in the era of digital pathology and artificial intelligence

Liron Pantanowitz et al. Acad Pathol. .

Abstract

Academic industry partnership (AIP) represents an important alliance between academic researchers and industry that helps translate technology and complete the innovation cycle within academic health systems. Despite diverging missions and skillsets the culture for academia and industry is changing in response to the current digital era which is spawning greater collaboration between physicians and businesses in this marketplace. In the field of pathology, this is further driven by the fact that traditional funding sources cannot keep pace with the innovation needed in digital pathology and artificial intelligence. This concept article from the Digital Pathology Association (DPA) describes the rules of engagement for pathology innovators in academia and for their corporate partners to help establish best practices in this critical area. Stakeholders include pathologists, basic and translational researchers, university technology transfer and sponsored research offices, as well as industry relations officers. The article discusses the benefits and pitfalls of an AIP, reviews different partnership models, examines the role of pathologists in the innovation cycle, explains various agreements that may need to be signed, covers conflict of interest and intellectual property issues, and offers recommendations for ensuring successful partnerships.

Keywords: Academic-industry partnership; Artificial intelligence; Conflict of interest; Digital pathology; Industry; Innovation; Intellectual property; Patent; Sponsored research; University.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic showing the critical path for a successful AIP. The priority assigned to the various tasks will be dictated by partnering stakeholders. Failure to successfully navigate these steps in a timely fashion can delay AIP efforts. (IP = Intellectual property).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The innovation cycle of academic industry partnerships. Principal Investigators (PI) of federally funded grants focused on software and algorithm innovation (e.g. Computational Pathology innovations) develop Intellectual Property (IP) as part of their Research and Development (R&D) plans. Federal funding in academic health care systems comes from National Institute of Health (NIH) or National Science Foundation (NSF) grants. In addition, academic entrepreneurs who seek to validate their technology innovations seek Collaborative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA), industry Sponsored Research Agreements (SRA) as well as Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants to develop their innovations into commercially hardened solutions. The Early University innovation ecosystem then helps to de-risk technology, perform market analysis and early commercial adoption/management plans. At this stage, Early Investment “angel” or regional investment entities help to further validate innovations. Sometimes health system ecosystems and local business development apply together for additional rounds of NIH or NSF funding to do clinical trials leading to formal capital venture investment. Finally, commercial entities license or option technology (IP including patents) and create a new company. The funds generated from this financial “success” can lead to reinvestment in R&D and software engineering for the academic entrepreneurs who were the original inventors of the IP.
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