Michael T. Marrah, J.D., and Bradley J. Castanho, Ph.D., have been named assistant vice chancellors for research and co-directors of the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at Washington University. Together, they bring expertise in business, science and law to the OTM, which is charged with identifying University discoveries that have commercial potential and licensing them to private companies, where the technology can be developed for the benefit of the public.
Marrah, a skilled patent lawyer, and Castanho, a scientist with extensive experience in commercial development of biotechnology products, have served as interim directors of the OTM since February 2006. Their complementary backgrounds and dual leadership role are expected to boost the University’s ability to quickly move discoveries from the laboratory to industry.
“The complex nature of the Office of Technology Management, with its requirement for business, scientific and legal expertise, lends itself quite well to two leaders that together can bring expertise in all three areas,” says Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., vice chancellor for research at the School of Medicine.
“Having Mike Marrah involved in our major deals from the earliest stages is pivotal to speeding the filing of patents and the licensing of new technology because it ensures that legal issues are dealt with while contracts are still being negotiated,” Stanley added. “Additionally, Brad Castanho has extensive experience in new business development, and this is becoming an increasingly important component of what OTM does.”
As co-directors, Marrah and Castanho also will oversee the creation of material transfer, confidentiality and research agreements that protect University intellectual property and the rights of researchers to pursue innovative research. The leadership team already has begun streamlining many processes within OTM to help improve its customer service to faculty members.
As part of its efforts to bring University innovations to the marketplace, OTM routinely enters into agreements with large companies that operate globally. But with the investment of new biotechnology firms in the St. Louis region, there are more opportunities to license technology to help build Missouri- and Illinois-based companies. This includes the recent licensing to St. Louis companies of University technology that rapidly screens thousands of drugs for their effectiveness against diabetes and cancer and another discovery that uses microscopic beads to deliver drugs that break up artery-clogging plaques.
Ken Janoski, president and CEO of BioGenerator, a nonprofit St. Louis group formed to help spawn biotech companies from university research, says the new appointments will aid St. Louis start-up companies interested in University technology. “Brad and Mike work very well together and have represented Washington University well,” Janoski says. “They have been easy to work with, accessible, willing to listen and have presented to us a number of great ideas for ways BioGenerator, Washington University and its research community can work together.”
Marrah earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Western Illinois University and a law degree from Washington University. Before joining the University’s Office of General Counsel in 2005, Marrah was a patent attorney, first at Thompson Coburn and then at Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal, both in St. Louis. He will retain his appointment in the general counsel’s office.
Castanho earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and plant pathology and a Ph.D. in plant pathology, both from the University of California at Davis. Before joining the University in 2003, he worked for Monsanto Co., for more than 20 years. He began his career at Monsanto as a research scientist and rose through the ranks to become director for marketing and new business development. In 2000, he helped found STATIM, a St. Louis technology and business consulting company that specializes in the development and commercialization of innovative technologies in the plant and life science industries.
Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.