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In 2022, the Bureau of Business Research (BBR) conducted an in-depth analysis of the impact of Dell Medical School on the biomedical and life sciences sector. The final report, released in late 2022, reveals that in just eight years since launching in 2014, Dell Med is already having a higher-than-expected impact on the regional health innovation and life sciences sector – from new research and inventions to catalyzing UT campus collaborations and commercialization.

Among the report’s highlights:

  • Research Funding & Collaborative Projects: Dell Med attracted $96.5 million in extramural and clinical-trial research funding, with funding and the number of research projects steadily increasing as the school’s research infrastructure expands and evolves. The medical school currently has nearly 100 investigators working on more than 200 collaborative research projects.
  • Inventions, Patents & New Technologies: 143 invention disclosures list Dell Med faculty or students as inventors, translating into 77 provisional patents, 45 utility patent applications and 12 issued patents. Additionally, 12 existing companies and five newly formed companies have executed licenses for Dell Med-associated technology.
  • Higher-than-expected Innovation Outcomes: Comparing cumulative grant funding with filed invention disclosures showed a four-fold higher number of disclosures involving Dell Med when compared with BBR research team expectations based on published reports and national averages.
  • Higher-than-expected Impact of Collaborations with Other UT Austin Colleges & Schools: Estimated collaborative grant totals involving Dell Med and a Principal Investigator, or PI, from another UT Austin college or school revealed 3.5 times more invention disclosures than expected by the BBR team based on published reports.
  • Promising New Models: The signature Painstorming process and the Texas Health Catalyst program, both part of the CoLab @ Dell Med, are examples of promising new approaches to support innovator teams navigating the complexities of commercialization.
  • Return on Investment (ROI): Through the Texas Health Catalyst program, seed funding from Dell Med, partners and philanthropy for UT innovators has generated significant ROI: $61 in next-stage funding for each dollar invested.

 

Media

Press Release – Dell Medical School Making an Impact on Biomedical Life Sciences Sector

Austin Business Journal article – Tens of millions in R&D funding, health care inventions galore: How Dell Medical School impacts Austin’s economy

Picture of report cover with building of Dell Medical School

Dell Medical School Impact On Innovation Biomedical and Life Sciences

report

Focus Group and Survey: Learning from the Austin Life Science Community

report

Research Team

Bruce Kellison

Director, Bureau of Business Research

Headshot of Matt Kammer-Kerwick

Matt Kammer-Kerwick

Senior Research Scientist

Gregory Pogue

Deputy Executive Director

James Jarrett

Senior Research Scientist

Kara Takasaki

Prior Researcher at Bureau of Business Research (BBR)

Adriann Oommen

Research Associate

Jeff Sternberg

Postdoctoral Research Fellow