Kristy Townsend has been named executive director for faculty innovation at The Ohio State University, where she is leading efforts to help faculty commercialize their research and shape the university’s innovation programs.
Within the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge's Innovation and Strategic Ventures team, Townsend is developing a faculty fellows program, a broader faculty advisory group, innovation clinics and a lunch and learn series.
"Kristy Townsend’s appointment marks an exciting step forward for our innovation ecosystem," said Sanjay Krishna, senior associate vice president for Innovation and Strategic Ventures. "Expanding opportunities for faculty input and participation will make our programs stronger and more impactful across the university."
Faculty fellows will help develop and carry out office initiatives, while the advisory group, formally named the Faculty Innovation Strategic Advisory Council, will bring perspectives from colleges and research disciplines across the university. Faculty members with significant innovation experience will also participate in programming and share advice with their peers.
“The goal is to make sure we’re hearing faculty voices from across campus and representing different types of innovators and subject areas,” Townsend said.
The innovation clinics and lunch and learn sessions will give faculty members opportunities to ask questions, get advice and connect with resources to advance their technologies.
The expanded programming builds on Townsend’s work as founder and director of RAPTIC, the Research Accelerator to Translate, Innovate and Commercialize. The program supports health and medical researchers through coaching, education and connections to university and regional resources.
“We can take what we’ve learned from RAPTIC and what faculty have told us they need to be successful and apply it more broadly across campus,” she said.
RAPTIC will continue as the office expands its programming. Following a recent pitch competition focused on health and medical innovations, the office is planning a spring competition open to faculty across the university.
Townsend joined Ohio State in 2020 and is a professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery and associate dean for research operations and compliance in the College of Medicine. A translational neuroscientist, she is also co-founder of Neuright Inc., an academic startup developing technology for peripheral neuropathy.
Townsend said supporting commercialization is part of Ohio State’s land-grant mission to translate research into benefits for communities and society.
“The innovation team helps discoveries move beyond the university and become implemented in ways that improve society and human health,” she said.