Bench to beside: Motivation for university industry partnership

This paper discusses the motivation for entrepreneurship in academia and for forging a relationship between an academic laboratory and a startup. University based personnel, faculty and students, priorities basic bench research. On the other side, industry, particularly startups, prioritize technology development for clinical and commercial translation. The paper presents personal experience as a case study. University based researchers, faculty and students, might participate in and benefit from such an entrepreneurial activity. A University spin off would facilitate translational of bench research ideas and results to technologies for bedside use. Attention to issues such as conflict of interest and concern and ethics of working with human subjects need to be managed by the investigators and the institution. While entrepreneurial activity is not for everyone, it does provide the benefit and satisfaction to see research reach practice.