Office of Technology Transfer and Development

The Office of Technology Transfer and Development (OTTAD) plays a key role in the development of cutting-edge research that will benefit national and global public health. It does this by helping to connect external partners to the cadre of world-class researchers, facilities, and knowledge within NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes. OTTAD also assists external partners with navigating the technology development pathway of NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes, from the point of discovery and invention development, to patenting and licensing.

OTTAD’s primary mission focuses on facilitating partnerships between NHLBI’s and OTTAD’s client Institutes intramural laboratories, and external partners in both academia and the private sector. OTTAD also directly promotes NIH’s mission to improve and benefit public health by:

  • negotiating transactional and co-development agreements that facilitate the effective interaction of investigators from NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes, with their counterparts in academia and the private sector;
  • providing guidance to investigators from NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes on all technology transfer matters;
  • reviewing employee invention reports associated with the filing of domestic and foreign patent applications;
  • providing advice, guidance, and assistance on the development and management of intellectual property;
  • proposing and implementing innovative development strategies for technologies from NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes;
  • establishing innovative partnerships with academic and industry partners that advance technologies from NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes;
  • providing training to staff from NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes in matters of technology transfer; and
  • serving as liaison to allied offices, such as the HHS NIH Office of General Counsel.

red blood cells illustrating a gene therapy treatment that restored blood clotting and transformed the disease from severe to mild
Viral Gene Therapy Shows Promise as Treatment for Bleeding Disorder
NHLBI research and tech transfer teams develop therapy for private sector

What We Do

Partnering with NHLBI and OTTAD’s Client Institutes

OTTAD is the primary point of contact for technology development activities for the NHLBI, and six other NIH Institutes: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). A variety of mechanisms exists that allow NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes to collaborate with external partners for research and development purposes.

Licensing Agreements

OTTAD recognizes the importance of converting basic science discoveries into public health benefits, by licensing research discoveries derived from the intramural and extramural laboratories of NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes. If an entity is licensing either an unpatented material or a patented or patent-pending technology for commercial purposes, a Commercial Evaluation License, a Biological Materials License, or an Exclusive/Nonexclusive License is required. OTTAD recommends using OTTAD Technology Search, a live search engine for locating technologies developed in the labs NHLBI and OTTAD’s client Institutes by keyword or taxonomy classification. Please contact our Licensing and Patent Managers with questions about licensing opportunities.

Transactional Agreements

The Transactional Agreements negotiated by OTTAD include Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs) and Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs). CDAs permit the transfer or exchange of proprietary information between parties. MTAs specify the transfer and use of research materials for internal use between parties. OTTAD will advise which agreement to use, depending on the goals of the project.

Collaborative Research Agreements

OTTAD uses three different collaborative research agreements to help industry and academia interact and partner with NIH laboratories and scientists to support technology development activities. These include Research Collaboration Agreements (RCAs), Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), and Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs). OTTAD will advise which agreement to use, depending on the goals of the project. Please contact one of our Technology Development Specialists to answer any questions about Transactional or Collaborative Research Agreements.

Contact Office of Technology Transfer and Development

Postal Mail

Office of Technology Transfer and Development, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
31 Center Drive
Room 4A29, MSC2479
Bethesda, MD 20892-2479
United States

Phone
301-402-5579