Deborah Keller will be chairing the university’s patent and licensing arm at Wisconsin-Madison.
“We are honoured to have Deborah lead our WARF Board of Trustees,” says Erik Iverson, WARF Chief Executive Officer. “Her leadership is evident in all her contributions to WARF and UW and her expertise in drug development is an important complement to WARF and UW-Madison’s portfolio of work in this area.”
“Serving our great public University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of our state’s greatest assets, through WARF is a true honour,” says Keller. “UW’s research community is one of the finest engines of innovation in the world, meeting the complex challenges of today and the future. WARF is a storied organisation with a mission to support research and innovation and helping the citizens of Wisconsin and others around the world, ranging from developing life-saving medicines such as warfarin to funding environmental monitoring stations, part of the “Wisconet,” which aid agriculture and other industry in Wisconsin. The scope of technology and innovation advancements by WARF on behalf of the UW is vast and growing, allowing WARF’s 21st century contribution to the Wisconsin Idea.”
About WARF
Founded in 1925, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is responsible for managing an investment portfolio created by the proceeds of patents and licences obtained from research discoveries at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Additionally, the foundation awards yearly grants to the Morgridge Institute for Research and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to support their continued scientific research and investigation. Through a number of programs, WARF commercialises inventions from campus by fostering relationships between researchers, investors, industry, and entrepreneurs. The WARF Accelerator increases the likelihood that academic intellectual property will be commercialised by partnering with businesses and funding proof-of-concept milestones that verify market viability, show economic value, and reduce technological risk. WARF Therapeutics collaborates with researchers from the Morgridge Institute and UW-Madison, using an industry-focused methodology to enhance the value propositions of potential treatments.