ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

MINUTES OF SENATE COUNCIL MEETING

June 19, 2019

FINAL

PRESENT: Drs. Gordon Tomaselli, Jeffrey Segall, Myles Akabas, Jonathan Alpert, Julia Arnsten, John Blanchard, Robbie Burk, Anne Bresnick, Kelvin Davies, Matthew Gamble, Regina Hanstein, Nadine Katz, Victor Schuster, Pamela Stanley, Courtney Niland, Ed Burns,

EXCUSED: Drs. Elyse Sussman, Allison Ludwig, Mr. Freddy Tadros, Gilbert Salloum

ABSENT:

GUEST: Ms Shelly Motzkin

Office of Biotechnology and Business Development presentation

Janis Paradiso, Director of the Office of Biotechnology and Business Development, provided an overview of the office. It’s duties include tech transfer items such as MTAs and sponsored research licensing, ideally spotting new opportunities as well as responding to faculty proposals. At Einstein, the process is still more in the format of a single case officer covering a particular transfer from start to finish but the goal is to get more specialized officers. There are 800-900 research related agreements a year. Income is roughly 4.5 million for licensing and 2.9 million for sponsored research per year, which is comparable to most institutions our size. However, the hope is that this can be increased. There was a drop in the number of patents last year but hopefully that will be restored to previous levels.

It was recommended that this presentation be made to the Senate as a way of publicizing the office.

Freezer Safety and Procedures

A walkin freezer room in Ullmann had reached 86 degrees. A number of different freezer rooms have broken down. Neil Kaplan explored the issues. Engineering is understaffed and the alarms eventually turn off and thus can be missed. There used to be rounds to check the cold rooms and freezers.

It was resolved that Robbie Burk head a committee to survey freezer rooms and work with Gregg Traquinio to come up with suggestions. Members should represent Forchheimer, Chanin, and Ullman. The committee can check with Jack Zenchek on getting alert systems.

There was a brief discussion of the proposed Guiding Principles for Faculty Searches. There were concerns raised regarding some of the items and Council members should send comments to Vic.

The meeting adjourned at 4 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Jeffrey E. Segall, Ph.D. Speaker, Einstein Senate