“Ultimately, the difference between having real-world impact and having a cool thing that sits on a desk is: Can you get it into the hands of the consumer?”
For James Weimer, that question is central to his research and to his role in Vanderbilt’s growing Innovation Ambassadors program, led by the Vanderbilt Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization.
The initiative trains faculty ambassadors across Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help colleagues navigate innovation, intellectual property and ways to move research beyond the lab.
For researchers navigating those processes for the first time, the program is designed to provide them with quick guidance and peer support for all their innovation and entrepreneurship needs.
Weimer, who is an innovation ambassador within the College of Connected Computing and the School of Engineering, focuses his research on artificial intelligence and mobility systems.
Moving discoveries toward real-world impact, he said, “requires going beyond just research in a lab and actually doing tech transfer and innovation.”
New videos featuring Weimer and fellow ambassador Alyssa Wise, Margaret Cowan Chair at Peabody College and the director of LIVE Learning Innovation Incubator, highlight the collaborative culture behind the program and the range of research taking place across Vanderbilt and VUMC.
Wise said she was drawn to Vanderbilt because “people actually work across disciplines.”
At LIVE, researchers combine expertise in computation, pedagogy and learning science to develop educational technology for real-world applications. Wise said the innovation ambassadors help faculty better understand how collaborative research can move beyond the university and into broader use.
“The goal is to make the process more transparent, achievable and easy to get started for faculty who are interested in bringing their innovations to the world,” Wise said.
Weimer sees the ambassador role through the lens of real-world impact. “Every day I have the opportunity to save a life,” he said. “What Vanderbilt offers is the opportunity to take risks.”
He encourages his fellow researchers to engage with CTTC early in the research process to better understand how discoveries may translate beyond the lab.
Since launching in 2022, the Vanderbilt Innovation Ambassadors program has grown into a national model for peer-led innovation support, with universities across the country implementing their own ambassador programs.
The Vanderbilt program is run through the CTTC by Phil Swaney and Carlos Detrés-Román, who work closely with ambassadors across campus to connect faculty with commercialization resources.
Faculty interested in connecting with an ambassador can explore the current cohort of innovation ambassadors, which includes new ambassadors from Cell & Developmental Biology, Radiology, Mechanical Engineering, Radiation Oncology, and Engineering Science and Management.
“Having those conversations early on is something that can really help shape how your research will have impact years down the road,” Weimer said.
About the CTTC
Vanderbilt Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization’s mission is to provide professional commercialization services to the Vanderbilt community, thus optimizing the flow of innovation to the marketplace and generating revenue that supports future research activities, while having a positive impact on society. It is a conduit for the transfer of promising Vanderbilt technologies to industry; it contributes to regional economic development by licensing locally and supporting new venture creation; and it encourages greater collaboration between academia and industry.
