Dr Emily Vereker honoured with Knowledge Transfer Achiever Award

Posted on: 04 May 2018

Dr Emily Vereker, Senior Patents and Licensing Manager and Technology Transfer Case Manager for Life Sciences, Trinity Research & Innovation (TR&I), has been honoured with the prestigious Knowledge Transfer Achiever Award at the annual Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) Impact Awards.

The KTI Impact Awards, which recognise individuals and projects that address societal challenges and create significant economic value in Ireland, were recently presented by Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD. Director of KTI, Dr Alison Campbell O.B.E., was also in attendance.

Dr Vereker was recognised for her outstanding leadership and innovation, and its resulting impact on the success of Trinity’s Technology Transfer operations. This impact has been seen in the development of Trinity’s institutional governance regarding IP policy and commercialisation strategy, and in its effective IP portfolio management, while Dr Vereker’s impact also extends beyond Trinity’s walls – she is known for sharing best-practice knowledge within the wider Technology Transfer community in Ireland.

Dr Vereker said: “I’m delighted to receive this award from KTI. Receiving recognition for the work we do to facilitate knowledge transfer for the research community, is an honour. As knowledge transfer professionals, we strive to hold ourselves to the highest standards, and I’m delighted to collaborate with the knowledge transfer community to do so.”

The other awards up for grabs were the: Collaborative Research Impact Award; Consultancy Impact Award; Knowledge Transfer Initiative Award; Spin-out Company Impact Award; Licence2Market Impact Award.

Associate Professor in Biochemistry at Trinity, Richard Porter, was nominated in the latter category for his success in driving a genetic testing patent licence in collaboration with University College Dublin for equine performance company Plusvital Limited.

TCD’s Technology Transfer Strengthening Initiative (TTSI) consortium partner RCSI won the Spin-Out Company Impact Award with SurgaColl Ltd. SurgaColl delivers novel tissue regeneration products for the surgical treatment of disease of the bone, cartilage and other human tissue and was founded by Prof Fergal O’Brien of RCSI. Prof O’Brien is also Deputy Director of TCD’s AMBER centre.

Since the inception of the KTI Impact Awards, Trinity has scooped seven of the 26 awards available. Dr Vereker’s success this year in the Knowledge Transfer Achiever category follows that of her fellow Technology Transfer Case Manager at Trinity, Dr Graham McMullin, who won the same award in 2015.

Knowledge Transfer Ireland was established in 2013 as a partnership between Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Universities’ Association. It helps enterprises access publically funded research.