Hartford Business Journal

13 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 14, 2022 Call us 800-475-2265 or visit washtrust.com More than commercial banking. CONNECTICUT COMMERCIAL BANKING from a bank that can take your business to the next level. James M. Hagerty Executive Vice President, Chief Lending Officer Julia Anne Slom Senior Vice President, Team Leader, Commercial Real Estate Anthony Botelho Senior Vice President, Team Leader Kevin Hanrahan Vice President, Commercial Real Estate Albert R. Clemente Vice President, Commercial Real Estate Thomas D. Pizzo Vice President and Market Leader, Commercial Banking Edward O. Handy III Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Member FDIC. medicine and other fields, yielding not only potential life- saving drugs but new companies that can grow jobs. One major goal for schools looking to ramp up their research bona fides is to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), which is made up of 66 leading research colleges across the U.S., Van Der Werf said. UConn is not currently an AAU member. Yale is the only Connecticut school in the association. "Institutions that have large research budgets and reputations arguably have a better chance of attracting top professors, those who might enhance the reputation of a university," Van Der Werf said. "The attraction of those top professors might, in turn, attract more donors to support a university." In some ways, UConn is in a prime position to become an East Coast answer to the Silicon Valley-adjacent Stanford University, and to give its in- and out-of-state neighbors — Yale, Harvard and MIT — a run for their money when it comes to earning research funding and midwifing new, innovative companies. But UConn still has a long road to travel. For example, in 2020, Harvard and the University of Washington topped the list of most National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding, raking in $1.7 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively, according to U.S. News & World Report. UConn that year recorded $160.7 million in NIH research funding, ranking 42nd nationally. UConn does rank first among New England public universities in external research funding and has some significant R&D infrastructure, including lab space and equipment, most of it supported by billions of dollars in taxpayer investment over recent decades. There are challenges as well, including a multibillion-dollar unfunded pension liability that makes UConn a more expensive place for entrepreneurs to base their operations compared to other research universities. It can also be expensive to attract and retain top talent, and further taxpayer investment in UConn can become a political hot potato at the state Capitol. Maric said top schools watch closely where grant money is awarded and can be aggressive in trying to poach faculty. That's why she said her No. 1 priority is retaining the school's current roster of staff and researchers. Maric said UConn can't match the salaries of a Harvard, but has other ways to keep talented faculty. "Other than salary, they want new equipment and more space to recruit students," she said. "We can provide that, to some extent." Last year state lawmakers authorized $47 million in bond funding over five years for UConn to hire 10 new innovation faculty. Maric said the school is actively working on details of the plan and expects to submit it to the state legislature by April 1. UConn wants to target researchers in areas such as data science, fintech, clean and renewable energy, genomics and advanced manufacturing — all sectors crucial to Connecticut's economy, she said. Startup efforts As UConn boosts its research efforts, it will likely need to add more research and lab space to accommodate faculty and, hopefully, an increasing number of startups in the school's Technology Incubation Program, Maric said. Some of that work is already underway. Maric noted that additional research space will be available at the new science quad at Storrs, which is expected to open this fall. There are also several renovation projects at various UConn properties that will expand lab space, she said. Over the past 10 years about 50 startups have been birthed at UConn's Technology Incubation Program (TIP), which provides lab space, equipment and advisory services to faculty and others looking to convert research and ideas into actual business ventures. Maric said UConn expects to double the number of startups in the next few years. And there have been success stories. In 2020 TIP startups raised a record $420 million, an amount nearly equal to the funding earned over the previous four years combined. Frequency Therapeutics, which is developing a drug-based therapy to restore hearing loss, raised $230 million that year, while Rallybio — a rare disease drug developer now based in New Haven — raised $167 million. In 2021 TIP startups raised $170 million, the school said, and five new companies launched. In addition, about a year ago UConn launched a new incubator space at its Stamford campus — TIP Digital — that focuses on helping artificial intelligence and machine learning startups grow their business in the state. Thirteen startups have joined that program and about half are already generating revenue, Maric said. The companies, Maric added, have also collectively raised more than $3 million. Another major focus area for Maric is climate change, she said. The university has launched a climate lab with faculty and students who are looking into research and innovation when it comes to addressing the issue. "Climate change is the pressing issue for generations to come, absolutely," she said. Fumiko Hoeft

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