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One month ago, the University created a new position to handle Pitt’s capacity to license… One month ago, the University created a new position to handle Pitt’s capacity to license products developed through its extensive research programs.

Marc Malandro became Pitt’s first associate vice chancellor for technology management and commercialization on Oct. 9, when Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor James V. Maher and Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine Arthur S. Levine named the new position.

“I’m very happy and honored to try to get Pitt’s technology out there to help people,” Malandro said of his new position.

Malandro accepts the position on top of his current roles as director of the Office of Technology Management and of the Office of Enterprise Development. With his added job as associate vice chancellor, he will have the opportunity to tend to the needs of the technology offices at Pitt.

“The whole goal of putting offices together is how to think strategically in getting more products developed from research,” he said.

While Pitt conducts research in the biomedical, health and physical sciences and engineering fields, the OTM and OED work together to license those developments to local and national companies. Their work eventually results in the distribution of the licensed products, according to Malandro.

Recently, OTM and OED developments have included a new way to diagnose Alzheimer ‘s disease, researched by the Departments of Radiology and Psychiatry, and the Pittsburgh-based start-up company Coltera Medical, specializing in surgical adhesives based upon findings from the Department of Chemical Engineering.

With Malandro’s new title, he will hold a greater position in orchestrating the business and legal steps taken in transforming research into health care.

“This new title better reflects Dr. Malandro’s responsibilities regarding the University’s technology management and transfer efforts,” Maher said in a University press release. “It also indicates the deep appreciation that the University, in general, and Dr. Levine and I, in particular, hold for his dedication and professionalism.”