Students say research policy too commercial

A group of students is petitioning the university to change a research policy they say conflicts with the school’s public service vision.

The newly-formed Universities Allied for Essential Medicines student group has collected more than 400 signatures in favor of amending the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs technology transfer policy.

Their issue is with the loss of control over the intellectual property rights. The group believe that publicly funded research – particularly medical – is not currently being used to benefit the public, but rather mostly at the whim of commercial use decisions.

In the research world, technology transfer is when a technology developed for one organization or environment is moved to another.

“This policy hasn’t been updated since 1996 and is outdated,” said Steven Witte, a Mount Pleasant junior and UAEM chapter president.

The group passed around a petition last week at the Charles V. Park Library. They plan to give this petition to the ORSP in hopes of getting the policy changed.

Witte said that by amending the policy, the school can exert more licensing leverage over the way CMU-developed health care and medicines are distributed in developing countries.

He said that with some changes, the school could mandate their intellectual property is used in a public service manner, such as making medicine more widely available in Africa.

“We need to adopt a statement that focuses more on the countries outside the U.S. rather than just to our country,” said Katie Colaccino, a Novi senior and public relations chairwoman for UAEM. “People need to understand not everywhere is like the U.S. and other countries don’t have the same benefits as we do.”

The UAEM is planning on having a meeting in the near future with administrators and the Student Government Association.

“We should look beyond our country and help others in need,” Colaccino said.

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