‘Amazing' Technology Transfer Offices Hailed During House Chamber Session
March 11, 2026
The game-changing innovation and entrepreneurship that has been taking place at universities throughout the state of Virginia over the last several decades hasn’t gone unnoticed.
During regular session of the Virginia House Chamber in Richmond on Wednesday, Del. Lindsey Dougherty of the 75th District gave special floor recognition to technology transfer office representatives from the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, George Mason University, Old Dominion University and the College of William & Mary.
“These university workers are engines of innovation,” Dougherty said. “The men and women who staff our technology transfer offices serve as the vital bridge between the laboratory and the marketplace, protecting discoveries, forging partnerships with industry and ensuring that the public investments made in research yield lasting public benefit.”
UVA Licensing & Ventures Group Executive Director Richard W. Chylla said it was gratifying to be recognized for the work that his office has done in the past and continues doing today.
“It’s a total team effort,” Chylla said. “It’s a recognition of everyone here at LVG, and the work that we do to create impact from UVA research.”
Dougherty highlighted ziftomenib, a cancer drug that got its start at UVA and recently received FDA approval, as well as a control technology for insulin pumps worn by patients who suffer from Type I diabetes. This algorithm, pioneered by previous UVA Innovators of the Year Boris Kovatchev and Marc Breton, is based on a neural network and is the first machine learning-enabled technology licensed by UVA LVG.
Dougherty also touted a Lyme disease vaccine that was created at VCU and a non-thermal technique for treating cancer tumors invented at Virginia Tech.
With the recent implementation of the Lab-to-Launch initiative, which aims to double the number of startup companies that spin out annually from Virginia’s research universities, innovation won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
Dougherty said the vital role that universities play can’t be overstated.
“The general assembly supports these amazing technology transfer offices … this means that more companies are formed, more jobs are created, more patents are created and more lives are improved,” she said. “They are making Virginia more competitive, prosperous and resilient.”
Video from the session is below.
