Dr. Mark Rohrbaugh, former director of the NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), has been chosen by the Bayh-Dole Coalition as one of their “Faces of American Innovation”. Mark worked at the NIH for over three decades, moving from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he started his career in tech transfer after initially working as a grant review administrator, to OTT where he went on to become Director, to then eventually serving as the Senior Advisor for Technology Transfer and Innovation within the Office of Science Policy. In this position he served as the NIH’s lead policy expert on the Bayh-Dole Act and supported the successful technology transfer efforts of NIH grantees and contractors as originally envisioned by the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980.

Mark has been recognized for his actions to safeguard the Bayh-Dole Act through periods of intense political pressure and helped ensure that patients continue to benefit from federally funded research breakthroughs. This report credits Mark with the success of the licensing and collaboration efforts by NIH grantees and contractors, stating that “none of those life-changing drugs would exist if civil servants like Rohrbaugh didn’t uphold their values, the law, and the missions of their agencies.” You can read the full article from the Bayh-Dole Coalition in their Faces of Innovation Report. If you are interested in learning more about Mark’s contributions, you can also read our interview with him upon his retirement in the Q1 2024 edition of the NIH Technology Transfer Community Newsletter.