As Assistant Vice Chancellor and Managing Director for the Office of Technology Management at NAI Member Institution Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Nichole Mercier, HonNAI is driving innovation forward — shaping the strategy for technology transfer, protecting discoveries, and helping launch the next generation of WashU startups. A leader in fostering innovation, Dr. Mercier established one of the earliest university programs to engage women researchers in tech transfer, Women in Innovation & Technology (WIT), and co-founded Equalize Inc., a nonprofit empowering academic women to transform their discoveries into successful startup companies. Read below as Dr. Mercier shares her insights on how institutions can fuel the future of research commercialization, advice to innovators ready to bring their ideas from bench to market, and more!
Q: What words would you use to describe yourself?
A: I am a doer and community builder in the innovation & entrepreneurship space. I have strong dedication to helping others surmount barriers in these areas to bring forth more inventions, patents and startups from academic research.
Q: In your spare time, in addition to working in your field, what do you love to do?
A: My family is my world. We love to travel and explore new cities and places. We especially love Cape Cod’s beaches as our annual respite.
Q: What advice do you have for innovators looking to take their innovations from bench to market?
A: I often tell researchers I work with to expand their networks, be open to feedback and really consider how that could shape an innovation for more impact, and use the resources available to you (tech transfer and entrepreneurship centers can facilitate a lot of these connections). Take the feedback to strategically outline a plan for creating value in the innovation that aligns with partner (industry, investor, etc.) expectations and use your resources to bring that plan to fruition. Along the way, be flexible and open to additional feedback and/or opportunities.
Q: What was your journey into the innovation ecosystem?
A: I started my PhD without knowing really what true research entailed. Through dedication I finished my PhD, but realized my talents were better used serving the research community. I found tech transfer, starting my career in the Boston area where I grew up. I saw and experienced the robust ecosystem that was developing, but didn’t fully appreciate it until I moved to St. Louis where I joined the tech transfer office when the St. Louis innovation ecosystem was very young. It’s been a gift to bring my tech transfer and academic startup perspective in partnership with many others to help grow the St. Louis ecosystem to better our region.
Q: What advice would you give to institutions looking to bolster their innovation and entrepreneurship programs for the next generation of innovators?
A: We approach the next generation with a “pay-it-forward ideal”. We try to reach all levels of researchers from undergrads to entering PhD student to underserved post-doc groups to women faculty (for examples) so that these next generation researchers understand the language relating to innovation and entrepreneurship and how to engage in the process. We know that by providing students and post-docs and young faculty, most of whom will leave WashU to develop their career at other research entities, with this information that they will enter their next research position knowing how to find their tech transfer or IP office and feeling more confident to engage that office with new innovations coming from their research. The training and education we provide may not directly impact WashU today or ever, but our efforts will bring more individuals into the innovation realm with greater potential to benefit society through their research.
Dr. Mercier was named an NAI Honorary Member in 2024. To read more about Dr. Mercier and her work, visit: https://otm.wustl.edu/items/nichole-mercier-phd/