ChinaTalk How to Solve America's R&D Bottlenecks
May 29, 2021
Ilan Gur, CEO of Activate.org, aims to revolutionize America's R&D landscape by funding startups. He discusses the essential role of organizations like Moderna in applying basic research for real-world benefits. The conversation touches on the shift of research funding from corporations to universities, issues with the Endless Frontier Act, and the misconception that patents truly measure innovation. Gur emphasizes the need for strategic investments to solve R&D bottlenecks and spark societal progress.
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Effective R&D Spending
- Ilan Gur emphasizes the importance of how research and development (R&D) funding is spent, not just the amount.
- He suggests focusing on identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the R&D process through experimentation.
Universities as Research Hubs
- Universities have become central to basic research, growing significantly after World War II.
- This shift creates tension between education and research funding within academia.
mRNA Vaccine Development
- The mRNA vaccine development highlights challenges in translating academic research into practical applications.
- Moderna and BioNTech's founders left academia to pursue applied research in startups.