LEADERSHIP

Barry Myers, MD, PhD, MBA - Duke University

Senior Associate Dean and Anderson-Rupp Professor for Industrial Partnerships and Research Commercialization
Pratt School of Engineering
Director Duke Center of Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization
Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy

Dr. Barry Myers is one of three Associate Directors of the Southern Consortium for Injury Biomechanics; he is also conducting research in two of the SCIB domain areas. His research examines the biomechanics of head impact neck injury, with the goal of injury prevention. He is considered by many as the preeminent researcher in this field worldwide, with more than 100 manuscripts and publications in the area. Dr. Myers, a native of Canada, holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Toronto; he received both an MD and PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University in 1991.

Dr. Myers has worked with all major organizations concerned with safety in the United States including the Centers for Disease Control, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, and was recently elected a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is a Senior Scientific Advisor to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. His many honors include the Stapp Award of Recognition and the Isbrandt Award for automotive safety from the Society of Automotive Engineers. He is a six-time winner of the Stapp Award for research in impact biomechanics, more than any other researcher, and also the Bertil Aldman award for impact biomechanics research. He consults with major automotive manufacturers and automotive racing organizations worldwide.

In 2003, Dr. Myers was elected to the Bass Society of Fellows and was named the Anderson-Rupp Professor of Biomedical Engineering for the period of July 2003 through July 2008.

New Engineering School Senior Associate Dean Named
Barry Myers will lead the school's efforts to increase industry involvement in engineering education

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Durham, N.C. -- Professor Barry Myers has been appointed senior associate dean for industrial partnerships and research commercialization at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. Myers will lead the school’s efforts to increase industry involvement in engineering education, research, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship.

A member of the Duke faculty since 1991, Myers earned an M.D.-Ph.D. from Duke in 1991 and an M.B.A. from Duke in 2005. He is the Anderson-Rupp Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and he holds joint appointments in surgery, biological anthropology and anatomy, and business administration.

Myers also is director of the Duke Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization (CERC). CERC is a collaborative effort to develop a network of expertise across Duke and the Research Triangle Park community to support commercialization of faculty research and to create applied interdisciplinary experiences for Duke students interested in entrepreneurship and socially minded enterprises. CERC includes representatives from Duke’s Office of Licensing and Ventures, the Fuqua School of Business, the School of Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

“Professor Myers has a natural inclination to think of research in terms of commercial applications, and that makes him ideal for this position,” said Pratt School Dean Kristina M. Johnson. “He will assist our faculty in translating technology to industry through licensing and spin-offs, and he will help in linking industry to our strategic research initiatives in bioengineering, photonics, biologically inspired materials and environmental engineering.”

Myers will serve as Pratt’s liaison to Duke’s Office of Licensing and Ventures, complementing efforts to increase the number and quality of intellectual property applications. He also will assist faculty in preparing the industrial outreach and relationship management programs now required for many large federally funded research center proposals.

Myers and George Truskey, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, led Duke’s proposal development for the prestigious five-year Coulter Foundation Translational Research Partnership Award in 2005. The foundation fosters collaborations among biomedical engineers and clinical medical researchers that have a high probability of moving biomedical ideas into clinical practice. The Department of Biomedical Engineering is one of only nine departments selected nationally to receive an award. Myers now serves as project director for the Duke-Coulter program.

Myers said he is particularly interested in drawing industry into engineering design courses. “I want our design classes to focus on engineering and business innovation,” he said. “By thinking in both dimensions, Pratt students will learn to scale up their ideas to have greater impact and to better serve our mission of bringing innovation to the service of society.”

Myers serves as a faculty adviser to the Duke Start-Up Challenge, and to the recently formed undergraduate student group called Duke Entrepreneur.