UCSF is a big place with many research faculty, top clinicians, innovative start-ups, and novel programmatic initiatives. Our industry/investor partners typically look for experts at UCSF to serve as consultants or to collaborate on a research project or clinical trial.
See below for additional information on consulting agreements, and refer to the Establishing Research Collaborations page for more on that process. All of the opportunities at UCSF can be difficult to navigate, but there resources to help find what you're looking for.
UCSF Profiles
First, try searching our UCSF Profiles database. You will be able to do keyword searches for research topics or search by department, name, and more. Begin your search activities here, discover who at UCSF might be of interest, and feel free to reach out to them directly.
UCSF Office of Strategic Alliances
For a more exhaustive sourcing of experts at UCSF for the purpose of collaboration, consider working with the Office of Strategic Alliances. Our office works to connect UCSF faculty to industry and vice versa, and we work with many industry partners to scout the campus for research that may be of interest. We also work directly with faculty to find industry partners suitable for collaboration on their innovative ideas. After a collaboration of interest is identified, we may also provide help in setting up the research collaboration agreement or will direct you to someone within UCSF who will do so, and the resources we commit to supporting your scouting activities at UCSF will scale with size and value of the collaborations you seek. Contact us for additional information.
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Consulting Agreements
UCSF scientists possess a wealth and breadth of knowledge and expertise in areas that companies would love to access for their own research projects or clinical protocols. Consulting agreements are private agreements between individual UCSF researchers and a company. For any UCSF employee acting as a consultant, they are functioning as a contract employee of the given company, therefore UCSF scientists enter into consulting agreements in their own individual capacity and not on behalf of the University. As such these agreements do not require the signature of an authorized UCSF representative. However, these agreements must not conflict with the scientist’s commitments to UCSF as his or her employer. Faculty, post-doctoral associates, students, staff, etc. may all serve as consultants.
Consulting agreements may also create a conflict of interest and prevent a researcher from participating in certain clinical research activities. The UCSF School of Medicine and the UC Office of the President provide guidelines for consulting to help both the company and faculty member understand the implications of a consulting agreement. Additionally, some UCSF departments also have their own specific requirements regarding consulting agreements thus departmental review is necessary.
We are happy to help you understand what obligations and conflicts you may have under specific consulting arrangements. Contact us if you have any questions or need help. For more information regarding faculty and consulting aggreements see the Academic Affairs website.