A new, five-year agreement between Indiana University and Cook Medical will address real-world problems to propel innovation, bolster Indiana's economy and grow the state's workforce.
IU's first Master Collaboration Agreement, which includes all services and campuses, brings together research expertise from IU's nine campuses and one of the state's largest employers. The streamlined all-services model is a dynamic partnership where ideas flow both ways between IU and Cook Medical, removing administrative barriers for researchers and schools to collaborate directly with Cook.
The agreement covers a full range of projects and services, including research and development, research services, technical certifications, credentialing, workforce training and development, and technical consulting. Working together, IU and Cook will discover innovations that can be utilized from the classroom and lab to the workplace, addressing challenges for both partners.
"This collaboration will enable IU's talented faculty to develop and translate cutting edge research and workforce training into real-world solutions," IU President Pamela Whitten said. "Partnerships like this are crucial to ensure that as Indiana's flagship university, IU serves our state's needs, from meeting workforce demands to driving research and development projects that will propel our society and economy forward."
This agreement builds on IU's commitment to streamlining academic-industry collaborations that transform the state. It will ensure widespread coordination across multiple IU schools and disciplines, and the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences - known as IU LAB - will serve as a single point of contact for executing projects through this partnership. IU LAB, where academia meets industry to drive innovation for human health, establishes collaborations between IU faculty and major industry partners like Cook Medical.
"The agreement between IU and Cook, with IU LAB serving as the front door to all of IU, unlocks the ability to work across schools and areas of expertise to tackle complex issues," said Pete Yonkman, president of Cook Medical and Cook Group.
IU LAB, the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, the Kelley School of Business and the IU School of Medicine will engage with Cook on several initial projects.
