By Yuval Cohen
Jennifer Pagán had a vision – make clean, safe drinking water accessible to communities around the world. That vision became reality when the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where Pagán was completing her doctorate, licensed a patent to her invention to a local company.
Soon, her invention – a compact, energy-efficient water disinfection device that uses ultraviolet light to purify drinking water – was being used in areas facing water contamination and scarcity. Today, it is safeguarding health in places such as the Arctic, the Amazon, and even outer space.
But none of this would have been possible if Pagán hadn’t received support from the federal government to pursue her research, and if there weren’t laws in place that protect intellectual property rights and allow universities to license patents to businesses.
Pagán is one of five recipients recognized in this year’s Bayh-Dole Coalition’s newly released 2025 Faces of American Innovation report, which highlights researchers whose federally funded inventions have made a global impact. Their stories underscore the critical role that university research plays in driving progress – and the importance of strong policies that support that work.
Before the Bayh-Dole Act was enacted in 1980, patents resulting from federally funded research remained in the hands of the federal government, with most never making it out of the lab.
The Bayh-Dole Act changed that by allowing universities, nonprofit research institutions, and small businesses to retain ownership of inventions developed using federal funds, opening the door to partnerships with the private sector. It is because of the Bayh-Dole Act that UNC Charlotte was able to license Pagán’s patent to a private company.
Now celebrating its 45th anniversary, the Bayh-Dole Act remains a cornerstone of America’s innovation ecosystem.
Each recipient of the Faces of American Innovation Award played a key role in translating university-based research into powerful inventions that benefit all of us. This year’s awardees include:
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Emeritus Professor Jim Dahlberg, who discovered an enzyme that detects genetic variations,
- Former head of Boston University’s Office of Technology Development Vinit Nijhawan, who has devoted his career to transforming academic research into thriving startups,
- Aquisense Founder and CTO Jennifer Pagán, who invented a “non-toxic, energy-efficient disinfection device using UV light to make water safe to drink,”
- Former director of the NIH Office of Technology Transfer, Penn State University PhD and University of Minnesota Postdoc Mark Rohrbaugh, who protected the Bayh-Dole Act during times of significant political challenge and helped guarantee that patients keep benefiting from breakthroughs funded by federal research,
- and researcher at the National Energy Technology Laboratory Christina Wildfire, who created a microwave-based recycling device.
Despite the tremendous success of the Bayh-Dole Act in bringing innovations fueled by university research to the American people, the legislation continues to come under pressure. The Bayh-Dole Coalition recently sent a letter to President Trump calling attention to various federal agency actions that violate the Bayh-Dole Act and threaten the nation’s innovation ecosystem.
As the coalition noted, instead of complying with the law, several federal agencies have put into place measures that conflict with the principles of Bayh-Dole and risk discouraging private sector partnerships critical to commercializing federally funded research.
Strong intellectual property protections remain essential; AAU will continue to support policies that make it easier to bring university research to the market and to benefit the American people.
Yuval Cohen is government relations and public policy assistant at AAU.