Ariel D. Stern & Philipp C. Stoffers
The “Technology Transfer Orchestra” – Supporting a Need-Driven Healthcare Innovation Ecosystem
Universities generate discovery—but too often, breakthroughs stall between lab and bedside. In healthcare, that “Valley of Death” is deep: incentives clash, user needs go unmapped, and mid-stage financing falls short. Moving beyond linear handoffs, technology transfer must become orchestration—aligning desirability, feasibility, and viability so innovations serve patients, clinicians, payers, and markets alike
Innovation can only arise at the intersection of desirability, feasibility, and viability.
Healthcare innovation fails most often in the space between research and clinical adoption—where publication priorities, regulatory friction, skill gaps, and missing capital derail progress. Needs are multi-stakeholder: patients want outcomes; clinicians need workflow-fit and evidence; hospitals and insurers require ROI; companies must prove scalable business models. A modern TTO can meet this complexity not as a paperwork office but as a conductor—reducing information asymmetries, matching founders, arranging gap financing, building industry links, and enforcing best-practice roadmaps—so promising ideas are validated early for user desirability and economic viability, then guided all the way to real-world use.
When Transfer Becomes Orchestration:
From Linear Handoffs to a Working Symphony
What you’ll learn
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Why linear, paper-driven transfer models underperform in life sciences—and where most projects fail in the “Valley of Death”
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How a TTO can act as an orchestrator—engaging stakeholders early and tailoring support to project needs
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Which gaps derail translation—user insight, market viability, and mid-stage financing—and how to close them
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How needs-based methods align desirability, feasibility, and viability to validate real demand before scale
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What core competencies enable a “technology transfer orchestra”—information symmetry, founder matching, gap financing, industry networks, and clear standards
Ariel Dora Stern is the Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Digital Health, Economics, and Policy at the Hasso-Plattner-Institute and a Full Professor at the University of Potsdam. Previously she spent ten years on the faculty of Harvard Business School. Her research focuses on technology management and innova- tion in health care, using methods from econometrics and data science to curate and analyze novel datasets. Formerly, she served as the Director for International Health Care Economics at the Health Innovation Hub, an independent think tank of the German Ministry of Health.
About the Author
Prof. Ariel Dora Stern
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Philipp Stoffers is a postdoctoral researcher and strategic program manager for digital health entrepreneurship at the Hasso-Plattner-Institute (HPI). His work includes research on digital therapeutics for liver disease/metabolic syndrome and building the HealthTech ecosystem for successful technology transfer at HPI. Prior to joining HPI, he worked as a physician in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University Hospital of Frankfurt am Main. He holds a doctorate in human medicine, was a visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School, and is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
About the Author
Dr. Philipp C. Stoffers
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