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As rapid advances in technology, emerging planetary health concerns, and shifting economic needs reshape Maine, New England, and the world, the �ᰮ�Թ� is responding to these challenges by unifying its research and innovation enterprises —connecting faculty research, student scholarship, and entrepreneurial initiatives — to foster practical, forward-looking solutions to global challenges through strategic collaboration.

The University’s Office of Research and Scholarship has been renamed the Office of Research and Innovation. Under the continued direction of Vice President for Research and Senior Associate Provost Karen Houseknecht, Ph.D., this change reflects UNE’s strategic priority to integrate innovation into all facets of its research operations.

The office will house UNE’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, formerly the Office of Innovation, and support discovery, collaboration, and external partnerships across disciplines. Lisa Herschbach, Ph.D., will continue to lead the center and assume the new role of assistant dean for innovation and entrepreneurship in UNE’s growing College of Business. 

Gwendolyn Mahon, UNE provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, said this strategic realignment will streamline access to UNE’s innovation ecosystem for students, faculty, and external partners, advancing the University’s mission to improve the health of people, communities, and the natural world.

“By bringing our research and innovation efforts under one umbrella, UNE is strengthening a full continuum of creative work, from discovery to application to commercialization,” Mahon said. “This structure will allow us to better support faculty and students, expand our engagement with industry, and foster the kind of interdisciplinary problem-solving that benefits both Maine and the world beyond.”

UNE’s research and innovation enterprise is already supported by a robust foundation, including two National Institutes of Health-funded Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), membership in the workforce-focused Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Maine INBRE), which aims to build research capacity in historically underserved states, and partnerships with the MaineHealth Institute for Research.

The Portland Laboratory for Biotechnology and Health Sciences, inaugurated in 2023, additionally advances collaborative, interdisciplinary research in biomedical and biotechnological sciences, facilitating opportunities for strategic industry partnerships and intellectual property licensing for research faculty. 

Across these endeavors, UNE faculty are discovering new ways to address unmet medical and societal needs, patenting their discoveries, and launching companies to commercialize their work. Students participate in this enterprise at every stage, with undergraduates conducting research at more than twice the national average and engaging in opportunities for applied learning, such as UNE’s P.D. Merrill Makerspace, Sustainable Innovation Center, student innovation showcases, and industry research projects.

UNE’s commitment to fostering research innovation is further reflected in its collaborative initiatives to secure competitive federal grants and provide resources for biomedical research and workforce training. In 2024 alone, UNE secured $18.6 million in extramural funding across 35 research projects, and the University continues to receive more funding from the National Institutes of Health than any other college or university in Maine. 

Additionally, UNE’s College of Business was recently accepted into the Babson Collaborative for Entrepreneurship Education — a global network for the advancement of entrepreneurship teaching and practice — underscoring UNE’s role in leveraging innovation as a tool for economic development, workforce growth, and student success. 

“Our initiative to bridge research activity with entrepreneurship, business development, and early-stage innovation reinforces our commitment to best preparing students and researchers to contribute to a rapidly evolving economic and professional landscape,” said Norm O’Reilly, Ph.D., dean of the UNE College of Business. “We look forward to building on UNE’s momentum as we strengthen the connection between research, teaching, and entrepreneurship and create new pathways for our community to turn knowledge into meaningful progress.”