Stony Brook University selects Kinch as inaugural CIO

^{Photo by Joe Angeles/Washington University in St Louis}

Stony Brook University, a public research university based in Long Island, US, has named Michael Kinch as its inaugural chief innovation officer. He will lead the Office of Economic Development and campus-wide initiatives to accelerate innovation, including technology transfer.

Kinch will report to the incoming vice-president for research, Kevin Gardner, who will join the institution on August 1. Kinch will be a member of the president’s university council.

Kinch will also hold a faculty position in the Department of Pharmacology. His previous academic appointments included associate vice-chancellor of Washington University in St Louis from 2014 to 2022, and he was a professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics for much of the same period. He was managing director of Yale University’s Center for Molecular Discovery from 2010 to 2014.

He has also worked in the private sector, most recently as acting chief executive of Resonance Pharmaceuticals, which is working on technology to diagnose sepsis and organ failure, from January 2023 to January 2024. He was an adviser to VC firm Lewis & Clark Ventures from 2015 to 2022 and has published six books on topics like the history of vaccines and immuno-oncology.

Kinch said: “I am excited by the incredible potential for innovative commercial development on Long Island in general and Stony Brook University in particular. The university has incredible expertise in key aspects of science and technology that are needed to address looming challenges, including but not limited to affordable and sustainable energy to biomedical applications.”