Faculty and Research

Abstract: This paper investigates the trade-offs that firms face in the location of research and development activity (R&D). On the one hand, corporate R&D may benefit from geographic proximity to universities and firms in similar fields. On the other hand, there may also be incentives to locate R&D and the firm's own production activity together. Taking these external and internal co-location economies into account, I assess the extent to which the latter shapes the distribution of R&D across metropolitan areas (MSAs) in the U.S. At the MSA level, data on corporate R&D activity is primarily available in the form of patent counts. The model developed in this paper therefore predicts the number of patents at the firm-MSA level, and is estimated on a sample of mature R&D performing firms, using linked patent and Census micro data.

Abstract: When I arrived at Biogen Idec in July of 2010, it was a good company with a rich heritage of innovation and three blockbuster drugs on the market that truly make a difference in the lives of patients with multiple sclerosis and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In an industry where failure is more common than success, few companies can claim that level of achievement. Revenues and earnings were increasing year over year, and the company was spinning off significant free cash. However, activist shareholders believed that the company had not maximized its potential and had gained three board seats after proxy contests. The company was facing increasing competition from new drugs to treat MS, and one of its key products was subject to serious safety concerns. The company was trying to compete in five therapeutic areas and was spread too thin. The company culture was risk-averse and bureaucratic and not set up to compete effectively in an increasingly challenging marketplace. Revitalizing the company is a work in progress and involved focus, delayering, eliminating duplicative efforts, establishing better business processes, bringing in new management, eliminating research projects and areas, and consolidating sites. Importantly, the culture of the company is changing. We have put patients first and have established a set of core behaviors that we expect from all employees. We have emphasized not only what we expect people to do (goals), but how they do it. We are now driven by the desire, and responsibility, to use our resources thoughtfully in all aspects of our business to maximize the amazing potential that we have to further improve the lives of patients around the world. In this talk, I will discuss what we have done, what we have ahead of us, and how we are doing at reshaping and revitalizing the company.

Abstract: Comparative effectiveness research was the subject of controversial provisions in both the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Its proponents have long argued that its application could limit health expenditure growth, while opponents have claimed that it might be used to limit access to effective care. Pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers have expressed qualified support for the approach, with deep concerns about its impact on innovation. The controversy has been informed by little information about the likely consequences of expanded comparative effectiveness research activities. In particular, there have been few quantitative estimates of the likely impact of the adoption of comparative effectiveness research on health expenditures. I will discuss what comparative effectiveness research is, how it might be used, and the results of analyses of the potential savings from adoption of comparative-effectiveness research results for the treatment of localized prostate cancer.

Abstract: Do interest groups influence allocations of federal funds when nonelected bureaucrats have their own allocation procedures and elected representatives have limited oversight of the bureaucrats? This question is pervasive in American science policy where agency bureaucrats, typically scientists, use the peer review process to allocate public funds for research projects. We address the question by analyzing data on the lobbying expenditures of disease advocates, Congressional "soft" earmarks for diseases, and funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the diseases between 1998 and 2008. We find that the lobbying expenditures of disease advocates significantly predict Congressional earmarks for the diseases. NIH funding, through its peer review process, does not respond to earmarks overall, but responds to those earmarks associated with the lobbying expenditures of disease advocates. Interest groups thus obtain their desired allocations by lobbying Congressmen to exercise their oversight of agency bureaucrats during the annual appropriations process. We also provide evidence suggesting that lobbying by interest groups has an informational role, helping focus Congressional and agency attention on diseases associated with higher public burden and scientific opportunity.

Bio: Appointed by Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates, and announced by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Zachary Lemnios, Dr. Regina E. Dugan was sworn in as the 19th director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on July 20, 2009. Founded in 1958 as a response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, DARPA's mission is to prevent and create strategic surprise. From its founding more than 50 years ago to current day, this mission implies one imperative for the Agency: radical innovation for national security. Today, DARPA is the principal agency within the Department of Defense for research, development, and demonstration of high-risk, high-payoff projects for the current and future combat force. Experienced in counterterrorism and defense against explosive threats, Dr. Dugan first served the Nation as a DARPA program manager from 1996 to 2000. She directed a diverse $100 million portfolio of programs including the Dog's Nose program, which focused on the development of an advanced, field-portable system for detecting the explosive content of land mines. In 1999, Dr. Dugan was named DARPA Program Manager of the Year, and, in 2000, she was awarded the prestigious Bronze deFleury medal by the Army Engineer Regiment. Other recognition includes the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Exceptional Service and the Award for Outstanding Achievement. Dr. Dugan's contributions to the United States military are numerous. She led a counterterrorism task force for the Deputy Secretary of Defense in 1999 and, from 2001 to 2003, she served as a special advisor to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, completing a Quick Reaction Study on Countermine for Enduring Freedom. The results of this study were subsequently briefed to joint senior military leadership and implemented in the field. Prior to her appointment as Director of DARPA, Dr. Dugan co-founded Dugan Ventures, a niche investment firm, where she served as President and CEO. In 2005, Dugan Ventures founded RedXDefense, LLC, a privately held company devoted to innovative solutions for combating explosive threats, where she also served as President and CEO. Widely recognized for her leadership in technology development, Dr. Dugan has appeared on CNN, the Discovery Channel, National Public Radio, and The AAAS Science Report; has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Prism, Forbes and Science News, among others; and has delivered keynote remarks at events as diverse as All Things Digital (D9), FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit, e.g., AIA Board of Governor's meeting, Defense Manufacturing Conference, and SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing. In 2011, she was named a Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine. Dr. Dugan previously participated in wide-ranging studies for the Defense Science Board, Army Science Board, National Research Council, and the Science Foundation, and sat on the Naval Research Advisory Committee and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Technology Panel. Dr. Dugan obtained her doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology and her master's and bachelor's degrees from Virginia Tech. She is the sole inventor or co-inventor on multiple patents and patents pending and the co-author of Engineering Thermodynamics, 1996. Dr. Dugan is the first female director of DARPA.

This seminar will be held in the Harvard Innovation Lab classroom on the first floor.

Abstract: The i-lab, on the first floor of Batten Hall at 125 Western Avenue, is a new initiative designed to support entrepreneurship and innovation. It combines:

• flexible spaces and seating to support both ongoing project work and fledgling ventures,
• access to resources and coaching - including a lean and talented core staff and a pool of experts-in- residence,
• community-oriented services, and
• a program of workshops, classes, lectures, and other events

Bio:Joe Lassiter teaches Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation in Business, Energy and Environment in the MBA Program as well as courses in the Executive Education Program. He is Faculty Chair of the University-wide Harvard Innovation Lab. His academic and professional work focuses on high-potential ventures, including both those formed as new companies and those formed within existing organizations. From 1994 to 1996, Joe was President of Wildfire Communications, a telecommunications software venture backed by Matrix Partners and Greylock Management. From 1977 to 1994, Joe was a Vice President of Teradyne (NYSE/ automatic test equipment) and a member of its Management Committee. Joe joined Teradyne in 1974 as a Product Manager while on sabbatical from MIT. As a general manager, he was responsible for organizations ranging from start-ups to international, multi-plant businesses. As an individual contributor, he was best known for his work on product development/ sales management problems and on the application of TQM methods to business planning and control. Joe began his career at MIT's Department of Ocean Engineering as an Instructor in 1970 and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1972. He developed and taught a course on marine mineral resource economics. He lectured in hydrodynamics, marine transportation, and computer simulation modeling. In a joint program with Harvard Law School, he lectured on marine legal / regulatory policy. His research focused on forecasting economic and environmental consequences of offshore oil and gas development. He was appointed to the MIT-led National Academy of Engineering study on the future of engineering education. Joe received his BS, MS, and PhD from MIT and was awarded National Science, Adams and McDermott Fellowships. He was elected to Sigma Xi.

Gordon Jones is the Director of the Harvard Innovation Lab. Jones has 15 years of marketing and sales experience with Fortune 500, mid-sized, and startup companies in the consumer goods industry, and a history of entrepreneurial activity and academic experience mentoring up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Jones also brings a deep understanding of the world of education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and a proven commitment to mentoring the next generation of thought leaders. Since 2008, he has served as an Adjunct Lecturer at Bentley University, teaching marketing to MBA and undergraduate students. Since 2007, he has worked with the Admissions Office at Harvard Business School in evaluating applicants for admission to the MBA program. He graduated from Brown University (BA) and earned an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Abstract: The conventional explanation for controversy over climate change emphasizes impediments to public understanding: limited popular knowledge of science, the inability of ordinary citizens to assess technical information, and the resulting widespread use of unreliable cognitive heuristics to assess risk. A large survey of U.S. adults (N = 1540) found little support for this account. On the whole, the most scientifically literate and numerate subjects were slightly less likely, not more, to see climate change as a serious threat than the least scientifically literate and numerate ones. More importantly, greater scientific literacy and numeracy were associated with greater cultural polarization: respondents predisposed by their values to dismiss climate change evidence became more dismissive, and those predisposed by their values to credit such evidence more concerned, as science literacy and numeracy increased. We suggest that this evidence reflects a conflict between two levels of rationality: the individual level, which is characterized by citizens' effective use of their knowledge and reasoning capacities to form risk perceptions that express their cultural commitments; and the collective level, which is characterized by citizens' failure to converge on the best available scientific evidence on how to promote their common welfare. Dispelling this "tragedy of the risk-perception commons," we argue, should be understood as the central aim of the science of science communication.

Bio:Dan Kahan is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School. He is a member of the Cultural Cognition Project, an interdisciplinary team of scholars who use empirical methods to examine the impact of group values on perceptions of risk and related facts. In studies funded by the National Science Foundation, the Project has investigated public disagreement over climate change, public reactions to emerging technologies, and conflicting public impressions of scientific consensus. The Project's research has been featured in articles published in a variety of peer-reviewed scholarly journals including the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, the Journal of Risk Research, Nature Nanotechnology, and Nature.

Abstract: The Vertex story is an amazing one. Today this biotech company has a market cap of around $10 billion, employs almost 2000 people and has recently introduced a breakthrough medicine that could be the fastest to reach blockbuster status in the history of the industry. In addition there are 10 other clinical programs underway and a breakthrough therapy for cystic fibrosis will be submitted to the FDA and European agencies in October 2011 with approval expected in early 2012. Twenty two years ago Josh Boger proclaimed that the old ways of creating drug therapies was dead and that a new way - rational drug design - would change the world. He was right. He knew how to design drugs but needed to learn how to raise money and create a company that could realize his dream. In this talk I will provide an overview of the 22 year history of Vertex and attempt to provide some insight into the key decisions and challenges that brought the company to this point in its history. Out of hundreds that have tried, you can count on one hand the number of drug companies that have made to this level of success. How did this happen? There are many lessons learned.

Bio:Matthew Emmens has over 37 years of successful pharmaceutical experience. He joined the Vertex Board in 2004 and became Chairman, President and CEO in May, 2009. He is also currently Chairman of the Board of Shire Pharmaceuticals. Prior to his current role at Vertex he served as the CEO of Shire and before that, the CEO of Astra Merck. His early career was spent at Merck & Co., Inc. where he started as a sales representative.

Abstract: Effective use of subjective judgment is essential in all fields of knowledge. We present a method for finding truth when the subjective judgments of multiple respondents are the only evidence available, and majority opinion may be wrong. Respondents are scored for their own judgments and for their metaknowledge of others' judgments. In a probabilistic model of belief formation, their scores converge to the subjective probabilities they implicitly assign to the truth. Hence, the judgment of the highest scoring respondent reveals truth, irrespective of majority opinion. An experiment demonstrates that the method outperforms majority rule in selecting truth, and in identifying experts.

Bio: Drazen Prelec has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1991, and presently holds appointments in the Sloan School, the Economics Department, and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology and AB in applied mathematics from Harvard University. His research interests include decision theory, consumer behavior, marketing research, collective prediction mechanisms, behavioral economics and neuroeconomics. He was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows, and has received a number of research awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.

Abstract: In this lecture I will describe the development of two technologies in our laboratory that seek to address fundamental challenges facing the discovery and use of molecules, both small and large, with therapeutic properties. These technologies are (i) DNA-templated synthesis as a strategy to apply the powerful principles underlying biological evolution to the discovery of bioactive synthetic small molecules, and (ii) "supercharged" proteins as agents for the delivery of DNA, RNA, and proteins into mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. In each case the technologies have led to the creation of a new company (Ensemble Therapeutics and Permeon Biologics, respectively), and I will briefly overview both companies.

Bio: David R. Liu is Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Liu was born in 1973 in Riverside, California. He performed research on sterol biosynthesis under Professor E. J. Corey's guidance throughout his undergraduate years. Liu graduated first in his class at Harvard in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry before entering the Ph.D. program at U. C. Berkeley. In the group of Professor Peter Schultz, Liu initiated the first general effort to expand the genetic code in living cells. He earned his Ph.D. in 1999 and became Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University in the same year. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2003 and to Full Professor in 2005. Liu was appointed as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator in 2005 and joined the JASONs, academic advisors to the U.S. government on science and technology, in 2009.
Liu has taught more than 2,500 undergraduates and graduate students in the classroom over the past twelve years, and has earned three university-wide distinctions for undergraduate and graduate student teaching at Harvard, including the Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize in 2007, the Roslyn Abramson Award in 2003, and a Harvard College Professorship in 2007. His undergraduate and graduate students have earned university-wide and national distinctions for their thesis research, including three Thomas T. Hoopes prizes and one Lawrence J. Henderson Prize at Harvard, the IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists, the Harold W. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, and the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Doctoral Thesis Prize.
Liu has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers in chemical biology, molecular biology, and organic chemistry. His research accomplishments have earned distinctions including the American Chemical Society Pure Chemistry Award (2006), the American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Young Scholar Award (2004), the Glaxo-Smith-Kline Chemistry Scholar Award (2004), the AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Excellence in Chemistry Award (2003), the Sloan Foundation Fellowship (2002), the Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award (2002), the NSF CAREER Award (2001), the Searle Scholars Award (2000), and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2000).
Professor Liu's research applies evolutionary principles to the study and manipulation of biological and synthetic molecules. His major research interests include (i) the evolution, delivery, and characterization of synthetic regulatory elements, macromolecules that precisely manipulate information flow in human cells; (ii) discovery of new structures and functions among cellular nucleic acids; and (iii) the discovery of bioactive synthetic small molecules, functional synthetic polymers, and new chemical reactions through DNA-templated synthesis and in vitro selection.