Power of Innovation: The Bayh-Dole Coalition’s Role in American Progress

Rachel M Dorin

President & CEO at TeraPore Technologies.

She is a co-inventor of TeraPore’s core technology and received her Ph.D. from Cornell University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Her research at Cornell focused on the application of self-assembling materials to separations applications. She received a minor in business from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and led the Technology Entrepreneurship at Cornell organization. Dr. Dorin was the recipient of Cornell’s McMullen Fellowship as well as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

While working on her PhD at Cornell, Dorin developed a new type of porous membrane using block copolymers, which could improve drug manufacturing by filtering impurities more efficiently. Her breakthrough came after pharmaceutical companies faced challenges with existing filters, leading to costly shutdowns.

With her invention, Cornell filed for patents under the Bayh-Dole Act, allowing her research to be protected and licensed. Dr. Dorin decided to take the entrepreneurial route, founding TeraPore Technologies to commercialize her membrane technology. Despite initial struggles, federal funding and support from her network helped her grow the company. Today, TeraPore is a leader in nanofiltration, partnering with pharmaceutical and semiconductor companies to improve production processes.

The success of TeraPore underscores how patents and government grants can turn innovative research into impactful products, benefiting industries and patients alike.