New TTC Director Named

NCI selected Suzanne Frisbie, Ph.D. as the next director of the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) beginning in October 2023.  Dr. Frisbie served as acting TTC director from June – October 2023, following the retirement of Dr. Thomas Stackhouse. Prior to her current role, she served as an associate director within TTC.  

Dr. Frisbie began the first part of her career at NCI in 1997 as a technology transfer (TT) fellow and ended her time at NCI in 2010 as a unit supervisor.  During that time, she became an NIH expert on human subjects in TT agreements, teaching the first NIH Technology Transfer University session on human subjects in 1998 and continuing this throughout her NIH career.  She was responsible for the creation and adoption of the “umbrella” Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) concept that is currently used across the agency.

From 2010 - 2019, she served as the first deputy director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office (TTIPO). Her accomplishments included fully defining the new role of deputy director, as well as setting up and managing a new fellowship program and new paralegal team.  In 2019, she returned to NCI as an associate director in TTC, a role she held for four years.  

Dr. Frisbie graduated magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in biochemistry and obtained her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Georgetown University.  Prior to entering the TT field, she was a senior staff fellow in the intramural research program at NIAMS.  

“We are very fortunate to have Suzanne’s deep scientific expertise, outstanding leadership skills and public service commitment at this pivotal time for cancer science,” commented NCI Executive Officer, Donna Siegle.