Inside the Structural Reforms That Made IU Indianapolis a Translational Overachiever
How a resource-constrained university built a top-15 translation engine — and what other institutions can learn from it.
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The Buck Institute for Research on Aging ranks 38th among the 60 biomedical institutes evaluated in the Cure Innovation Index. Located in Novato, California, the institute centers its mission on aging biology and the diseases of later life. Its research capabilities rank in the upper half of the category, while market translation and entrepreneurial readiness fall in the lower tier. The institute maintains an incubator and conducts faculty-led clinical trials, extending its reach from basic science into applied research.
Buck Institute for Research on Aging ranked below average for Research Capabilities, a measure of the foundational infrastructure and resources that enable an institution to conduct high-quality, innovative science. Out of the factors in this category, Buck Institute for Research on Aging fared best in Cutting Edge Science.
Learn MoreBuck Institute for Research on Aging ranked below average for Entrepreneurial Readiness, a measure of whether the institution has built a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurship and whether faculty are engaged in and incentivized toward commercial activity. Out of the factors in this category, Buck Institute for Research on Aging fared best in Faculty Engagement.
Learn MoreBuck Institute for Research on Aging ranked below average for Market Translation, a measure of how effectively a research institution moves scientific discovery out of the lab and into real-world clinical and commercial applications. Out of the factors in this category, Buck Institute for Research on Aging fared best in TTO Efficiency.
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From a pool of more than 6,000 institutions, the top 303 were ranked using two dozen indicators — from scientific foundation and lab infrastructure to patents, products, and partnerships — drawn from more than a dozen federal and commercial databases, an original audit of all institutions, and surveys of more than 3,300+ scientists, industry leaders, and biomedical experts.
Innovation isn't a single moment — it's an entire ecosystem. The Index evaluates institutions across two dozen indicators, grouped in three core domains that reveal the full picture of what it takes to turn groundbreaking science into real-world impact.
How a resource-constrained university built a top-15 translation engine — and what other institutions can learn from it.
With 27 institutions ranked among the country’s top biomedical innovators, New York’s research cluster spans the entire state, and outperforms nearly every other in the country.

As NIH funding shrinks and industry pulls back from early-stage science, universities are rethinking how discoveries move from the lab to the market.
The Bayh-Dole Act turned federally funded research into a commercialization pipeline that built American biotech. Forty-five years later, that pipeline faces a new set of political and financial pressures that could reshape how it works.