AT THE INTERSECTION OF INNOVATION & PHILANTHROPY

My research crosses the fields of science & innovation policy with nonprofits & philanthropy. Most of my work studies the financing of innovation by primarily evaluating the impacts of federal and philanthropic grantmaking strategies. ​
The MINERVA Lab
  • As the director of the MINERVA Lab, I lead an interdisciplinary team in the study of the financing of innovation. We are the research arm of the NSF I-Corps Hub: West Region and LA I-Corps Node, funded in part by NSF ENG (Awards #2048703 and #1740721). With Andrea Belz (USC, on leave to NSF), we focus on evaluating federal funding programs, such as the SBIR, as well as private capital investments on spurring innovation and entrepreneurship. We also build publicly available research tools to expand innovation research to a broader community. 

The Financing & Impacts of Academic R&D
  • US academic R&D accounts for about 15% of US R&D spending, roughly $90 billion. I study the impact of these funds on innovation.
  • With Lauren Lanahan (Oregon), we examine the impact of early federal funding on career outcomes for scientists and their research productivity and impact. This work is funded in part by NSF SciSIP (Awards #1661157 and #1548288) ​
  • With Janet Bercovitz (Colorado) and Maryann Feldman (UNC), we examine the broader trade-offs of federal and philanthropic funding strategies. We assess how funder strategies spur biomedical innovation, the types of science  promoted, and the impacts on a scientist's career path. This work is funded in part by NSF and NIH through SciSIPBIO (Award #1935023). Previously, we have examined the growing role and impact of nonprofit funding on academic R&D across the academy. This work was funded by NSF SciSIP (Award #1158755).

Evaluating US Nonprofits & Philanthropy 
  • The US nonprofit sector and philanthropy produces immeasurable benefit for society through direct service provision as well as through the financing of research. Yet our understanding of how the sector produces and funds innovation is limited. My work on the sector is focused on the grantmaking strategies of US foundations and their impacts on innovation with a focus on drug development (Funded in part by NSF SciSIP Award #143128).  
  • I am also working on a project to document the history and impact of organized philanthropy in Los Angeles with Cara Esposito (USC, Leonetti/O'Connell Family Foundation); supported in part by the Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy 

Social Innovation: The Impacts of New Organizational Structures
  • With the rise of social enterprises and new hybrid structures, questions emerge as to how these organizations perform and provide relative to traditional for-profit and nonprofit firms. We study these differences on a variety of outcomes related to firm sustainability, innovation, and pro-social behavior. We also examine the responses of firms to economic downturns following the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.