Diana Tucker: in search of marketing partners

Agricultural Research, Sept, 1996 by Doris Stanley

It was here in June of 1996 that Diana Tucker brought four new products: a patented device that steam-treats poultry to kill bacteria without cooking; a quick, easy way to detect E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria isolated from meat; corn fiber oil with serum cholesterol-lowering properties; and microwaveable syrup made from a shelf-stable spray-dried butter powder.

Tucker, a marketing specialist with the Agricultural Research Service, was looking for business partners to further develop these and other new products and technologies coming from research at ARS' Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania.

"This trade show is one of the best forums we have for finding research and development partners for our projects," Tucker says. "I'd say more than 500 people visited our booth."

Tucker's booth was one of 2,300 at the 1996 Institute of Food Technologists' International Food Expo that drew more than 20,000 attendees to New Orleans from June 22 to 26.

Touted as the world's largest industrial food product development exposition, that trade show proved a gold mine of opportunities for Tucker.

She works with Stephen H. Feairheller, Technology Transfer Coordinator at ERRC.

"Our job is to find potential partner companies that may be interested in manufacturing a product or developing a technology invented by one of our scientists," she says. "We have a pilot plant here at the ERRC and labs to run experiments, but it takes an outside company to actually make a product on a commercial scale."

Tucker's interest in science goes a long way back. In the early 1980's, when many students at Philadelphia's Jay Cooke Junior High School were spending summers at the swimming pool or just hanging out, Diana Tucker was getting ready for a career in science.

"In junior high and high school, I spent 5 years in a program that allowed me to attend summer classes at different local universities," Tucker explains. "One of those was the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, which led me to major in pre-pharmacy."

While a college student in 1990, Tucker was hired by the ERRC to work with David D. Douds, Jr., a soil microbiologist researching beneficial mycorrhizal fungi that help crops take in soil nutrients. Tucker ran assays to determine nutrient uptake by corn roots and tracked the symbiotic relationship between corn roots and various fungi. She worked with Douds as a student intern for 2 years.

"Midway through school, I switched my major to business, and I'm glad I did. Right after my graduation in 1992, ERRC was recruiting for a person to work with transferring technology from the lab to the marketplace. And they were looking for someone with a business degree and a strong background in science," she says.

Tucker applied for and got the position. The business degree has helped in her dealings with representatives seeking new business ventures for their companies. In September of this year, she received an MBA, with a special emphasis in marketing, from La Salle University in Philadelphia.

Tucker's job is an interesting one. To promote technology transfer, she and Feairheller travel to several major trade fairs and expos each year, carrying brochures and an 8- by 10-foot display that shows examples of research conducted at the ERRC.

"We update the physical display regularly, adding new projects that may interest possible business partners," she says. "There are usually about 20 developments in our portfolio; kind of something for everybody."

She has also started a monthly newsletter that goes to about 50 businesses throughout the country. Written in simple language, this newsletter provides updated information on research that is being patented and is available for licensing.

When Tucker finds someone who is interested in more information about a particular project, she sets up a site visit with the ERRC scientist who is doing the research. A formal cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) can result from these visits.

This is what happened with biodegradable pectin-starch films developed by ERRC's Marshall L. Fishman from pectin (a major component of fruits and vegetables), starch, and glycerol (from animal fat or corn).

Completely biodegradable, these films can be used by the food industry as packaging that will dissolve in cooking, like a film wrap for dried soup mixes, or to separate food on packaging trays. A patent has been granted for these films, which also have potential for use in flushable diapers and other hygienic products.

Tucker took these starch films to a technology transfer conference in 1993 and was approached by a representative of the Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI) of Lansing, Michigan. MBI had learned of the technology from Fishman at a scientific meeting in Italy. After a site visit to ERRC, MBI signed a CRADA with ARS to further develop and commercialize the films. A spinoff company, Bioplastics, Inc., has a federal small business innovation grant to commercialize the films.

"Sometimes it is the scientists who make the contact that nets a business partner," Tucker explains.