Bob Dehn, Marketing Director for Biosciences, combined his market understanding and insight to team with SRI research leaders in creating a new, vital, and sustaining business model for Biosciences and SRI at large. His leadership resulted in important new programs for every SRI division, strategic partnerships that provided access to new markets and a new source of intellectual property, and new ways of doing business that are a lasting contribution for SRI.
Bob Dehn’s knowledge of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), especially during the NIH budget doubling from 1999 to 2004, had every division at SRI interested in entering that market. He worked one-on-one and through his leadership of the NIH Initiative (one of the most successful institute-level investment programs in SRI’s history) to help all those eager to explore possibilities. He was the first to see the opportunity, lead an SRI-wide group to conduct an aggressive and proactive marketing campaign, and form a series of strategic partnerships. These partnerships were a major divergence from our past teaming when we would simply wait for a small business to approach us. His careful market analysis showed a series of very large opportunities where we could team with others in markets we had never entered before to gain research dollars as well as intellectual property.
The results were astounding. While NIH’s budget grew two-fold, Biosciences grew three-fold. Their growth was not only in grants—the traditional backbone of Biosciences—but in major contract work. This change in portfolio mix and business model had lasting effects for profitability and growth. Not only did his leadership benefit Biosciences, Bob Dehn was also successful in getting NIH research projects for the Engineering Science Division, Policy, the Information and Computer Science Division, and the Physical Sciences Division. By being proactive and targeted, SRI won work and formed partnerships that 10 years later are still productive.
Bob Dehn helped bring Biosciences to the forefront of biodefense research, which not only added research dollars, but also brought NIH funding for the construction of animal facilities and new microbiology laboratories. He was instrumental in adding new research areas, such as vaccine research, which now supports a vigorous new SRI vaccine research group focused on infectious disease.
Bob Dehn’s market understanding and vision along with significant business acumen have indeed resulted in lasting contributions to the success of SRI.