Research at Arizona’s public universities infused more than $1.2 billion into Arizona’s economy in 2017, drawing our enterprise closer to our strategic goal of $1.6 billion by 2025.. This aggressive goal significantly impacts Arizona’s economy, competitiveness and growth. It also helps attract more businesses to our state and impacts the tax base for our state.

Every day at our public universities, researchers are discovering and developing new procedures, technology, medicines and products that can have positive impacts on our lives and our communities. From new advancements in cancer diagnostics – including lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers – to technology that can identify individuals at risk of cardiovascular disease and sensor technology that can detect severity of impacts in sports injuries, research advances our health and well-being.

Today, our universities are strategically positioned to leverage the benefits of cutting-edge research by acquiring patents and licenses for discoveries, attracting investment dollars to fund research and helping researchers develop new companies for their products. It is vital to translate discoveries and solutions to the marketplace to benefit society locally and around the globe.

To ensure the continued growth of the research enterprise at Arizona’s public universities, the Arizona Board of Regents has set aggressive goals as part of its strategic plan. Increases in research activity, invention disclosures, and licenses and options translate to important benefits for our state and the world around us.

Arizona citizens can be proud that our research enterprise continues to grow. Research activity across our public universities surpassed this year’s goal of $1,167,320,000 by nearly four percent, generating $1,213,469,000 in expenditures. Northern Arizona University surpassed its goal for invention disclosures by 41 percent and collectively, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona surpassed the targeted goals for executed licenses and options by nearly 21 percent.

I am proud to present the Arizona Board of Regents 2017 Annual Research Report that imparts the impact and depth of our multidisciplinary, collaborative and ground-breaking research. Within this report, you will find a wealth of fascinating stories of discovery as well as links to our research dashboards that provide detailed data on this public enterprise.

Without a doubt, the purest impact of our research cannot be quantified – the depth of joy a parent feels when their child emerges from disease or illness because of research – or the simple pleasure created by a new product that lets someone enjoy life to its fullest extent.

We look forward to the continued growth of the research enterprise and the enduring impact it has on individuals and the vitality of our state.

Eileen Klein
ABOR President Emerita