Ashley J. Stevens
Technology Transfer, Office of Technology Development of Boston University, Executive Director, Boston, MA, USA

April E. Effort
Technology Transfer, Office of Technology Development of Boston University, Licensing Associate, Boston, MA, USA

The impetus to use academic innovations to enhance peoples’ lives in the developing world, which we term promoting Global Social Responsibility or “GSR,” got its start with healthcare and the need to ensure affordable access to life saving medicines even during their period of patent protection in the developed world. However, academic innovation has the potential to advance living standards in the developing world in other ways in addition to healthcare, and it is equally important that academic institutions commit themselves to realizing this broader potential and adopt licensing approaches that anticipate these broader considerations.