Who We Are

We were part of a small group of U.S. government officials that nearly 10 years ago called attention to national and economic security threats posed by nations facilitating unwanted knowledge transfers in areas that are not explicitly illicit in nature. Our efforts helped bring about policy changes in executive and legislative branches on research security issues. The U.S. government, however, faces many implementation and enforcement challenges, and bureaucratic barriers limit the effectiveness of these efforts. Consequently, we felt compelled to leave the government to explore new approaches and partnerships and work directly with affected stakeholders in the research and innovation ecosystem.

• We have worked with investigative, policy, and senior leadership elements of federal research funding agencies such as NASA, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the departments of Commerce, Defense, and Energy, and have advised various White House and Congressional offices.
  
  

• We understand the U.S. government’s gaps and limitations to research security that need addressing to effectively protect technology and research investments at earlier stages.
  
  

• We have built programs and analytic methods for risk mitigation, and piloted unique methods for identifying and assessing foreign influence, unauthorized technology transfers, and related national security risks to academia, start-ups, and technology companies.
  
  

• We have published the results of our research, our methodologies, and policy recommendations on how to assess and address risks to research security and integrity in collaboration with experts at major U.S. think tanks.