The Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE) recently created a new role, Faculty Liaison, to strengthen collaboration between the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers and the technology transfer team.
Trey Melazzo earned his PharmD from Samford University and completed his MBA at UAB. Before joining the Harbert Institute, Trey worked at Southern Research as program manager for Station 41’s Therapeutics Accelerator. His goal has always been to make a broader impact on patient care.
As faculty liaison, Trey's mission is to connect the dots between UAB’s research community and the Harbert Institute’s innovation and commercialization resources. Faculty at UAB are conducting cutting-edge research every day, but there is often a gap between work in the lab and opportunities for intellectual property protection, partnerships, or funding. The faculty liaison is tasked with closing that gap.
“My role is to learn about ongoing research at UAB as well as connect faculty with resources to support them develop, protect, and commercialize their intellectual property (IP),” he said. “I want to ensure their questions never go unanswered and that we’re proactive about identifying ways to support them. That may mean helping faculty to identify IP, guiding faculty to developing IP, and helping faculty understand processes and resources at UAB and HIIE to commercialize their IP. In short, my role exists to close the gap between research at the bench and real-world impact.”
Trey Melazzo, Faculty Liaison
Trey's role was created to identify novel IP with commercial or societal potential and help move that IP forward from a concept to a solution, which will eventually reach the marketplace. He does this through direct engagement and proactive outreach across campus, meeting one-on-one with faculty and staff to learn more about their ongoing work and upcoming projects. He also reviews active grants to find research with strong translational and commercial potential and follows up directly with investigators to learn more. In addition, Trey stays connected by monitoring UAB newsletters, campus announcements, and attending seminar events where researchers share their work. Long-term, the role is intended to strengthen trust between UAB faculty and the HIIE and increase UAB’s ability to bring innovation to the marketplace.
Inside the Harbert Institute, Trey works closely with licensing associates and leadership to keep them updated about ongoing projects and help them align on how to best support UAB inventors. His role complements the licensing team by focusing on relationship-building and faculty outreach, while the licensing associates bring their expertise in IP and commercialization.
“UAB has a proud tradition of innovation,” he said. “My goal is to make sure the great science goes beyond UAB.”
The faculty liaison role also aims to uncover additional resources that can support UAB startups through introductions to startup CEOs, legal counsel, regulatory experts, technology developers, local accelerators, and venture studios. By building these connections, Trey hopes to create a smoother path for inventors for UAB startups to get off the ground, and he is well on his way, according to Karen Bernard, Assistant Director of Licensing.
"Trey has been with the HIIE for the last six months and has been doing a fantastic job building the faculty liaison program and defining best practices to successfully run this program," Karen said.
Faculty members wishing to discuss their research, explore commercialization opportunities, or learn more about available resources can reach Trey through the Harbert Institute website, by email at
-- Nov. 20, 2025