Say “Oklahoma” and someone might think of wheat fields, natural gas, or the wind sweepin' down the plain. Cutting edge biomedical research, though, is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. Nevertheless, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has for more than 70 years been conducting innovative scientific work that has forged new understandings of disease and made discoveries that have led to new drugs and diagnostics. We spoke to Manu Nair, vice president of Technology Ventures for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, about the work it does, its efforts to commercialize its discoveries, and the challenges of getting on industry’s radar when you are outsides of a major biotech center.