Tech leaders say Madison shouldn’t be Silicon Valley, but it can grow

Conroy said even though the UW-Madison spends nearly $1.2 billion a year in research funding, the UW is at the bottom of the Big Ten schools in terms of research sponsored by corporations. That makes it very difficult to conduct clinical trials of potential drugs and medical devices, said Conroy. He said it can take nine months to go through a review by a UW panel to allow a clinical trial while the “Mayo Clinic can get it done in two months.”