Gemma Rooney, PhD

As a Licensing Officer, Gemma is responsible for evaluating and managing new technologies, determining the patenting strategy, commercializing technologies through licensing and helping to negotiate the intellectual property terms in sponsored research agreements with industry partners. Gemma has been co-managing the OTM’s internship program since 2014, when she joined the OTM team.

Gemma holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Stem Cell Biology from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and a B.Sc. in Neuroscience from University College Cork, Ireland. She received postdoctoral training from the University of California, San Francisco and the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Her research focused on neurological applications of stem cell therapies. Gemma became very interested in translating science concepts into products that could improve patient health outcomes. Thus, transitioning to the field of technology transfer was a natural next step in her career. Gemma is motivated to apply her scientific expertise to help basic researchers and clinicians to bring their ideas, concepts and products into active patient use.