Office of Technology Management and Advancement

Director, Business Development, EOD & Licensing

Todd has over 15 years of business development and licensing experience and is currently the director of BD and Licensing in Innovation Ventures at UCSF.  Todd leads both the EOD and Licensing teams which are engaged in identifying, prioritizing, developing and partnering UCSF innovations.  Todd and his teams also lead efforts to cultivate and launch new startups based on UCSF discoveries.  Todd received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from...

Director, Business Affairs & Strategic Partnerships

I joined UCSF in 2012, following 12 ½ years at the office of Innovation, Alliances & Services (IAS) (formerly known as the Office of Technology Transfer) at the UC Office of the President, where I was responsible for all IP management and technology licensing matters of a life-sciences portfolio of technologies from several UC campuses.  While at IAS I was also responsible for the first UC System Proof-of-Concept Fund, the UC...

Director, Equity Management and Advisory

Ben is responsible for the acquisition, management, and disposition of equity in UCSF start-up companies. With more than $200M in equity under management across almost 100 companies, UCSF continues to be a leader in start-up development.

Ben’s career has included time at Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, a technology seed fund (TTCF), and various start-ups including eight years as CEO of a medical device company founded with university IP...

Assistant Director, Business Development & Licensing

David manages intellectual property arising from research conducted at UCSF. He works with faculty and staff to evaluate new inventions and to develop appropriate IP strategies, with the goal of commercialization of the technology through licensing, whether to established companies or to new ventures.

David has more than ten years’ experience in academic technology transfer, first at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and then at...

Assistant Director, IP & Business Operations

Dan joined the OTM in March 2006, and is currently responsible for managing patent prosecution, agreement compliance, government reporting, case finances, and the operating budget. Dan earned both his B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa) and J.D. degrees from the University of Florida.

Assistant Director, Strategic Projects

Assistant Director, Strategic Partnerships & Licensing

Gemma has been sourcing and executing high value deals on UCSF’s innovative technologies since 2014, when she first joined the office. She is currently responsible for managing UCSF’s alliances with the ‘Parker Institute of Cancer Immunology’ and 'Chan Zuckerberg Biohub'.  An integral part of this role is determining the commercial and patenting strategy of the University’s intellectual property, engaging with faculty, building and nurturing...

Assistant Director of Business Development & Licensing

Kristin has over 10 years of business development and licensing experience. She is currently Licensing Team Lead for Therapeutics and Diagnostics within Innovation Ventures. She works closely with UCSF researchers to prioritize, develop, and partner their innovations for commercial development. Her portfolio includes therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices.  

Kristin holds a Ph.D. in Virology from Harvard University and an A.B...

Assistant Director, Business Development & EOD

Senior Business Development Manager, EOD

Mike currently lives in the Orange County area and comes to us with significant business development, strategy, product development, and operations experience, at large to mid-sized companies and with start-ups.  Mike was most recently with Optovue where he served as the VP of Strategic Planning and Innovation.  Prior to Optovue, Mike was with Alcon for 15 years.  Mike had several roles at Alcon including the lead on the development of a...

Senior Business Development Manager, EOD

Lorraine Johnson joined the UCSF Office of Technology Management and Advancement in January 2021 as a manager of Engagement and Opportunity Development. In her role,  Lorraine focuses on evaluating inventions and commercial opportunities in the areas of devices, diagnostics, and digital health. Lorraine comes to UCSF from Industry and has spent more than 20 years commercializing medical devices and digital health platforms with Johnson &...

Senior Business Development Manager

In her role as a Licensing Associate for UCSF’s Innovation Ventures, Cathy is responsible for managing the University’s diverse intellectual property disclosures and assisting in licensing transactions.  Cathy joined the office in early 2016 and is enthusiastic about aiding faculty and staff in translating their scientific discoveries for the public benefit through commercial partnerships.

Cathy did her PhD at Columbia University and...

Senior Business Development Manager, EOD

Kathy has ten years of business development experience in university settings, both at UCSF and Stanford, where she sourced and executed several high-value licenses and managed various industry collaborations. Kathy is passionate about working with faculty members and industry partners to forge paths for startup formation with the goal of bringing new technologies to the public domain. Prior to joining the technology transfer field, Kathy...

License Compliance Manager

Heather joined the UCSF Office of Technology Management (OTM) in October 2013. She handles case and license agreement compliance, including analysis of license agreements for diligence and financial terms and interpretation, reporting and enforcement.

Prior to joining OTM, she was at Stanford University’s Office of Technology Management for eight years. Heather earned her MS degree from University of San Francisco and her BA from San...

IP Project and Compliance Manager

Danielle is primarily responsible for handling the intake of invention disclosures and compliance with federal and non-profit sponsor reporting obligations. Danielle also contributes to various projects for OTM, which she joined in May 2016.

Senior Strategic Partnerships and IP Manager

I am excited to have joined the Office of Technology Management (OTM) in June 2020 as a Strategic Partnerships Officer. In this capacity I work closely with the UCSF faculty and researchers to capture and protect Intellectual Property arising from novel research collaborations.

I earned a Ph.D. in Virology/Microbiology from Oregon State University and a B.A. in Biology from University of Oregon. After two post-doctoral fellowships,...

Digital Health and AI

Dr. Marlene Grenon is a practicing physician, scientist and entrepreneur. She currently holds the role of Director of Digital Health at UCSF Innovation Ventures and Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Surgery at UCSF, where she practices vascular medicine. Dr. Grenon has served as the Chief Medical Officer of Evry Health, as a vascular surgeon at the VAMC San Francisco and has an Adjunct Faculty at the International Space...

Business Development & Licensing Manager

Lei manages intellectual property, identifies market opportunities, and licenses technologies developed at UCSF.

Lei joined UCSF in the February of 2022. Before that, Lei was a technology transfer associate at Augusta University. She was responsible for patent portfolio management, business development, and licensing negotiation. Lei completed her PhD and Postdoctoral training at The Ohio State University and the University of...

Business Development Manager

Hailey has extensive experience in life science R&D and business development. Currently serving as the Manager of Business Development and Licensing (BD&L) in Innovation Ventures at UCSF, she collaborates closely with inventors in the UCSF community to identify and cultivate partnerships in therapeutics, diagnostics, and digital health areas.

Before joining UCSF, Hailey worked in Merck KGaA's Business Development team and...

Business Development & Licensing Manager

Abdalla is an entrepreneurial and results-driven professional with over 10 years of experience in business development, strategy, and licensing within the biopharmaceutical industry. He currently serves as Manager of Business Development and Licensing at UCSF Innovation Ventures, where he collaborates with UCSF researchers to evaluate inventions, develop patenting strategies, and create commercial partnerships in the areas of therapeutics,...

Licensing Contracts Officer

Sherri has a B.S. in Speech Pathology and a J.D. from Lincoln Law School in Sacramento, and joins OTMA with several years of experience in intellectual property, including most recently as a Principal IP Analyst at UC Davis.  As a Licensing Contracts Officer within OTMA, Sherri will be primarily responsible for Material Transfer Agreements, Bailments, and Inter-Institutional Agreements.

IP & Business Operations

Dorin joins OTMA with several years of experience in intellectual property formerly as a Licensing Analyst at UC Santa Barbara. She has a BS from Cornell University and a MS in Nutritional Biochemistry from UC Berkeley. As an IP Operations Manager within OTMA, Dorin will be primarily responsible for patent prosecution, patent maintenance, and federal reporting.

IP & Business Operations

Danica joined UCSF’s Office of Technology Management in August 2022. In her role as IP Operations Manager, she handles invention case intake, sponsor compliance, processing of material transfer agreements, and royalty reports. Prior to joining UCSF, Danica worked at UCLA’s Technology Development Group for four years as their first Post Execution Contracts Manager. Her position ensured consistent management of TDG’s contracts and was...

Manager of Business Development and Licensing

Jessica currently serves as the Manager of Business Development and Licensing at UCSF's Innovation Ventures, collaborating closely with UCSF researchers to identify and prioritize innovations in therapeutics, diagnostics, and digital health for commercial development.

Before joining UCSF, she was a Consulting Manager at Simon-Kucher, where she provided strategic advice to biotech and pharmaceutical companies on drug commercialization...