Road to Commercialization Symposium Series: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀!

Join us for the next webinar on the Road to Commercialization Symposium series, which will focus on how research funding shapes the path from idea to impact!

A panel of experts will explore how federal, corporate, philanthropic, and venture models—and their associated 'terms'—influence translation, partnerships, startups, and long-term value, while highlighting strategies to align scientific excellence with market opportunity and navigate key IP issues such as ownership, licensing, and access. As part of the webinar, you will also learn about all the resources provided by the Office for Research.

This event is sponsored by the Office for Research and is free and open to everyone. 

PANELISTS

Sadhana Chitale, PhD, MBA, CLP
Senior Director of Life Sciences and Technology Transfer, New York University

Sadhana Chitale is Senior Director of Life Sciences and Technology Transfer at NYU’s Technology Opportunities and Ventures (TOV) office. She joined New York University in 2001 and is responsible for managing intellectual property and technology transfer activities in the life sciences across NYU’s campuses. Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Chitale served as a Licensing Manager at Weill Cornell Medical School. She has extensive experience in academic technology transfer, including intellectual property strategy, licensing, and industry partnerships. Dr. Chitale received her PhD from the University of Mumbai and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed postdoctoral fellowships at Colorado State University and Weill Cornell Medical School. She is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) and a registered U.S. patent agent. From 2022 to 2025, she served on the Board of Directors of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). Dr. Chitale has published extensively on issues related to technology transfer and commercialization of academic research.

Katherine Chou, EdD, MS, MBA
Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Katherine Chou is a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she is the Sanitation Industry & Technology Transition Liaison in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene division. The Foundation has spent significant resources funding research and development of novel sanitation technologies that form its Reinvented Toilet portfolio. Dr. Chou is responsible for managing all intellectual property flows and licensing between the Foundation’s technology partners and potential commercial partners who will commercialize the technologies. As part of her responsibilities, she works very closely with research and development teams and takes a hands-on approach to building relationships between these teams and potential commercial partners. Prior to her work at the Foundation, Dr. Chou has over two decades of experience in providing technology commercialization services to both academic and corporate clients. Dr. Chou holds a master’s degree in chemistry from California State University, an MBA from the Fox Business School at Temple University, a Doctor of Education from Drexel University, and a graduate certificate in Advanced Business Management from the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Nelson Medeiros, PhD, MBA, 
Associate Director of External Research Collaborations, Novartis Biomedical Research

Nelson Medeiros is a member of the External Research Collaborations group at Novartis, which interfaces with universities and academic medical centers in support of Novartis's external innovation goals.  In this role, Nelson provides business guidance and transactional support to enable scientific partnerships globally.  These partnerships complement and enhance Biomedical Research discovery programs to bring innovative therapeutics to patients. Prior to joining Novartis, Nelson spent over 10 years in technology licensing roles at Mass General Brigham and Boston University.  Nelson earned a PhD in Neuroscience from Yale University, MBA in Finance from Boston University, and Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Brown University. 

Ken Porter, PhD, MBA
Executive Director, University of Maryland Ventures

Elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2022 as a Senior Member, Ken became interested in intellectual property when he and a team of chemists at Duke University invented a DNA sequencing technology for the Human Genome Sequencing Project (see US Pat. Nos. 5,683,869, 5,859,231, 6,376,178, and 6,808,897). He is now the Director of UM Ventures (UMV) where he leads a team of dedicated professionals who serve faculty, staff, and students at the University of Maryland at College Park. UMV manages the University IP portfolio, engages corporate partners for research, supports faculty startups, and provides experiential learning opportunities for students. Prior to his work in College Park, Ken served in Alberta, Canada, as VP for IP Management and Director of Social and Clinical Innovations at Innovate Calgary, and where he co-founded the Western Canadian Innovation Offices. WCIO is a consortium of 46 western Canadian academic institutions that together create “Market Pull” opportunities for cross-border, industry-academic research partnerships.  He has led teams at the Universities of Colorado and Texas, and each team aimed for building stronger relationships for faculty and students with industry, government, and entrepreneur communities.

Julie M. Watson, JD, MA, CLP
Special Counsel, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun, LLP

Julie Watson is special counsel at Marshall Gerstein & Borun, where she concentrates her practice on counseling related to intellectual property transactions, with a particular emphasis in technology startups and university technology transfer. A licensing professional with years of in-house transaction experience, Julie has a real-world appreciation of client needs and knows how to structure complex intellectual property transactions to deliver strategic solutions. She has been recognized by IAM Patent 1000 as one of the “World’s Leading Patent Practitioners” with deep knowledge of university licensing and tech transfer. Julie received her law degree from Wake Forest University Law School and holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and is admitted to practice law in Illinois, North Carolina and before the USPTO. She is a Certified Licensing Professional ^TM (CLP) and past chair of the CLP Board of Governors. Julie is frequent speaker at LES and AUTM meetings, as well as a lecturer for a number of academic programs including at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

Shemaila Sultana, PhD, MS, RTTP
Associate Director of Life Sciences Licensing, Rutgers Office for Research (moderator)

Shemaila Sultana joined the Rutgers Technology Transfer team in June 2016, and she is now responsible for the management of intellectual property, licensing, and related commercialization programs. Prior to joining Technology Transfer, she was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Shemaila holds a Master’s in Biotechnology and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. Shemaila has also taught organic, inorganic and physical chemistry at NYC’s Hunter College.