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Our Business Development Team

The OTD team is an agile group of experienced professionals with diversified foundation in science, business development, intellectual property and contract law. The following are our business development leaders who work closely with Harvard faculty inventors and external entrepreneurs, investors, and industry professionals.

Isaac T. Kohlberg (isaac_kohlberg@harvard.edu)
Senior Associate Provost and Chief Technology Development Officer

Isaac Kohlberg joined OTD in 2005, as Chief Technology Officer and Senior Associate Provost. Prior to joining Harvard, Isaac served (from 1989 to 2000) as Vice Provost of New York University and Vice Dean for Industrial Liaison and Research Administration at the New York University School of Medicine.  Most recently, Isaac was Chief Executive Officer of the Tel Aviv University Economic Corporation and CEO of RAMOT, its technology transfer organization. Isaac was also CEO of the YEDA Research and Development Company, the technology transfer company of the Weizman Institute of Science, for eight years. He received his LLB from Tel Aviv University and his MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Daniel Behr (daniel_behr@harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Cambridge Office)

Daniel Behr joined OTD in 2006.  Prior to joining Harvard, Daniel worked for twenty years as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He was co-founder of IN USA (a company specializing in ozone instrumentation); Compact Instruments (specializing in research instruments); Arradiance (specializing in semiconductor lithography); and Growth Point Life Sciences (a company focused on accelerating the commercialization of intellectual property assets). Daniel also founded a seed-stage angel fund, Seed Partners, and has served as Director or advisor to several start-ups commercializing new medical devices, nanotechnologies, instruments, and software products. Daniel holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and an engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Robert Benson, PhD (robert_benson@harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Cambridge Office)

Bob Benson joined OTD in 2002.  Prior to joining Harvard, Bob worked for thirteen years at the NIH's Office of Technology Transfer, where he was a Supervisory Technology Transfer Specialist in charge of infectious disease and medical engineering inventions. He has also held a position at the Patent Trademark Office, examining biotechnology and pharmaceutical inventions and taught undergraduate chemistry and physics. Bob did his postdoctoral research in physical photochemistry, and he holds a PhD in physical chemistry from New York University.

Vivian Berlin, PhD (vivian_berlin@harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Life Sciences, Cambridge Office)

Vivian Berlin joined OTD in 2008. Prior to joining Harvard, over the last 17 years, Vivian held positions in research management and business development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Mitotix and GPC Biotech. She has led multiple R&D programs, advanced programs from discovery to late pre-clinical development, and helped to establish proprietary positions in several therapeutic areas. She has also been a strategic consultant to several life science companies and investor groups. Vivian holds an MS from the Harvard School of Public Health, a PhD from Stanford University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

Laura Brass, PhD, MBA (laura_brass@harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Life Sciences, Cambridge Office)

Laura Brass joined OTD in 2005. Prior to joining Harvard, Laura worked as a Senior Manager of Business Development at Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company in Cambridge, MA. She has also worked as a Licensing Associate and Project Manager at technology licensing offices for Brigham and Women's Hospital and The University of Chicago, where she was involved with the formation and operations of several biotechnology start-up companies. She has authored and co-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to several review articles in her field of cell-cell interactions in plant reproduction. Laura holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and an MBA from the University of Chicago, as well as a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Anne Craig, JD (anne_craig@harvard.edu)
Director of Intellectual Property (Cambridge and Harvard Medical School Office)

Anne Craig joined OTD in 2006. Prior to joining Harvard, Anne practiced as a patent attorney in private practice for thirteen years and served for seven years as in-house Patent counsel, including a term as Chief Patent Counsel, to small biotechnology start-ups and a large pharmaceutical company. Anne also has four years of business law and litigation experience, including two years as a judicial law clerk in the Massachusetts Trial court system. Anne holds a JD, a Masters of Management, and a BS in Biology.

Maryanne Fenerjian, PhD, JD (maryanne_fenerjian@hms.harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Harvard Medical School Office)

Maryanne Fenerjian joined OTD in 1999. Prior to joining Harvard, Maryanne served as a technical specialist for the law firm of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. She has held postdoctoral fellowships in the Department of Molecular Biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and in the Department of Biology at Brandeis University. Maryanne holds a JD  from Suffolk University Law School, as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University, including a PhD in Biology from the Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology (now MCB).

Alan D. Gordon (alan_gordon@harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge Office)

Alan Gordon joined OTD in 2005. Prior to joining Harvard, Alan was a Technology Licensing Officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alan has also served as manager of pre- and post-sales services at WebLine Communications, and his work led to the company's acquisition by Cisco Systems. Alan has also held key technical, sales, and business development roles at several other Boston area start-up companies. Alan holds a degree in Materials Science from MIT.

Katie Gordon, PhD (katherine_gordon@hms.harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Harvard Medical School Office)

Katie Gordon joined OTD in 2004. Prior to joining Harvard, Katie served as a consultant to several early-stage biomedical companies in the areas of strategic development and operations/management. She previously founded and ran biotechnology company Apollo BioPharmaceutics, a neuroscience company that developed novel neuroprotective compounds for Alzheimer's disease and ophthalmic indications and was by acquired by MitoKor Corp. Prior to Apollo/MitoKor, she was a Director at Genzyme Corporation. Katie was a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University and holds a PhD from Wesleyan University.

David Jacobson, PhD, MBA (david_jacobson@harvard.edu)
Associate Director of Business Development (Cambridge Office)

David Jacobson joined OTD in 2004. Prior to joining Harvard, David was a Business Development Analyst for Cytyc Corporation, a Massachusetts-based diagnostics and medical device company focused on women's health care. David also worked as a Market Research Analyst for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in the therapeutic areas of tissue regeneration, immunomodulation, blood clotting, and oncology. David holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, an MBA from Boston University, and a BA in Chemistry from the University of Virginia.

Curtis Keith, PhD (curtis_keith@harvard.edu)
Chief Scientific Officer, Technology Development Accelerator Fund (Cambridge Office)

Curtis Keith joined OTD in 2008. Prior to joining Harvard, Curtis worked at CombinatoRx, Inc., a pioneering company in the emerging field of synergistic combination pharmaceuticals, where he served as co-founder and Senior Vice President, Research. At CombinatoRx, Curtis directed research programs in multiple therapeutic areas, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, osteoarthritis, oncology, metabolic, neurodegenerative and infectious disease, and helped the company to advance a pipeline of several clinical and preclinical drug candidates. He received his PhD in chemistry and chemical biology and an MA in chemistry from Harvard University.

Elena HG Kfoury, SM (elena_kfoury@harvard.edu)
Associate Director of Business Development (Harvard Stem Cell Institute-www.hsci.harvard.edu )

Elena Kfoury joined OTD in 2007. Prior to joining Harvard, she gained nearly nine years in the cardiovascular device market in senior marketing and business development roles with such organizations as Guidant Corporation, Genzyme and Abiomed, maker of the world’s first approved fully-implantable artificial heart. Elena holds a Masters Degree in Health Policy and Business Management from Harvard University and a BA in Neuroscience from Amherst College.

Adam McNulty, MBA (adam_mcnulty@hms.harvard.edu)
Business Development Associate (Harvard Medical School Office)

Adam McNulty joined OTD in 2007. Prior to joining Harvard, Adam worked at Interleukin Genetics, Inc. in business development and at Northeastern University’s Office of Technology Transfer. Adam holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a BS in Biology from Trinity College.

Yana Piralkova, JD (yana_piralkova@harvard.edu)
Business Development Associate (Cambridge Office)

Yana Piralkova joined OTD in 2006. Prior to joining Harvard, Yana completed a two-year internship at the Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing at the Harvard Medical School-affiliated CBR Institute for Biomedical Research. Yana’s graduate research in Intellectual Property focused on the enforceability of online contracts, as well as on counseling technology-leading emerging enterprises. Additionally, Yana served as a law clerk for the City of Quincy Office of the City Solicitor. Yana holds a JD from Suffolk University Law School and a BA in Computer Science and Mathematics from Lawrence University.

Michal Preminger, PhD, MBA (michal_preminger@hms.harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Harvard Medical School Office)

Michal Preminger joined OTD in 2005. Prior to joining Harvard, she held a number of business development and technology development positions at Compugen, most recently as Vice President of Protein Therapeutics, responsible for the business management of the company's emerging drug discovery pipeline. Previously, Michal held several marketing and business development in the hi-tech industry, among others for Lucent Technologies. Michal also co-founded Anima Cell Metrology, a biotechnology startup focused on the real-time identification of proteins as they are synthesized in living cells. Michal holds a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, and an undergraduate degree in Medicine from the Hebrew University School of Medicine.

Cris Rothfuss, JD (cris_rothfuss@harvard.edu)
Senior Associate Director of Technology Transactions (Cambridge Office)

Cris Rothfuss joined OTD in 2006. Prior to joining Harvard, she served for four and a half years as the Director of Intellectual Property and Corporate Counsel for Control Delivery Systems, Inc., a drug delivery research and development company that was acquired by pSivida Limited in October 2005.  Prior to that, she worked as a litigation associate for approximately seven years at the law firms of Ivey, Barnum & O’Mara, LLC, in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Bernstein, Cushner & Kimmell, P.C., in Boston.  Cris holds a JD from the University of Connecticut and a BA from Yale University.

Efrat Shalom-Berensohn, LL.M (efrat_berensohn@harvard.edu)
Associate Director of Technology Transactions (Cambridge and Harvard Medical School Office)

Efrat joined OTD in 2007. Prior to joining Harvard, she worked as in-house counsel at Epix Pharmaceutical Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapeutics. Previous to that she worked as in-house counsel at Petrolgas Group, one of the leading investment and holding companies in Israel, specializing in energy, real estate and investments worldwide. She holds an LL.M from Boston University, an LL.B cum laude from the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel and a B.A. in Sociology & Communications from Haifa University.

Nadav Shichor, JD (nadav_shichor@harvard.edu)
Director of Technology Transactions (Cambridge and Harvard Medical School Office)

Nadav Shichor joined OTD in 2005. Prior to joining Harvard, he served for two and half years as Vice President and General Counsel of Ramot at Tel Aviv University Ltd., the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University. Nadav previously served as Vice President and General Counsel of Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ: CGEN), a genomics-based drug and diagnostic discovery company. Prior to that, he was an associate at Yigal Arnon & Co., one of Israel's largest law firms, where he worked primarily on corporate, securities and licensing matters. Nadav holds a JD and a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Lawrence Weissbach, PhD, MBA (lawrence_weissbach@hms.harvard.edu)
Associate Director of Business Development (Harvard Medical School Office)

Lawrence Weissbach joined OTD in 2006. He was previously an Assistant Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital, studying molecular oncology, with a focus on sarcomas. He performed his postdoctoral studies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the New York Blood Center. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Florida, Gainesville, an MBA from Suffolk University and a BA in Biology from Columbia University.

Ryan Williams, PhD (ryan_williams@harvard.edu)
Business Development Associate (Cambridge Office)

Ryan Williams joined OTD in 2007. Prior to joining Harvard, he provided consultant services to Harvard’s Office of Technology Development while completing his doctoral dissertation at MIT. Ryan holds a PhD from MIT in Materials Science and Engineering with a minor in business administration and management.

Our Administrative Team

Denlyn Atherton (denlyn_atherton@harvard.edu)
Patent Coordinator
617-495-3058

Sara Bird (sara_bird@hms.harvard.edu)
Operations Coordinator (Harvard Medical School Office)
617-432-0920

Marishko Boboila (marishko_boboila@harvard.edu)
Operations Coordinator
617-495-3067

Melissa Damas (melissa_damas@harvard.edu)
Financial Coordinator
617-496-0477

Christine Izzo (christine_izzo@harvard.edu)
Associate Patent Administrator
617-496-9422

Sarah James (sarah_james@harvard.edu)
Executive Assistant to Isaac T. Kohlberg
617-384-7441

Janet Maher (janet_maher@hms.harvard.edu)
Manager of Patent Administration (Harvard Medical School Office)
617-432-0923

Gwen Miner (gwen_miner@harvard.edu)
Finance and License Administrator
617-496-0473

David B. Pruskin (david_pruskin@harvard.edu)
Office Manager
617-496-3829

Bernice Rainey (bernice_rainey@harvard.edu)
Financial Coordinator
617-496-0475

Leah Tenney (leah_tenney@harvard.edu)
ISRA Coordinator
617-384-5264

Anastasia Tolu (anastasia_tolu@hms.harvard.edu)
MTA Administrative Assistant
617-432-1744

John Welsh (john_welsh@hms.harvard.edu)
Staff Assistant (Harvard Medical School Office)
617-432-0454