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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 Weizmann 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 a BSE in engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

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 holds a BS in polymer chemistry from the State University of New York, a PhD in chemical physics from New York University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute.

Vivian Berlin, PhD (vivian_berlin@harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (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 (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 BA in Philosophy and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a PhD in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

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 from the New England School of Law, a Masters of Management from Cambridge College, and a BS in Biology from the University of MA, Amherst.

Geoffrey Erickson, PhD (geoffrey_erickson@harvard.edu)
Director of Business Development (Harvard Medical School Office)

Geff Erickson joined OTD in 2009. Prior to joining Harvard, Geff was CEO of Humacyte, Inc., a company created from technology out of Duke University and MIT. Prior to his role at Humacyte, he was a venture capitalist with Pappas Ventures, a firm focused on investments in the life science industry. In addition, he worked with Pappas Ventures as a co-founder of CoLucid Pharmaceuticals. Geff received a BSE in engineering from Duke University, an MSE in engineering from Tulane University, and a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Maryanne Fenerjian, PhD, JD (maryanne_fenerjian@harvard.edu)
Director of Technology Transfer Policy (Cambridge 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.

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 BA in Chemistry from the University of Virginia, a PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and an MBA from Boston University.

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. Curtis holds an MA in chemistry and a PhD in chemistry and chemical biology from Harvard University.

Grace Leung, PhD (grace_leung@harvard.edu)
Business Development Associate (Cambridge Office)

Grace Leung joined OTD in 2007. Prior to joining Harvard, Grace was an intern at the Office of Technology Licensing at Brandeis University. Grace holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from the Tufts University Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.

Adam McNulty, MBA (adam_mcnulty@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 a BS in Biology from Trinity College and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Alexis Moran, PhD (alexis_moran@harvard.edu)
Business Development Associate (Harvard Medical School Office)

Alexis Moran joined OTD in 2009. Prior to joining Harvard, Alexis was a healthcare consultant at Back Bay Strategies. At Back Bay, Alexis synthesized product development and commercialization strategies for clients in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical research industries. Alexis holds a BS in biochemistry from Bucknell University, a PhD in Neuroscience from University of Maryland School of Medicine, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Brandeis University.

Chris Natkanski, JD (chris_natkanski@harvard.edu)
Senior Associate Director of Technology Transactions (Cambridge Office)

Chris Natkanski joined OTD in 2009. Prior to joining Harvard, Chris worked for over eight years as an associate in the IP Practice Group and Corporate Department of Ropes & Gray LLP. His practice focused on IP- and technology-based transactions, including licensing, R&D collaborations, strategic partnerships, technology transfers, mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, and development and distribution relationships. He also provided strategic advice regarding IP and technology assets. Chris holds a JD from Cornell Law School and an AB in Physics from Harvard University.

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@harvard.edu)
Senior 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 an undergraduate degree in Medicine from the Hebrew University School of Medicine, a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Cris Rothfuss, JD (cris_rothfuss@harvard.edu)
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.

Our Administrative Team

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

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

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

Melissa Dacey (melissa_dacey@harvard.edu)
MTA Administrative Assistant (Cambridge Office)
617-495-7533

Melissa Defay (melissa_defay@harvard.edu)
Financial Coordinator (Cambridge Office)
617-496-0477

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

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

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

David B. Pruskin (david_pruskin@harvard.edu)
Associate Director of Operations and Administration (Cambridge Office)
617-496-3829

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

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

Anastasia Tolu (anastasia_tolu@harvard.edu)
MTA Administrative Assistant (Harvard Medical School Office)
617-432-1744

Jack Welsh (john_welsh@harvard.edu)
Assistant Patent Administrator (Harvard Medical School Office)
617-432-0454