This webinar series will feature biotech industry leaders, experts, and entrepreneurs discussing COVID-19 and its impact on innovation.
In our ninth panel, we’ll discuss the effect a pandemic has had on Tech Transfer offices. Hear from experts in the field – what will the future hold?
Speakers include:
Michal Preminger, PhD, MBA , Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, East North America
Michal is Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, East North America, located at the Innovation Centre in Boston. In this role she leads the Innovation Center team to build, advance, and manage the External R&D portfolio of co-investments spanning across pharmaceutical, consumer health and medical devices. Until recently, Michal served as the Executive Director of Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development (OTD) Harvard Medical School site, where she was responsible for development and commercialization of technologies emerging from research at HMS laboratories and for the strategy and execution of all industry collaborations. She negotiated agreements with major biopharma, life sciences, food and cosmetics companies to advance the translation of discoveries into products and create a revenue-generating product pipeline, and worked with scientific founders and investors to create new startup companies. Prior to joining Harvard University’s OTD in 2005, Michal held a number of business development and technology development positions at Compugen, most recently as VP of Protein Therapeutics, responsible for the business management of the company’s emerging drug discovery pipeline. Previously, she worked in the technology industry in marketing and business development roles, and co-founded a biotechnology startup. Michal serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards FutuRx Accelerator, and was, until recently, a member of the SAB of Prize4Life and a Member of the Board of Directors of a number of companies, including Compugen and Alma Lasers. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the Weizmann Institute of Science, an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, and a BA in Medicine from Hadassah Medical School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Michael Fenn, Ph.D. , Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences, Harvard Innovation Labs
Dr. Michael Fenn is tasked with advising and supporting all healthcare and life science ventures with a focus on supporting founders seeking to drive innovations in human health, which include students, research fellows, and alumni. Michael also serves as a liaison within the Harvard-affiliated healthcare and research communities, as well the surrounding Boston-area ecosystem. He is particularly passionate about bridging the gap between the academic research and venture worlds, having worked extensively in both. Michael has served as cofounder, advisor, and board member for over 25 startups, as well as several incubators and economic development committees. His entrepreneurial efforts have resulted in significant early-stage capital, creation of intellectual property, technology transfer, and navigation of regulatory pathways. Dr. Fenn received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, and B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry, all from the University of Florida. Aaron Schwartz , Search & Evaluation Director, Global Drug Discovery, Novo Nordisk
Aaron has been a Director in Novo Nordisk’s Search & Evaluation team in Global Drug Discovery since 2016. In this capacity, Aaron is responsible for the search an evaluation of new therapeutics and enabling technologies for protein, peptide, and antibody drugs. Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Aaron worked in the MIT Technology Licensing Office for 13.5 years. During this time, he worked on license and sponsored research agreements with life sciences companies from startups to big biotech/pharma and everything in between. He also managed a portfolio of over 650 technologies. Before Aaron’s time at MIT, he was a management consultant to big pharma and a startup. Aaron has an undergrad degree in biology from the University of Chicago and a Masters degree in biology from MIT. Our webinar will be hosted on YouTube Live. Registrants will receive the link in an email shortly before broadcast.
