Technology & Business Development

IP Portfolio Specialist
Denlyn Atherton
Denlyn is Senior Patent Administrator and Patent Coordinator at Harvard University’s Office of Technology Development. Since 2011, she has been providing administrative support for all Institute IP portfolios. She has over 10 years experience in technology transfer. She has also worked as Licensing Associate at Montana State University, Bozeman.
Business Development Lead
William Blake, Ph.D.
Will joined the Wyss Institute to guide strategy and business development in the areas of cellular engineering and synthetic biology. Previously, Will was on the founding team of GreenLight Biosciences where he led the development of novel cell-free manufacturing technologies and scientific partnership strategy as Vice President of Research and Development. Prior to that, Will...
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Frank Bobe, M.B.A, Ph.D.
Frank joined the Wyss Institute in 2014 and is working on start-up opportunities in the biotechnology area. Prior, he held CEO positions in various biotechnology companies, including Seres Health, a human microbiome company founded by Flagship Ventures, SpringLeaf Therapeutics, a drug – device combination product company spun out of MIT and BioAxone Therapeutic, Inc., a...
Senior Associate Director of Intellectual Property
Jay Culverwell, J.D.
Jay manages the patent portfolio of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard. Jay works closely with the Wyss investigators and business teams to develop strategic patent estates around emerging technologies. Prior to joining Harvard, Jay was a partner in the Boston office of K&L Gates LLP, where his practice focused on patent...
Director of Platform Development
Robert Cunningham
Bob is responsible for implementing the Institute’s technology-translation strategy for the Adaptive Material Technologies Platform. Having led business development efforts for a venture-financed microfluidics company, Bob also lends his microfluidics expertise to the Biomimetic Microsystems platform. He brings expertise in product development, grant and venture capital financing, and business development in numerous medical device and...
Associate Director of Intellectual Property
Shirley De Chant, Ph.D.
Shirley works with the Wyss and OTD teams to develop and manage the Wyss patent portfolio. Prior to joining Harvard, Shirley was a Patent Agent at Lando and Anastasi, LLP and Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC. Previously, she was a research scientist at Baxter Healthcare and held postdoctoral fellowships at the University...
Director of Business Development
Jessica L. Duda, M.S., M.E.M.
Jessica joined OTD in 2014. Jessica’s career has focused on early stage medical device development from both the entrepreneurial and venture capital perspectives. Prior to joining OTD, Jessica was with Third Rock Ventures, where she founded and ran all business development activities for NinePoint Medical, a platform imaging company. Her previous roles at Cyberkinetics focused...
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Tina Liu, M.B.A.
Tina joined the Wyss Institute in 2017 and is working with George Church and Ying Kai Chan to develop Ally Therapeutics, a startup enabling safer and more efficacious gene therapies. Prior, Tina was a private equity investor at TPG Capital, where she evaluated potential investments generally $1Bn+ in size across commercial pharma and other sectors...
Business Development Associate
Jessica McDonough, Ph.D.
Jessica joined the Wyss Institute in 2014. Prior to joining the Wyss, Jessica worked at Decision Resources as a Principal consultant. She worked with top pharmaceutical and biotech companies on over fifty engagements including topics such as therapeutic area landscapes, opportunity assessments, and valuations focusing on both the major and emerging markets. Jessica holds a...