Enhancing TTO Productivity Using Vendor Tools
In the dynamic world of tech transfer, one recurring refrain resonates: "There's never enough time!". This session tackles enhancing office productivity and efficiency by focusing on the decision-making processes involved in selecting tools to support your institution's innovation. Participants will engage in discussions to identify the tools best suited for their tech transfer needs based on each TTO’s unique structure, decision-making process, and user engagement. Join us for an interactive and informative session on services designed to enhance intellectual property management and technology licensing efforts to drive impactful outcomes.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss tools’ performance with a focus on user experience
- Discuss how organizational structure impacts tool choice
- Discuss opportunities to increase TTO’s staff interaction with tools
Date: Thursday, March 27, 2025
Time: Noon – 1 p.m. ET
Cost: AUTM Members-$0 / Non-Members-$225
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Instructors
Instructor Bios
Elizabeth Harper received her BA in biochemistry from Earlham College in 2015 before earning her PhD in integrated biomedical sciences in the lab of Dr. M. Sharon Stack from the University of Notre Dame in 2022. As a graduate student, she received a prestigious National Institutes of Health pre- to postdoctoral transition fellowship which currently supports her work as a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Ashani Weeraratna’s lab at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. There she studies how the molecular mechanisms of aging affect cancer progression and response to therapy. In addition to her scientific research, Elizabeth is a senior fellow in the Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) Commercialization Academy, where she supervises a team of four fellows and supports JHTV staff by doing intellectual property and market research.
Sarah Kamper manages intellectual property protection and commercialization for a variety of chemistry and materials science technologies, including areas such as energy and sustainability, supramolecular chemistry, and biomaterials. Towards commercialization, she leads discussions with licensees, potential partners, and other institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Sarah is also the office contact for student inventions and entrepreneurship classes. Prior to joining the Northwestern Univeristy Innovation and New Venutres Office, Sarah was a graduate student in the chemistry department at Northwestern. Her research focused on the synthesis and biological testing of enzyme-activated MRI contrast agents for visualizing gene expression. She also completed coursework in biophysics as part of Northwestern’s Molecular Biophysics Training Program.
Dev Narasimhan is a registered patent attorney (70,051) with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering, specializing in biomaterials and cell and tissue engineering. Dev also has extensive experience as an in-house attorney, where he worked with inventors and stakeholders to obtain global patent protection and counseled on patent matters. Previously, Dev worked at a law firm specializing in patent prosecution, where he drafted patent applications, responded to office actions, and consulted with inventors and clients in technologies pertaining to databases, telecommunications, and mechanical devices. In his spare time, Dev likes to play soccer, ride his mountain bike, take walks, and play board games.
Ashwin Ramanujam is an innovation manager at UM Ventures, University of Maryland, College Park. He joined UM Ventures in 2024 and has since been bridging the gap between research and real-world impact by managing translational research from the lab to market. With an interdisciplinary background, he oversees a diverse portfolio of disclosures spanning the physical, life, and social sciences. Before joining UM Ventures, Ashwin was a postdoctoral scholar in technology transfer at Texas State University, where he leveraged his interdisciplinary background to maximize faculty outreach, build multi-disciplinary teams to identify and solve community challenges, and create social impact. He holds a doctorate and master’s in chemical engineering from Texas Tech University and Ohio University respectively.
Sempian Sooriakumar received his BS in microbiology and immunology from University of Rochester in 2012 before earning his JD at American University Washington College of Law in 2016. Prior to joining the Johns Hopkins University in 2021, Sempian worked as a patent agent for Thomson Reuters and subsequently a small entity microelectronics company based in Singapore.