Technology Transfer
Ashley J. Stevens, D.Phil. (Oxon)
Executive Director, Office of Technology Transfer(617) 353-6303 • astevens@bu.edu
Dr. Stevens has been Director of the Office of Technology Transfer since 1995 and was appointed a Lecturer in the School of Management in 2005, where he teaches a graduate level, inter-disciplinary course on Technology Commercialization.
Dr. Stevens has worked in the biotechnology industry since 1982, with both start-up companies and academic organizations, to assist in turning promising scientific ideas into useful products and companies. Before joining Boston University, he was Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. Prior to that, he was Co-founder of Kytogenics, Inc., of which he is still a Director, Co-Founder and General Manager of Genmap, Inc., and was Vice President of Business Development for BioTechnica International. He started his career with The Procter & Gamble Company, where he held a number of positions in sales, marketing, strategic planning and acquisitions.
Since he joined Boston University, the Office of Technology Transfer has grown to a total of eight professionals and spun out over 40 companies based on the University’s research, some of which have raised substantial amounts of capital, and the University’s licensing income has climbed steadily.
Dr. Stevens publishes and lectures frequently on many aspects of technology transfer. He is very active with the Association of University Technology Managers, most recently as Vice President, Annual Meeting and Surveys. He was a Co-Founder of the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices and was the first Chair of its Executive Committee, leading the effort to create the Massachusetts Technology Portal.
Dr. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences, and a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Physical Chemistry from Oxford University. Click here to read more about Dr. Stevens.
Janine Anderson
Patent Manager(617) 358-0238 • jandersn@bu.edu
Ms. Anderson joined OTD in 1998 and oversees Boston University’s intellectual property portfolio to ensure that the University’s intellectual property is properly protected. Prior to joining OTD, she was a Patent Paralegal for Polaroid Corporation where she spent 28 years supporting their worldwide patent portfolio. She also assumed responsibility for supporting their worldwide trademark portfolio. At the beginning of her career at Polaroid, she worked closely with the legendary Dr. Edwin Land who was awarded 533 patents in his lifetime; later she provided in-house support to the landmark patent infringement lawsuit with Eastman Kodak Company which resulted in a judgment of almost $1 billion to Polaroid Corporation.
Ms. Anderson earned her certification as a Paralegal from Boston University.
Rick Clark, MBA
Licensing Manager, Life Sciences(617) 358-4208 • rclark@bu.edu
Mr. Clark joined OTD in July 2005. In his career, he has been an independent consultant of business development in the Life Sciences and also he spent ten years in biotechnology in both start-up and established companies. At Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Clark was Senior Manager of Business Development, where he handled partnership development and technology licensing. Prior to that, he held various positions of increased responsibility at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, spanning research, management and business development. He began his career at Repligen Corporation in 1993.
Mr. Clark received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology from Rochester Institute of Technology, and his Master of Science degree in Molecular, Cellular and Development Biology from Brown University. In addition, he has an MBA from Northeastern University’s High Technology MBA Program.
Mr. Clark represents Technology Transfer on the Boston University Medical Campus and is based in the Evans Biomedical Research Center.
Sean Lee, PhD
Licensing Manager, Physical Sciences(617) 353-4567 • E. seanlee@bu.edu
Dr. Lee joined OTD in October of 2005. He has held various positions in corporate research and business development within the biomaterials and medical device field. Dr. Lee has worked at two university start-ups, as a consultant and at Schott AG. At Schott AG he directed the company’s overall scientific and business activities in bioactive glass. Dr. Lee began his career at his own start-up within the University of Florida incubator system.
Dr. Lee received his Ph.D in theoretical physics from the University of Florida, his Diplom Physik degree from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany and a BS in physics from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Jonathan Jensen, MBA
Licensing Associate, Physical Sciences
(617) 358-3795 • jjensen@bu.edu
Mr. Jensen joined OTD in June of 2006. Prior to joining OTD, he worked as a Patent Paralegal at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, P.C., a large Boston-based general practice law firm, where he assisted with the prosecution of international patent applications. Prior to that he spent time in the technology transfer offices at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Northeastern University.
Mr. Jensen received his Master of Business Administration degree from Boston University’s Graduate School of Management, and both his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and his Graduate Certificate in Intellectual Property from Northeastern University. While a student at BU, Mr. Jensen founded IPconnectEd, a cross-scholarly organization for graduate students interested in intellectual property. As an undergraduate at Northeastern, Mr. Jensen gained industry experience as a Test Engineer for genomics, medical device, software, and product development companies. Mr. Jensen is also a Patent Agent, registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Software successfully licensed by Mr. Jensen has been featured in the AUTM 2008 Better World Report (see page 38), a publication created to promote public understanding of how academic research and technology transfer benefits society.
Mr. Jensen works closely with Dr. Sean Lee, Licensing Manager, Physical Sciences, to manage Boston University’s portfolio of Physical Sciences inventions. Mr. Jensen also developed and now manages the Technology Development Analyst Program designed to assist OTD in the assessment of new technologies while providing BU students with valuable hands-on experience.
April Effort
Licensing Associate, Life Sciences(617) 358-3045 • aeffort@bu.edu
April Effort joined the Technology Development Office at Boston University in November 2007. Prior to joining BU, she worked at the University of Michigan with the Coulter Foundation’s Translational Research Program in Biomedical Engineering. There she helped develop commercialization strategies including market, regulatory and intellectual property assessments for medical devices. In addition to her work with the Coulter program, Ms. Effort has worked as an independent consultant for Arboretum Ventures and several life science start-up companies.
As a Licensing Associate, she helps manage Boston University’s portfolio of Life Science inventions along with the Technology Analyst Program.
Ms. Effort is a graduate of the University of Michigan where she earned a Master of Science in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology as well as a Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biology. In addition to seven years of laboratory research, Ms. Effort also served as a science reporter for the Michigan Daily.
Kristie Brickner
Administrative Coordinator(617) 353-7631 • brickner@bu.edu
Kristie Brickner joined OTD in December 2006. Ms. Brickner previously worked as a Project Assistant at Latham & Watkins, a world renowned law firm, branched out of Los Angeles, CA. While at Latham & Watkins, Ms. Brickner provided legal and administrative support to several attorneys and paralegals on various legal matters.
Ms. Brickner received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Western Connecticut State University, where she also played for the Women’s Basketball Team for four years. She is currently working part-time, towards receiving her Master’s in Environmental Analysis & Energy, at Boston University.
Ms. Brickner works closely with Janine Anderson, Patent Manager, to ensure the smooth day–to day operations of the Technology Transfer Office.