A unique forum for representatives from universities and industry to find better ways to partner
UIDP tackles strategic and tactical challenges impacting the environment for research collaboration. We’re not a lobbying organization. We are a solutions-oriented organization where our members identify issues impacting university-industry (U-I) relations and opportunities to develop new approaches to working together.
Members of the UIDP work together to:
- Maximize the potential of existing collaborations and partnerships along the entire Partnership Continuum.
- Build new networks and opportunities for future collaboration.
- Remove barriers to joint research project success.
Many of the finest innovation companies and best research universities in the world belong to UIDP, representing a broad cross-section of industry sectors, organizations and academic institutions. Working together, we develop and disseminate practical solutions to shared challenges impeding collaboration success, irrespective of who we are or where we work.
Want to share UIDP with your colleagues? Download the brief, About UIDP
Identifying new partners
While UIDP’s focus is on developing practical solutions to address obstacles to collaboration, we know how challenging it can be to identify new partners with the right combination of shared values and strategic and technical competencies. We offer UIDP members several ways to identify and connect with potential new partners. Our conferences are a primary avenue to share approaches, collaborate while establishing important connections, and solve contemporary partnership challenges. UIDP relies on member organizations to provide host facilities and support in-person conferences. Most conference sites are secured years in advance.
Our Mission
The UIDP supports mutually beneficial university-industry collaborations by developing and disseminating strategies for addressing common issues between the two sectors.
Our Values
Respect
- The development of a deep understanding and respect of the diverse goals, missions, and cultures between our universities and companies, and appreciation of the synergy that they can afford
Open communication
- An environment where mutual respect fosters candor and communication
Commitment to making a difference
- Innovation for the public good, maximizing to the greatest extent possible, the information and products that will ultimately be available to the public
- Mutual commitment to sharing our experiences, diverse perspectives, and expertise, and lead to high impact training and professional development
- Alignment of the varied goals and cultures of university and industry in pursuit of innovation and research
- Strategic, result-oriented thinking and the development of practical, active demonstrations or pilots
- Recognition of the benefits of university-industry collaborations and the opportunity lost when mutually beneficial agreements cannot be reached
Integrity
- An appropriate level of trust based upon personal engagement and shared experiences
- A commitment to principled and transparent negotiations
Responsiveness
- A commitment to rapidly respond to evolving challenges and opportunities to enhance partnerships
Tony Boccanfuso
President & CEO
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Since 2007, Anthony M. Boccanfuso has led UIDP (uidp.org), a solutions-oriented membership organization comprised of top-tier innovation companies and world-class research universities. UIDP supports mutually beneficial collaborations by developing and disseminating strategies for addressing common issues between the sectors—academic, corporate, and government. Its activities help members achieve meaningful impact on a broad array of collaboration matters, ranging from contracting to commercialization and workforce development.
After completing his doctorate in inorganic chemistry, Boccanfuso embarked on a career spanning more than 30 years with a focus on research and innovation. He managed a variety of administrative, programmatic, and strategy initiatives for academic, government, and private sector organizations, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
More recently, Boccanfuso was part of a team selected to create and manage the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA, ervacommunity.org), an NSF-funded initiative with a mission to identify and develop new engineering research directions and catalyze high-impact research that benefits society.
Tony’s wife, Dr. Laura Boccanfuso, is a successful roboticist and entrepreneur who founded Van Robotics, an ed tech company. They have three children and reside in Columbia, SC.
Kevin Byrne
Treasurer
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As the president and CEO of The University Financing Foundation (TUFF), Kevin has achieved national recognition as a creative problem solver for institutions facing the traditional dilemma of insufficient capital resources.
He pioneered TUFF’s non-traditional approach to public-private partnerships, real estate financing structures, and economic development initiatives for university research parks and innovation districts. His strength is the ability to translate complex real estate solutions into true resource-saving solutions for institutional executives and boards.
Kevin graduated with honors from Furman University in 1991, where he currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees, and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He serves on the board of Georgia’s Partnership for Inclusive Innovation and we was previously appointed by Georgia’s lieutenant governor to the Georgia Public Private Partnership Guidelines Commission. He also served on two Brookings Institution advisory committees – the Innovation District Initiative and the Bass Placemaking Initiative.
Kevin is board chairman of Young Life for Metro Atlanta, an Eagle Scout, and a member of the board of directors for the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He serves on the board of trustees of Whitefield Academy and chairs the finance committee. He is an avid golfer and little league baseball coach.
Josh Aebischer
ERVA Program Specialist
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Josh Aebischer brings experience from eight years in the insurance industry to his role as ERVA program specialist. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and religious studies from Appalachian State University. He enjoys sports and playing chess in his free time.
Kimberly Brennan
Events Specialist
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Kimberly Brennan brings more than 12 years of event planning experience to UIDP. She served as a training specialist and planner for the U.S. Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center and has been an event coordinator for a large health care nonprofit organization. She holds an associate degree in business operations from Columbia College. She enjoys sports and outdoor activities with her family and is an active volunteer in local efforts and in the experimental aviation community to foster STEM education for the next generation.
Natalie Brown
UIDP Program Specialist
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Natalie is a 2022 graduate of the University of South Carolina, majoring in psychology with a minor in criminal justice. She was born and raised in Austin, TX, where she grew up with her parents and dog, Leo. While seeking her bachelor’s degree, she was involved in a criminal justice research project and interned at the South Carolina Attorney General’s office, working in both the VAWA/Human Trafficking Unit and the Medicaid Recipient Fraud Unit. She previously worked as a client representative and a corporate trainer for Redis Marketing Inc. Natalie lives in historic downtown Columbia with her cat, Lula.
Brian Carter
UIDP Special Projects Consultant
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Brian has over 25 years of experience working in pharmaceutical research and high performance computing, and 10 years of experience in strategic partnerships for U-I collaboration. Before joining University College London (UCL), Brian was corporate relations coordinator at the University of Cambridge. Brian focuses on the development of strategic partnerships between external organizations and UCL researchers in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. He has a particular interest in work related to small molecule drug discovery, structural biology, and informatics. Brian earned his graduate and doctorate degrees from the University of Natal in South Africa.
Brian Courtney
Marketing Communications Manager
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Brian Courtney brings more than 30 years of experience in marketing communications and content creation to UIDP. He has worked in industry, academia, and agencies where he built skills in strategic planning, branding, and media relations. He was also a staff writer/editor for award-winning consumer magazines, writing about everything from yachting to human resources to scuba diving. Brian holds a BA in Communications from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in New Jersey. Outside the office, Brian is a PADI-certified scuba instructor and a dog rescue volunteer.
Sean Crotty
Business Development Consultant
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For the past 11 years, Seán has specialized in university-industry partnerships, starting with his role as director of business development at Xerox PARC, then as strategic program manager in the VMware Research Group, and most recently as the principal program manager on Amazon’s academic partnerships team.
Seán has worked in tech partnerships at Apple, Silicon Graphics, eBay, and several startups. He holds an MBA and a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Yale University.
At UIDP, Seán focuses on business development for member recruitment.
Taylor Davis
Development Specialist
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Taylor Davis is from Gilbert, SC, and has a background in marketing, property management, and real estate. She graduated from Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Taylor enjoys playing with her dog, going to the beach, and boating on Lake Murray with her family and friends.
Melissa Erekson
Project Consultant
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Melissa is the principal of Clio & Associates, a consulting practice that delivers solutions for university-industry collaborations. She has 16 years of experience in university-industry relations, including leadership positions at both Tulane University and the Pennsylvania State University. Melissa has demonstrated experience in using data to make decisions on pursuing “big ideas” with the most strategic industry partners while working across academic and corporate silos to inform and support large-scale initiatives for impact. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish studies from Tufts University as well as an MBA with a concentration in international marketing from the FW Olin School of Business at Babson College.
Caroline Farrell
Marketing Communications Specialist
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Caroline is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she majored in advertising and minored in retail. She has always had a passion for leveraging creativity to connect with audiences. Prior to joining UIDP, Caroline honed her skills through various internships and extracurricular activities, gaining valuable experience in the world of marketing. Caroline enjoys reading in her free time and treasures quality time with friends.
Natoshia Goines
Senior Manager of Events and AI Strategy
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Natoshia has 15 years of professional experience in meeting planning and managing small- and large-scale meetings and conferences. Prior to joining UIDP, Natoshia worked as a meeting professional for a large corporation, a consulting firm, a university, and a nonprofit. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public health from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in executive leadership from Liberty University. In her spare time, Natoshia loves volunteering in the community through various local initiatives.
Tamara Hayman Henry
UIDP Special Projects Consultant
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As UIDP’s special projects consultant, Tamara Hayman Henry is responsible for managing the initiative to aid members in growing their relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Tamara is a certified project management professional (PMP), Lean and Six Sigma Blackbelt, and engineer with more than 16 years’ experience in varying disciplines including software and systems engineering, information technology, project management, and process improvement. Tamara has demonstrated experience in designing and executing Lean projects that leverage the intersection of technology, strategy, and business to create high–value and high–performing teams. She earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and a master’s degree in technical management from Johns Hopkins University. Tamara is a wife, mother of two, and a classroom speaker for Maryland public schools, and actively participates in several community support activities as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Maddy Howard
Media and Communications Consultant
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As media and communications specialist, Maddy Howard supports UIDP’s marketing and communications function and conducts online research on emerging topics in university-industry research collaboration. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in mass communications at the University of South Carolina. In addition to creating social media content, Maddy enjoys creative writing, gardening, and painting. She resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with her partner and cat.
Morgan Jones-King
Chief Program Officer
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As the UIDP chief program officer, Morgan ensures that all UIDP event programming is curated to meet the needs of members and practitioners in the university-industry partnership landscape. Morgan, a certified archivist, is a proud Tar Heel, as she earned both a master’s degree in library science and a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before joining UIDP, Morgan worked for the South Carolina Department of Archives and History as the electronic records archivist. She resides in Columbia, SC with her husband, Benjamin, and their daughter.
Michelle Lubaczewski
Operations Coordinator
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Over the past eight years, Michelle has contributed to the UIDP mission through operational initiatives, career center facilitation, and coordinating member-focused events around the world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University and a master’s degree in human resource management from Rutgers University. Her professional background includes 10 years as assistant director at the Rutgers Employment Center, three years as a faculty member at DeVry University, and four years as a test administrator for graduate law and medical school entrance examinations. Outside of the office, Michelle loves to travel to new places, read all types of books, and spend weekends on the lake with family and friends.
Sandy Mau
Chief Partnerships Officer
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As UIDP’s chief partnerships officer, Sandy is responsible for development, membership services, and marketing and communications strategy across the organization. She brings more than 20 years of experience in strategy, project development and execution, and multi-channel communication to the UIDP team. Sandy has bylined hundreds of articles and reports, specializing in making complex topics accessible to a broad audience. She is a proud alumna of the University of California, San Diego.
Spike Narayan
ERVA Executive Director
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Chandrasekhar “Spike” Narayan is a seasoned Silicon Valley executive. Most recently, he managed IBM’s California Research Lab, which focused on innovative research in AI, semiconductor technology, and quantum computing. He was responsible for driving science and technology at the lab, leading fundamental and applied research. Narayan also managed innovation for the division and was responsible for research partnerships.
Spike has held several research and management positions in IBM at the Almaden and Watson Research Laboratories and has received many awards for his technical contributions. He was a master inventor in IBM Research and has more than 150 global patents to his credit. He was also a member of IBM’s Academy of Technology.
Spike earned a doctorate in metallurgy and materials engineering from Lehigh University.
Lily Neal
Membership Data Coordinator
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As the membership data coordinator, Lily works with UIDP members and staff to ensure all member information is both up to date and confidential. This ensures the maximum experience for UIDP membership organizations. Before joining UIDP, Lily served in both the public service and corporate sectors in team development and collaboration. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and sales from Western Carolina University. Lily is a dedicated military spouse and a proud mom of twins.
Chris Ramming
Senior Strategic Advisor
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Chris Ramming is a technology and research management strategist with a passion for working at the intersection of theory and practice. Before joining UIDP as senior strategic advisor, he served as VMware’s senior director of research and innovation, with responsibility for several innovation programs, including the company’s global academic
Chris has a background in computer science with degrees from Yale and UNC Chapel Hill.Ashley Richardson
ERVA Program Manager
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Ashley Richardson is an entrepreneur and product development specialist with an economics degree from Georgia State University. Fueled by a love for social impact, she has earned recognition as an award-winning serial entrepreneur, embodying a commitment to excellence and innovation.
Kelsey Sadlier
Membership Engagement Manager
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Kelsey Sadlier brings her 7 years of membership experience from the South Carolina State Museum to her role as membership engagement manager. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and business law at Western Carolina University. Kelsey is a native to Columbia, and lives with her two dogs. She enjoys motorsports and reading in her free time.
Mohammed Salehin
Accounting & Grants Manager
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Mohammed Salehin recently moved to the Columbia area from Virginia. He served in the U.S. Army, graduated from the University of Virginia, and brings over 10 years of experience, including non-profit and government finance administration. Away from the office, you will find him at the gym, enjoying a soccer game, or spending time with his family.
Emily Shorkey
ERVA Operations Manager
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Emily is a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) who has worked with organizations nationwide and brings administrative expertise in general operations, events, compliance, and board governance. Most recently, Emily served as the director of operations for Volunteers of America Michigan where she focused on enhancing and streamlining processes across service lines. Emily completed her master’s degree in nonprofit leadership and management from Arizona State University in 2023. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University where she dual majored in public and nonprofit administration and community development, minored in event management, and received a certificate in international non-governmental organization administration. Emily was born and raised in Michigan and enjoys traveling, volunteering, and spending time with her dog, Ella.
Rebecca Springfield
Chief Administrative Officer
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Rebecca, our chief administrative officer, has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate and non-profit relations. Her expertise covers a wide range of areas, including public relations, human resources and employee relations, event planning, and business and program management. She earned a master’s degree in leadership from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. Rebecca resides in Irmo, SC with her husband, a retired Marine Corps helicopter pilot, and their two daughters.
Lisa Frierson Staggers
Events Coordinator
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Lisa comes to UIDP with 10 years of experience in local government, including a background in economic development, higher education, and meeting and event planning. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Winthrop University and a certificate in meeting and event planning from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Lisa is a museum enthusiast, avid vegetable gardener, and enjoys taking road trips along the eastern seaboard. She is a Columbia native and resides in the area with her husband and toddler daughter.
Madison Stone
Graphic Design Consultant
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Madison is a designer and illustrator from Columbia, SC. She graduated from the University of South Carolina Honors College and received her bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design and illustration. In her free time, Madison enjoys creating art, Braves baseball, and listening to true crime podcasts.
Alex Taylor
Program Coordinator
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Angie Florentine Taylor
Membership Services Manager
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As the UIDP membership services manager, Angie ensures that all UIDP members receive the maximum return on their membership investment by leading membership communications including news, benefits, and services offered by UIDP, as well as connecting members with other opportunities that arise within the U-I environment. Angie joined the UIDP team after earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh specializing in business administration with a focus in marketing and operations management. Please contact her at angie@uidp.net if interested in learning more about UIDP.
Kristina Thorsell
Senior Project Advisor
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As UIDP’s senior project advisor, Kristina manages UIDP’s project portfolio. The portfolio covers a wide array of topics relating to contracting, strategic partnerships, workforce development, and government engagement. For more than seven years, Kristina has worked at the intersection of university, industry, and government. She seeks to identify barriers to cross-sector collaboration and use crowd-sourcing techniques to create solutions and opportunities for lowering barriers and creating a stronger innovation ecosystem. Previously, Kristina held positions with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Academy of Sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Purdue University and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Maryland. She also regularly attends association management, project management, and meeting facilitation training. Kristina resides in Vienna, VA with her husband, Ben, and her dog, Vsepr.
Angelica Tyler
Program Manager
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Angelica is the Program Manager at UIDP, where she collaborates with program sponsors, UIDP members, and staff to plan and execute initiatives. With her background in research analysis, entrepreneurship, and program management, Angelica brings a unique perspective to UIDP. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Winston-Salem State University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. When she’s not working, Angelica enjoys spending time with her family and friends, listening to podcasts, creating her own personal care products, and going to the beach.
Kate Waddell
Program Specialist
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Kate is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in public relations with a concentration in crisis management and minoring in sports and entertainment management. She is from Greenville, South Carolina and enjoys reading and spending time with friends.
Elaine Brock
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Elaine Brock has long worked with UIDP in our programming and as a project manager on our Contract Accords and Master Agreements projects, both of which develop practical guidance and materials to help parties negotiating collaborative research agreements. She is president & senior partner at Contracts, Compliance, and Conflict of Interest Authority, LLC, where she provides advice and counsel to universities and small business on research administration issues.
Sandra Brown
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Sandra Ann Brown is a distinguished professor of psychology and psychiatry and previously served as vice chancellor for research at the University of California, San Diego. In that prior role, she oversaw the Office of Research Affairs, which is charged with creating opportunities, enhancing the research experience, developing tools and training to improve research administration, and supporting and promoting university innovations and industry engagements.
Sandra is internationally recognized for her developmentally focused alcohol and drug research. Her research yielded pioneering information on adolescent addiction, relapse among youth, and long-term outcomes of youth who have experienced alcohol and drug problems. She is the past president of Division 50 (Addictions) of the American Psychological Association, is on the executive board of numerous scientific organizations, and has over 35 grants and 350 publications. She is involved in addiction prevention and intervention at the regional, state, and national levels and helped lead the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s (NIAAA) effort to establish national screening and early intervention guidelines for youth. Currently, Sandra co-directs the administrative units of the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
Todd Cleland
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Todd Cleland recently retired from his role as senior director for corporate relations at the University of Washington (UW), where he led the central corporate relations team. Todd’s team focused on supporting and growing UW’s top 30 corporate relationships and on leading strategic projects to enhance corporate engagement. His leadership resulted in the creation of a fee-based capstone program in the College of Engineering and the launch of a pre-paid IP program for corporate-sponsored projects.
Todd has been involved with UIDP for over 10 years. He has served as UW’s member representative and has actively participated in many UIDP conferences and events, including several appearances as a panel speaker. Todd has also worked on several UIDP projects and served on the project committee. Additionally, he has had a long involvement with the Network for Academic Corporate Relations Officers (NACRO), where he served on the board of directors, numerous committees, and as co-president; in this role, he helped lead a major refresh of NACRO’s strategic plan.
Todd joined UW in 2010 after 20+ years at Hewlett-Packard (HP). During his HP career, he worked in R&D and management roles in its semiconductor and inkjet printing businesses and in the chief technology office, where he led new business programs and supported merger and acquisition activities. Todd helped to develop the printheads that enabled HP’s first photo printers. Todd’s technical experience includes digital printing, displays, microfabrication, and microfluidics; he is an inventor on 20 issued patents. Todd earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, both in chemical engineering; he also has a dual master of science and business administration degree in technology management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.
Natascha Eckert
UIDP Senior Fellow
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For more than 20 years, Natascha has been active in various leadership roles within corporate research and innovation at SIEMENS AG and OSRAM GmbH. She has a long-year experience in the university-industry-business, currently managing Siemens’ global strategic partner program with universities, research institutes, and academic startups: the Siemens Research and Innovation Ecosystem Program (Siemens RIE). For many years Natascha has coordinated the company’s engagement in manifold external research and innovation organizations and committees. She holds seats in various international academic bodies.
Jilda Garton
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Jilda previously served as the vice president for research and general manager of the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) and Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation (GTARC) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In that role, she was responsible for the financial and business affairs of GTRC and GTARC, including licensing of intellectual property created at Georgia Tech. She also directed the activities of the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Office of Research Integrity Assurance, and the Office of Industry Engagement.
Jilda has long been active nationally in research policy matters. She served on the board of directors of the Council on Governmental Relations (1999-2004), including two years as chair of the Contracts and Intellectual Property Committee. She also served on the UIDP Board of Directors, co-chairing the Contracts Accords working group. Jilda has also served as a member of the faculty of the National Council of University Research Administrators’ professional education programs.
Anna-Marie Greenaway
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Anna-Marie Greenaway is completing her doctorate degree at the University of Cambridge following a 30-year career in the energy industry, most recently as global director of international research partnerships at BP. In this role, Anna-Marie worked closely with the University of Cambridge and until September 2020, served on the advisory committees of the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, Scott Polar Research Institute, and the BP Institute for Multiphase Flow as well as the Clean Energy Centre at Tsinghua University, Beijing and the PROSPER low carbon rural energy project at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, India. In 2017, she was appointed to the Science Advisory Council for the UK government Department of Transport and remains a member of the council while undertaking her part-time doctoral research in the department of engineering at the University of Cambridge. Anna-Marie’s academic background is in Earth sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (RHBNC), University of London and a master’s degree in sustainability leadership from the University of Cambridge with a dissertation on strategic road mapping for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies in China. Her doctorate is supervised by Rob Phaal and aims to explore the development of strategic road mapping frameworks and toolkits to assure delivery of net zero carbon emissions.
Randolph Hall
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Randy is a professor in the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California. His research focuses on how universities innovate in their practices for education, research, and clinical care, and how they overcome the obstacles to change. As vice president of research for 14½ years, he led research initiatives across the university, overseeing research advancement, administration, and ethics activities. Randy has contributed to numerous national organizations, including service as board chair for UIDP and chair of our Joint Employment project committee.
Karl Koster
UIDP Senior Fellow
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At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Karl Koster designed and implemented partnership strategies between MIT, large corporations, startup companies, U.S. and international government organizations, and the surrounding innovation ecosystem. From 1999 to 2022, he led the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (260+ corporate members) and launched the MIT Start Up Exchange (1400+ MIT spin-outs), fostering strong corporate relationships between MIT and the surrounding innovation ecosystem. Throughout his tenure, his office led the field of university/industry relations into the global and regional networked landscape of today. The MIT team catalyzed and supported numerous major international programs that established programmatic linkages between universities, industry, and governments in support of regional entrepreneurship and research commercialization strategies.
Karl remains an MIT affiliate. Most recently, his team took the lead at MIT and across other universities in developing new approaches to university/corporate interactions, including extensive remote delivery offerings, that addressed recent pandemic-related challenges. He previously served as chairman of UIDP and has long been a UIDP leader dedicated to strengthening university-industry partnerships.
Malcolm Skingle
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Malcolm Skingle managed GSK’s Academic Liaison unit, with staff in the U.S. and U.K. for almost 30 years until recently retiring. His former role involved close liaison with several groups outside the company, including government departments, research, and funding councils. He sat on many external bodies, including the BBSRC Council and the HEFCE REF Main Panel A. He currently sits on the UKRI Infrastructure Advisory Committee and several U.K. university department advisory groups. Malcolm chairs the Diamond (Synchotron) Industrial Advisory Board and the Science Industry Partnership, as well as several other groups.
Malcolm was awarded a CBE in the 2009 Queens Birthday Honours list for services to the pharmaceutical industry. He holds a B.Sc. in Pharmacology/Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology and was awarded an honorary professorship at the University of Birmingham and honorary degrees from the Universities of Hertfordshire and Brunel. He is an elected fellow of the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College and the Academy of Medical Sciences. Malcolm has authored more than 70 publications, including articles on the interface between industry and academia.
Jim Spohrer
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Jim Spohrer serves on the International Society of Service Innovation Professionals (ISSIP) board of directors. At IBM, he worked in open source AI/data, and led the Global University Programs, IBM Almaden service research, and the chief technology office in the IBM Venture Capital Relations group. At Apple, he achieved Distinguished Engineer Scientist Technologist (DEST) for authoring and learning platforms. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he developed speech recognition systems at Verbex (Exxon) and at Yale University, where he earned a doctorate in computer science and artificial intelligence. With over 90 publications and nine patents, Jim’s awards include AMA ServSIG Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Service Discipline, Evert Gummesson Service Research, Vargo-Lusch Service-Dominant Logic, Daniel Berg Service Systems, and PICMET Fellow for advancing service science.
Bob Starbuck
UIDP Senior Fellow
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Bob Starbuck served more than three decades in the pharmaceutical industry, where he led biostatistics, clinical programming, clinical data management, forms design, medical writing, and field monitoring functions. He has chaired an American Statistical Association (ASA) section and ASA committees, and is an ASA Fellow and recipient of the ASA Founders Award. Bob previously served as treasurer of UIDP and chair of the North Carolina State College of Sciences Foundation Board of Directors. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Miami University and his master’s and doctorate degrees in Statistics from North Carolina State University.
Nerissa Draeger, Chair
Lam Research
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Nerissa Draeger is director of global university engagements at Lam Research, a position she has held since 2017. She oversees Lam’s academic partnerships and strategic research collaborations in pursuit of disruptive and enabling technologies to advance the semiconductor industry. Her leadership is focused on creating diversity in both our technology and talent pipelines to drive innovative solutions for our customers. Nerissa has led various programs since joining the company in 2000, including feasibility of emerging materials and processes, new product development, and strategic business and intellectual property development.
Nerissa’s background is in thin film deposition, and she earned her doctorate in materials science and engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her bachelor of science in engineering degree from the University of Michigan. She has authored over 30 patents and numerous technical publications.
Padma Raghavan, Incoming Chair
Vanderbilt University
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Padma Raghavan is the vice provost for research and innovation and chief research officer, senior advisor to the chancellor, and distinguished professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University.
As vice provost for research and innovation, Padma oversees the advancement of the university’s research and innovation portfolio, including technology transfer and commercialization spanning the university and medical center as well as the development of strategic partnerships. Such partnerships include Ancora Innovation, with Deerfield Management to accelerate the development and delivery of life-changing therapeutics from bench to patient, as well as Army Pathfinder, a program to rapidly advance mission-critical science and technology.
In her faculty role, Padma specializes in high-performance computing (aka supercomputing), focusing on developing algorithms for scalable, fault-tolerant, and energy-efficient computing. She has authored over one hundred peer-reviewed publications and supervised nearly fifty master’s degree and Ph.D. theses. Padma has received several recognitions including the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, and elevation to fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She is also active in the profession, currently serving on the advisory committees Office of International Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation, and on the Board of Governors of UT-Battelle, which operates the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In 2022, Padma was appointed to a two-year term on the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.
Prior to joining Vanderbilt in 2016 from the Pennsylvania State University, Padma served as the associate vice president for research and strategic initiatives, the founding director of the university-wide institute for computational and data sciences, and as distinguished professor of computer science and engineering.
Susan Martinis, Immediate Past Chair
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Susan Martinis is vice chancellor for research and innovation at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she provides leadership for the campus-wide interdisciplinary research institutes, promotes new research initiatives, and oversees the administrative and business processes that ensure the safe, ethical, and productive conduct of research at UIUC. Susan is a successful researcher, engaged in entrepreneurial and corporate partnerships, a committed educator, and an experienced administrator. Her research focuses on the mechanisms, evolution, and biomedical applications of protein synthesis and RNA-protein interactions.
Susan earned her bachelor’s degree from Washington State University and her doctorate at UIUC. She trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow. She worked at a start-up biotechnology company, Cubist Pharmaceuticals (later acquired by Merck), and was awarded the company’s first U.S. patent and National Institutes of Health SBIR grant, before moving to the University of Houston. There, Susan received the University of Houston’s highest teaching honor, the Enron Teaching Excellence Award, as well as the Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. She was also recognized by the Houston Alumni Organization with the Outstanding Faculty Award.
Susan has been at UIUC since 2005. She was named a university scholar, and was appointed the inaugural Stephen G. Sligar Endowed Professor in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology. She is a member of the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology and an affiliate in the Department of Chemistry. In addition, she received a prestigious fellowship from UIUC to participate in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation’s (Big 10 Academic Alliance) Academic Leadership Program.
Susan contributed significantly to the founding of the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine, which offers a paradigm-shifting approach to teaching medicine that is engineering-based. Her research centers on the family of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, in particular leucyl-tRNA synthetase, where she has made significant contributions over 25 years to understand quality control mechanisms, tRNA recognition, and a non-canonical role in mitochondrial group I intron splicing. Susan founded and currently leads a W.M. Keck Foundation-supported team of six research laboratories at UIUC that spans cell, structural, and computational biology, as well as biochemistry.
She serves as president of the Association of Medical and Graduate Departments of Biochemistry (AMGDB) across North and Central America. She has served as an inaugural member of the National Institutes of Health Molecular Genetics Study Section and participated in review panels for the National Science Foundation.
Jarrett Ellis, University Director
Georgia Institute of Technology
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Jarrett Ellis serves as associate director of corporate and international contracting at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In this role, he is responsible for managing day-to-day contracting activities and related matters for enterprise-level collaborations, project administration activities and related matters, implementing policies and procedures in support of the research collaboration process, and developing and deploying strategic initiatives for continued growth in corporate and international engagement. Jarrett is also an active supporter and collaborator for educational leadership initiatives on campus, such as Georgia Tech’s Commission on Research Next, the Inclusive Leaders Academy, and the Leadership Forward Emerging Leaders Development Program.
Before joining Georgia Tech, Jarrett practiced law at a multinational firm in Atlanta, where he represented and advised corporate clients in strategic matters, including governance, securities transactions, mergers and acquisitions, technology sales and licensing, and data privacy and security. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Oral Roberts University, a master’s degree in English education from Georgia State University, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgia State University.
Jarrett has been a consistent participant and leader in educational meetings at UIDP. He serves on the UIDP membership committee, having previously served on the finance and communications committees.
Carla Leigh, Industry Director
Cisco
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Carla Leigh is the Cisco research chief of staff and program manager in the Emerging Technology and Incubation Group. In this role, she focuses on fostering a strong relationship between Cisco’s global research investments and its technology strategy. Her previous roles include leading Cisco’s global intern program, working on Cisco’s global university recruiting strategy, and being a systems engineer across data center enterprise sales. Carla received her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering with a minor in engineering leadership from the Pennsylvania State University.
Kathy Lynch, University Director
Yale University
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Kathy serves as the university executive director of corporate strategy & engagement at Yale University. She brings more than 20 years of experience in industry partnerships, university-based research, cross-cultural project management, training and development, and fundraising. Her professional experience has been largely spent in academia building and sustaining effective multi-sector partnerships with lasting impact on the development of corporate policy, curriculum, research, and public policy.
Kathy collaborates with faculty and other campus stakeholders to grow and sustain substantial, mutually beneficial corporate partnerships that support Yale’s mission to improve the world through exceptional research and scholarship. Her team’s activities center around three strategies: business development, strategy and policy alignment, and communication and collaboration.
Previously, as director of global partnerships for the Shared Value Initiative, a multi-stakeholder effort that aims to drive adoption and improve implementation of shared value strategies among leading companies, civil society, and government organizations, Kathy launched the Shared Value in Perspective series to explore the ‘living adaption’ of the shared value strategy around the world. Lead partners included Nestle, Novartis, Enel, and G.E.
Kathy is married with three adult children. She and her husband enjoy traveling, spending time cooking with family, and Bikram Yoga. Kathy earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Massachusetts and her master’s degree in business administration from Bentley University.
John Wilson, Industry Director
GSK
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John Wilson serves as a director and academic liaison at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), managing large-scale academic-business collaborations, supporting GSK scientists, and training U.S. academic liaison team members. He is a registered technology transfer professional with more than 22 years of experience at GSK, starting as a toxicologist, then guiding project teams and managing external partnerships.
He is passionate about addressing challenges in collaboration and is a skilled negotiator and partnership builder. John holds a master’s degree in neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine.