TLO - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Intellectual Property Special Projects Manager
- Patent Administration
Background and Experience
Abram serves as the Intellectual Property Special Projects Manager, with more than a decade's worth of experience at the TLO. His contributions are prominently marked by his role in optimizing external communication processes and refining the efficiency of patent administration. Abram's proficiency in patent prosecution facilitated the successful implementation of a sophisticated mail sorting software and the development of comprehensive routing matrices for over 100 communication types. In 2023, Abram was awarded the MIT Excellence Award, underscoring his substantial impact within the organization.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Copyright Program Associate
Background and Experience
Alex graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance, Accounting, and Applied Analytics from Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. At Bryant University, he took part in the finance association, club soccer and the accounting association. In addition, he was able to complete two internships; one was with Nova Interactions, a marketing company that runs sales campaigns and with Cartus Corporation, a real estate company that handles corporate relocation for their clients.
Background and Experience
Allie holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management with a minor in Criminal Justice. Previously, Allie worked at Fidelity Investments as a Financial Services Representative, servicing 401ks.
Job Titles:
- Technology Licensing Associate
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Licensing Officer
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Administrative Assistant, Physical Sciences & Software Agreements
Background and Experience
Ashley is a highly motivated Administrative Professional who has successfully supported the Brigham and Women's Hospital Allergy and Rheumatology Department as a Practice Assistant since 2017. She provided administrative support and acted as the first point of contact for 40 doctors, 9 staff members, and patients. In addition, Ashley co-supervised the COVID vaccine clinic-delegating responsibilities to 6 BWH volunteers, scheduled patients and employees for vaccine doses, and conducted clinic procedures from open to close.
Ashley has a degree from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Job Titles:
- Officer
- Life Science
- Technology Licensing Officer
Ben is an accomplished Technology Licensing Officer specializing in Biomedical Devices. In this role, he assesses, safeguards, and licenses a diverse range of groundbreaking technologies, including medical imaging, optogenetics, surgical devices, prosthetics, microfluidics, and neuroscience. Managing over 750 cases from inception to completion, Ben expertly navigates MIT's innovation landscape, resulting in approximately 10 licenses and around 50 US and international patents granted each year.
Job Titles:
- Senior Operations Associate
Background and Experience
Before joining the TLO, Carmen worked in the Innovation Partnerships office at the University of Michigan for nearly 17 years; most recently as the Data Integrity Specialist managing new disclosure intake, overall data management, assisting with iEdison clean-up projects and more. Before moving into that position, she was the Assistant to the Associate Vice President of the department. Carmen earned her Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education and Health Promotion from Western Michigan University.
Job Titles:
- IPIA & IP Agreement Administrator
Background and Experience
Caroline graduated with a BA from Boston University in 2008 and received her Juris Doctor from Suffolk Law School in 2013 where she wrote on the Suffolk Transnational Law Review and competed in moot court competitions. Prior to law school, Caroline was a patent paralegal at a large international firm. Upon graduation from law school, Caroline completed a two-year judicial clerkship with the Probate and Family Court where she assisted the court in drafting numerous decisions. After her clerkship, Caroline practiced litigation in both the public and private sectors appearing regularly before the court.
Background and Experience
Caroline is an MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Previously, she studied Chemical Biology and Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to coming to Sloan, Caroline worked at Roche Diagnostics, managing the regulatory affairs activities for COVID-19 PCR tests.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Life Science
- Technology Licensing Associate
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
- Officer
- Life Science
- Technology Licensing Officer
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Life Science
- Technology Licensing Associate
Job Titles:
- Technology Licensing Officer
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Administrative Assistant, Life Sciences
- Life Science
Background and Experience
Deba has a Master of Business Administration and previous experience working at Stanford University, MIT and the University of New South Wales, Australia.
She is passionate about learning new skills, driving projects and building her understanding to fine-tune operational processes in an organization. Her financial and administration experience ranges from small teams up to large organizations.
Job Titles:
- Officer
- Associate Director of Licensing
- MIT 's Associate Director of Licensing
Deirdre Zammit is MIT's Associate Director of Licensing, Physical Sciences, leading the team that evaluates, protects, and licenses MIT innovations in the physical sciences. Deirdre's professional experience includes roles managing and licensing corporate, academic, and federal laboratory intellectual property assets, with previous intellectual property management and licensing positions at Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Naval Research Laboratory. Deirdre started her career as an engineer in the semiconductor industry and has also held global product manager, market manager, and corporate venture capital positions in industry.
Job Titles:
- Financial Assistant
- Financial Operations
Background and Experience
Emma is an alumna of Simmons University where she received her Bachelor's in Arts Administration and Art History. As a Financial Assistant, she enters royalty reports and helps the TLO finance operations with day-to-day activities.
Background and Experience
Gloria is an accomplished IP Billing Coordinator with over two decades of financial experience, including a tenure of seven years at MIT's Intellectual Property Office. Her IP career began at Children's Hospital's Intellectual Property Office, focusing on monthly royalty distribution, accounts payable, and receivables. Gloria brings a wealth of expertise in billing, accounts receivables, accounts payables, and conflict check processing, acquired from her roles in prominent Boston law firms and various financial institutions.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Technology Licensing Associate
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Life Science
- Technology Licensing Associate
Background and Experience
Jeff received his undergraduate degree in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College before earning a Master's in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. As the Senior Analyst Programmer, Jeff brings to the TLO a robust skill set encompassing Python, PL/SQL, C++, and Java.
Job Titles:
- Life Science
- Technology Licensing Officer
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Operations
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Intellectual Property
Job Titles:
- Officer
- Technology Licensing Officer
Kevin is a retired Navy Command Master Chief with over 30 years of Reserve and Active duty including numerous deployments supporting special warfare, aviation logistics and expeditionary missions around the globe.
Job Titles:
- Life Science
- Senior Intellectual Property Paralegal
Background and Experience
As the Senior Intellectual Property Paralegal, Laura draws upon more than 25 years of experience in Intellectual Property to effectively manage various aspects of the patent portfolio within the TLO's Life Sciences group. Prior to joining the TLO, gained valuable experience in patent prosecution at law firms like Hale & Dorr (now Wilmer Hale), Fish & Richardson, and Keown & Zucchero. Laura's professional journey also includes overseeing a global patent portfolio during her time at Analog Devices, Inc. Her educational journey includes a degree in Paralegal Studies, complemented by a Patent Paralegal certification.
Job Titles:
- Marketing Program Coordinator
Background and Experience
Laura holds dual degrees in English and Visual Media & Promotion from the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining the TLO, Laura worked as a Communications Coordinator for an architecture firm and a global health consulting firm.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Officers Team
- Associate Director of Licensing
- Life Science
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director of MIT 's Technology
Lesley Millar-Nicholson is the Executive Director of MIT's Technology Licensing Office (TLO) and was part of the Founding Leadership team of MIT Office of Strategic Alliances and Technology Transfer (OSATT) formed in 2019. As TLO Executive Director, she leads a team of technology transfer professionals. Together, they manage MIT's intellectual assets and technology transfer process involving over 11,000 unique pending and issued US and foreign patents, and hundreds of copyright and open source assets. The team engages broadly with stakeholders to facilitate engagements leading to licenses for qualified third parties to deliver on the TLO mission to have impact through technology commercialization.
Prior to arriving in Cambridge Ms. Millar-Nicholson had served for ten years as Director of the Office of Technology Management (OTM) at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign.
Ms. Millar-Nicholson is a past President Board of Governors of Certified Licensing Professionals Inc, a member of AUTM and the Licensing Executive Society, and a past Board Member of Cambridge Enterprise, UK. A native of Scotland, Ms. Millar-Nicholson has a B.Ed., M.Ed., MBA and is a Certified Licensing Professional.
Job Titles:
- Technology Licensing Officer
Job Titles:
- Technology Licensing Associate
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Administrative Assistant, Senior Management Team
As an innovation and IP strategy consultant, I've advised companies on aligning IP portfolios with business goals, creating strategies, and navigating the competitive landscape. At Fidelity, I pioneered the patent program, mastering stakeholder engagement and goal execution. At Carneros Bay, I embraced a startup perspective in working with large financial institutions and conducted market and IP research. These experiences were a perfect segue to my current role at the TLO.
Job Titles:
- Chief With over 30 Years of Reserve
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Stephanie Head
- Technology Licensing Associate
Job Titles:
- Officer
- Technology Licensing Officer
Job Titles:
- Royalty Distribution & Equity Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Intellectual Property Portfolio Associate
Job Titles:
- IPIA & Trademark Assistant
Job Titles:
- Communications & Marketing Manager
- Communications & Marketing
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Finance
Job Titles:
- Technology Licensing Associate
Job Titles:
- Senior Intellectual Property Paralegal