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UF Innovate | Tech Licensing works with innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and industry partners to maximize the potential of University of Florida innovations through commercialization for the global good. Founded in 1985, Tech Licensing receives more than 300 invention disclosures, executes more than 100 commercial transactions and launches nearly 20 companies each year. In 2017, the Milken Institute ranked the University of Florida third in the nation for its tech commercialization efforts.
With the benefit of UF Innovate’s two business incubators and its Ventures organization, Tech Licensing connects researchers with investors and industry to lead them through the commercialization process.
- We support UF research by negotiating agreements that balance university and industry interests.
- We manage UF’s intellectual property and commercialize the university’s technology portfolio.
- We work with UF researchers, faculty, staff and students to guide them through the tech transfer process to assist with invention disclosures and research activities.
- We offer guidance in planning and implementing effective patent, copyright or trademark strategy.
- Our licensing officers assist in technical and market assessments while providing customer service to industry partners.
- We provide assistance in assessing potential opportunities to form startups based on UF technologies.
Report a New Discovery
Visit the Gatorlink portal to report a new invention or work or biological material.
Read UF's IP Policy
Need to know? Go to the authority on the university’s intellectual property policy.
Innovator's Guide
Learn more about the innovator’s role during some of the key steps of the licensing process.
Innovator's FAQ
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Startups
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Industry
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Available Technologies
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Internships
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Contact Info
Address & Directions
Physical Address:
UF Innovate | Tech Licensing
747 Southwest 2nd Avenue, Suite 108
Gainesville, FL 32601
Mailing Address:
UF Innovate | Tech Licensing
P.O. Box 115575
Gainesville, FL 32611-5575
Phone Number:
(352) 392-8929
Directions:
Staff Directory
Tech Licensing Leaders
Jim serves as the Assistant Vice President for Commercialization, leading UF Innovate, the umbrella organization over Tech Licensing, Sid Martin Biotech and The Hub. Jim is also the director of Tech Licensing. He works with internal and external constituents to provide strategic leadership and direction in building and capitalizing on facilities, expertise and technology at UF.
Before joining UF Innovate, Jim directed the tech transfer office at the University of Miami and served as the director of the Michigan Venture Center at the University of Michigan. Jim came to tech transfer with 20 years of industry experience. He worked in two startups in the medical device industry. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as a helicopter pilot.
Jim earned his M.S. in engineering management from the University of Maryland and his B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic.
In 2005 John joined Tech Licensing as a licensing officer, working predominantly with faculty in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Dentistry to evaluate, patent, license and commercialize new technology. He serves as the Associate Director in OTL.
John worked almost 19 years as a research scientist working with Monsanto’s Animal Agricultural Division working on or leading a variety of projects including: development and launch of the first production animal biotech product – recombinant bovine somatotropin for increasing milk yield of dairy cattle; evaluating the use of growth promoters for aquaculture; and identification, validation and use of DNA markers to increase genetic gain in livestock.
John Byatt received a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of London and a Ph.D. from the University of Reading while working at the National Institute for Research in Dairying. He spent two and a half years as a post-doc in the Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Business Development
As the director of UF Innovate | Corporate Engagement, Zahara focuses on advancing UF’s translational research by building relationships with industry partners to further aligned interests. She brings the experience from having managed intellectual property protection and licensing for UF technologies from various biomedical and other research disciplines, to bridging UF’s relationships with strategic partners. By collaborating with faculty and colleagues from across UF units — including Tech Licensing, Division of Sponsored Projects, Office of Clinical Research, UF Advancement, Division of Student Affairs — UF Innovate’s Business Development efforts streamline and facilitate industry engagement across these and other functions.
Zahara led the drug discovery programs for a biopharma startup company where she also managed the company’s research collaborations with academia. She has more than 15 years of biomedical research experience from the academic and industry sectors and significant experience in research program management, grant writing, technology development, and business development.
Zahara earned her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of British Columbia and completed her postdoctoral training in molecular oncology and tumor biology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Zahara Jaffer collaborates with faculty and colleagues across UF units to streamline and facilitate industry engagement across these and other functions.
Life Sciences Licensing Teams
In 2005 John joined Tech Licensing as a licensing officer, working predominantly with faculty in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Dentistry to evaluate, patent, license and commercialize new technology. He serves as the Associate Director in OTL.
John worked almost 19 years as a research scientist working with Monsanto’s Animal Agricultural Division working on or leading a variety of projects including: development and launch of the first production animal biotech product – recombinant bovine somatotropin for increasing milk yield of dairy cattle; evaluating the use of growth promoters for aquaculture; and identification, validation and use of DNA markers to increase genetic gain in livestock.
John Byatt received a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of London and a Ph.D. from the University of Reading while working at the National Institute for Research in Dairying. He spent two and a half years as a post-doc in the Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
John and Adrienne work predominantly with the faculty in IFAS, and the colleges of veterinary medicine and dentistry. Adrienne also handles IP compliance and database concerns.
Noel works with Licensing Officer Anita Rao, assisting in portfolio management for the life science area. She and Anita manage invention disclosures, patent prosecution, MTAs, CDAs, research agreements and licensing agreements for UF innovators in the life sciences. Many of her innovators are those in the UF Departments of Medicine and Pharmacy.
Before joining Tech Licensing in 2001, Noel worked at the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami. She worked at UF Innovate | Tech Licensing until 2009, moved to the University of South Florida’s tech transfer office for 2010-June 2014, and then returned to UF in her current role.
Noel graduated from Florida International University with a master’s degree in criminal justice.
Anita and Noel work with innovators in the Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health & Health Professions, and Nursing, and UF Health in Jacksonville.
Mel assists with new disclosure triage, coordination of patentability review and timeliness of filing, and management of patent applications from filing through expiration. She assists with marketing IP to identify commercial partners, completion of CDAs/NDAs, and throughout the negotiation process to execution of licenses. She liaises with innovators, patent attorneys, and licensees on patent strategy matters. She manages federal compliance and commercially funded reporting obligations for IP.
Mel began her work at UF as an OPS/Clerk in October 2004, became a senior secretary in March 2005, and moved into the Licensing Associate position in July 2007. In addition to her core responsibilities, Mel also served at MTA Coordinator from 2005-2014.
She graduated with a B.A. in pre-law from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Mel works with innovators in the departments of biochemistry & molecular biology; otolaryngology; aging/geriatric research; dermatology; genetics institute; obstetrics & gynecology; surgery; pediatrics; ophthalmology; anatomy & cell biology; and molecular genetics & microbiology.
Hera joined UF Innovate | Tech Licensing in March 2019 as a licensing officer, mostly working in the medical and biomedical disciplines. She works closely with faculty to help protect and license their innovations.
Before joining UF Innovate, Hera worked for almost 20 years in industry, most recently in Program Management at ThermoFisher (former BrammerBio) and Lonza. She also worked at Dyax Corp (now Shire PLC ) and in various roles at start-up companies. She gained her previous experience as a licensing officer in The Netherlands at the University of Maastricht.
Hera received her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from the University of Maastricht (Netherlands) and completed her postdoctoral training at St. Mary’s Hospital/Imperial College, London (UK), and MGH/Harvard Medical School where she also had a faculty instructor position.
Karen Crespo joined the UF Innovate | Tech Licensing office in August 2017, working as a Licensing Associate handling technologies in the fields of physical sciences, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and software. She manages all aspects of the patenting process, including implementation of all federal reporting obligations as required under the Bayh-Dole Act and ensuring all data is accurate for contracts managed by the licensing team. She facilitates communications with innovators, the marketing team, attorneys and licensees, coordinating and processing correspondence and providing liaison support to adhere to the rules and regulations guarding the tech transfer system.
Karen started her career as a court reporter, working in the field for 10 years, next working as an IP paralegal in the legal field for 13 years.
She earned her B.S. in Office Management with a concentration in Court Reporting from Husson College in Bangor, Maine. She received her paralegal and cancer data management certificates from Northeastern University in Boston.
Hera and Karen work with innovators in medical and biomedical disciplines.
Rachel serves as a technology licensing officer, working with researchers in the life sciences, usually in the medical or biomedical space. Previously, Rachel worked as the licensing liaison, working in concert with the licensing teams to review and track biological materials and related rights, particularly those related to AAV gene therapy. Now she works to protect intellectual property and license technologies to industry members that can make the most of UF research.
Before joining Tech Licensing as a licensing liaison in 2016, Rachel was a postdoctoral researcher at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center of the Ohio State University.
She graduated with a B.S. from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in the biological sciences from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Rachel and Karla work with innovators in medical and biomedical disciplines.
Physical Sciences Licensing Teams
Autumn Arranz joined UF Innovate in March of 2019 as a Licensing Associate working with Richard Croley in the fields of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and software. They review invention disclosures to determine patentability or commercial potential by meeting with innovators to determine if a patent, trademark or copyright should be filed She manages all aspects of the patenting process, including implementation of all federal reporting obligations as required under the Bayh-Dole Act, comply with all federal and state grants and regulations.
Before joining UF Innovate, Autumn worked for the University of Miami in the Office of Technology Transfer as the Patent Coordinator. She primarily focused her efforts on database management and analysis for all submitted Invention Disclosures, Ideas, Patent Prosecution activity and Agreements such as Licenses, MTAs and CDAs. She also provided research data/analysis reporting to University colleagues and Leadership as well as special projects with regard to individuals and companies working with UM based technologies.
Prior to joining the University of Miami, she spent 17 years in the Aviation private sector with a focus on Human Resources and Government Contracting including solicitation and management of two consecutive DoD awarded contracts. Autumn’s training and experience include Grant and Solicitation drafts, Government and ISO Audits and compliance and research/analysis reporting.
Autumn received her B.A in Journalism/Political Science at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Rick and Autumn work with innovators in the physical sciences, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and software.
Lenny works with innovators and technologies from chemistry, materials science, and chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering. He has successfully negotiated over 290 licenses and has helped to start more than 40 companies.
When Lenny joined Tech Licensing in 2007, he had more than 20 years of industrial chemical experience. He has held multiple research positions with Milliken Specialty Chemical and Ciba Vision Corporation. He worked as a Business Development Manager for Clariant Specialty Chemicals for ten years. He is an inventor on 24 U.S. patents related to the contact lens and personal care markets.
Lenny earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of Richmond in 1981 and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Emory University in 1986.
Sally joined UF Innovate |Tech Licensing as a licensing associate in September 2019.
A Navy veteran and native of Michigan, Sally has held various executive support positions throughout her career. Upon her discharge from the Navy, she began working for the criminal court system. She held the position of crime victim rights advocate for the Van Buren County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Michigan for seven years. She also worked as the executive assistant to the chief operating officer for Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services in Michigan.
In June 2014, Sally began working for the University of Florida as a grants specialist in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to joining UF Innovate | Tech Licensing, she worked as the assistant to the associate provost for the Office of Undergraduate Affairs.
Lenny and Sally work with innovators in the departments of chemistry, chemical engineering, design construction and planning, environmental science engineering and materials science engineering.
Assisting the Teams
Pamela works with three licensing teams to help coordinate their conversations with inventors and/or outside parties and to send correspondence on their behalf.
Pamela has worked for the State of Florida since 2013 and joined UF Innovate | Tech Licensing in January 2019. She also worked for Shands from 1984-2003, serving in obstetrics for 15 years and vascular surgery for 4 years.
Leah is the Invention Disclosure Coordinator for UF Innovate | Tech Licensing. If you have questions, are experiencing technical difficulties, or need a troubleshooter, she is the person to call. Leah receives, assigns, and processes disclosures for the licensing teams. In addition, Leah works with three licensing teams to help coordinate their conversations with inventors and/or outside parties and to send correspondence on their behalf.
Leah has worked for the State of Florida for 8 years and has worked for UF Innovate | Tech Licensing since November 2017.
Dawn supervises three administrative support assistants who, in turn, support 13 Tech Licensing staff members. She assists Jim O’Connell, who directs Tech Licensing and the umbrella organization, UF Innovate. And in those ways (and many more), Dawn assists all members of the organization.
She schedules and prepares agendas and handouts, coordinates internal meetings as well as meetings with high-level visitors. She coordinates travel, arranges for business meals, prepares reports and presentations, handles the office budget, reconciles expenditures, assists in planning and implementing investor and innovator events, maintains the UF Innovate van, keeps office and break room supplies ordered and available, and otherwise keeps the office running like a well-oiled machine.
Before joining UF Innovate | Tech Licensing in 2003, Dawn worked as a legal secretary for a law office and as a bank accounting clerk.
Dawn studied accounting at East Stroudsberg University and Northampton County Community College in Pennsylvania.
Pamela, Leah, and Carla help coordinate communications between innovators and their licensing teams and outside parties. Dawn assists Jim O’Connell, who directs Tech Licensing and UF Innovate, and supports all members of the organization.
MTAs & Other Contracts
Penny assists in arranging the material transfer agreements (MTAs) for researchers to receive or send research materials. These are predominately (but not all) in the nature of “scientific sharing” for academic research and do not include fee-for-service agreements (DSP), purchase agreements (Procurement), sponsored research or grants (DSP), or clinical trial agreements (OCT).
When materials are requested from a UF researcher, Penny can assist in determining if an MTA is needed to send the material to another academic researcher. If an MTA is needed, she takes over coordinating the request with the requester’s technology office. If a for-profit entity is requesting material, in conjunction with the appropriate licensing officer, Tech Licensing can consider whether a license is more appropriate. In either case, Penny will evaluate the IP terms and their ramifications on the researcher’s work and potential publications. It is important that materials not be transferred without an MTA as the sender may lose valuable rights.
When a UF researcher requests material from another academic institution or for-profit company, Penny assists in reviewing and revising the agreement provided, or suggests an agreement form if the provider does not have one. She reviews the terms and implications with each researcher to be sure the agreements are understood and acceptable. The goal is to free scientists to work on science instead of administrative paperwork.
Prior to coming to UF, Penny was an attorney in private practice, working in real estate development and private corporations. She graduated from Emory University Law School and Stetson University.
As Financial Analyst/Contracts Administrator Patti provides pertinent metrics for the Tech Licensing office to the UF Board of Trustees, the State University System Board of Governors, to departments and colleges across campus, as well as to AUTM, the professional organization that completes an annual licensing survey of universities before issuing a fiscal year ranking. Patti also monitors the financial progress of the office budget throughout the fiscal year. She works with the UFRF business office on a daily basis to ensure that all financial terms of Agreements remain in compliance.
Patti joined Tech Licensing as a licensing associate in 2003, transitioning to Contracts Administrator in 2009. In that role, she began to manage all license agreements, options and interinstitutional agreements that came through Tech Licensing, which she continues to do as well as her duties as Financial Analyst.
Before joining Tech Licensing in 2003, Patti served several years as a paralegal in a full-service law firm in Jacksonville.
Penny assists in arranging for material transfer agreements for innovators to receive or send research materials; Patti monitors the budget and ensures all agreements remain in compliance.
Marketing
Sara handles marketing and communications for all of the entities under UF Innovate. On any given day, she might mine news about our startups or innovators to share on social media, edit website content or find a fix for one more glitch, create flyers or documents for events, plan events, or write articles about the exciting happenings at UF Innovate.
After joining the UF Innovate team in 2014, Sara worked her way up from a technical editor to the communications manager. In these capacities, Sara is forced to use both sides of her brain, interpreting science speak to communicate to a business audience. Previously, she used both sides of her brain teaching Algebra and English to middle and high school students. She also worked at The Gainesville Sun as a writer and editor.
Sara holds a B.S. in journalism and a M.Ed. in educational technology from the University of Florida.
Veronica is the marketing and communications specialist for UF Innovate. In that role, she handles a number of projects from Tech Licensing, The Hub, and Sid Martin Biotech, which includes working with student interns, editing and marketing non-confidential summaries of innovations from UF researchers, creating flyers, updating the UF Innovate website, promoting UF and incubator startups on the website and on social media, and so much more.
She has gained extensive experience in the production of various marketing and public relations materials, large-scale event planning, marketing campaigns, and research. As program coordinator for the Collaboratory for Women Innovators, Veronica gained experience working with entrepreneurs and innovators as well as a passion for the entire innovation ecosystem that exists under the UF Innovate umbrella. She is a former Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator for a supermarket chain and a Public Relations Executive for a full-service, global creative boutique that specializes in marketing and communications strategies, among other roles in her field of expertise, in Honduras.
Veronica obtained her bachelor’s degree in Communication and Advertising from the Central American Technological University (UNITEC) in Honduras, a specialization in Public Relations and Organizational Communication at the Journalism and Advertising University (CUPP) in Mexico and her master’s degree in Marketing Management in UNITEC.