PROVIDENCE – Brown University has recruited a top administrator from Harvard University to revamp and expand the office tasked with developing, transferring and commercializing technologies developed by the school’s researchers.
Katherine Gordon was named the new managing director of Brown’s Technology Ventures Office. Formerly known as Brown Technology Partnerships, the office has been renamed to signify the changes being made, which include a revision of its patent and copyright policy.
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In addition to Brown researchers, the Technology Ventures Office will assist faculty and students at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., and at Providence’s Women and Infants Hospital, according to its Web site.
Gordon was director of business development at Harvard’s Office of Technology Development for the past five years. Her appointment was announced by Clyde Briant, vice president for research at Brown.
“The Technology Ventures Office is the crucial link between Brown faculty and external partners,” Briant said in a statement. “The office is charged with working with the financial community, entrepreneurs, companies and Brown’s partner hospitals to develop and deliver innovative products to the marketplace.”
“Katherine Gordon brings vision and knowledge of best practices to the important work of translating Brown’s research into products that can benefit society, the Rhode Island economy and the University,” he added.
In a news release, the university described the overhaul as part of a broader effort to increase the resources available to its researchers in attempts to commercialize their discoveries, which also includes the creation last spring of the R.I. Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Gordon has a doctorate from Wesleyan University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. She started her career at Genzyme Corp. and later did consulting work for early-stage biomedical firms. She was also founder and CEO of Apollo BioPharmaceutics Inc., a life sciences company that was sold in May 2001.
“The vibrancy of Brown’s research community provides many avenues for product development,” Gordon said. “It’s a privilege to work on ways to turn Brown research into solutions for real-world problems.”
Additional information is available at Brown.edu.
