Contact the Innovations Office
The Belfer Office for Dana-Farber Innovations is staffed by a skilled and experienced team of business development / licensing professionals and interns drawn from Dana-Farber’s post-doctoral community. Please contact any one of us to begin a conversation.
Leadership
Mary Tolikas, PhD, MSc, MBA
Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer
Mary Tolikas, PhD, MSc, MBA, joined Dana-Farber in 2022. Dr. Tolikas has more than two decades of experience in establishing and growing technology-based organizations in both industry and academia. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, she was CEO of the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva, Switzerland, where she led the Center with a focus on the development and commercialization of a wide range of neurotechnologies.
Dr. Tolikas also played a central role in the launch and growth of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, where she spent nearly 10 years on the leadership team as Operations Director. At Harvard, she also served as Executive Director for Special Projects in the Office of the Provost, and was co-instructor in the Master in Design Engineering Program, offered by the Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Science and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Dr. Tolikas holds a BEng degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, MSc and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
Emy Chen, PhD
Vice President of Innovation
Emy Chen, PhD, is Vice President of Innovation at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She has oversight over the Innovations Licensing, Research Contracts, Compliance, and Finance functions of the Robert and Renee Belfer Office for Dana-Farber Innovations (BODFI). A primary focus for her role is to continuously refine and optimize the Innovation team's ability to provide excellent partnership and collaboration with clinicians and research scientists at Dana-Farber, and to catalyze and sustain relationships with external stakeholders in industry in order to bring new discoveries from the labs at Dana-Farber to patients.
Prior to joining Dana-Farber, Emy was Director of Licensing at Mass General Brigham Innovation, where she spent 13 years supporting investigators and building relationships with biotech and pharma companies, primarily for innovators in the disciplines of medicine, neuroscience, and dermatology. Emy holds a PhD from Harvard University in Molecular and Cellular Biology, a BA from the University of California-Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology, and is a registered patent agent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Christiana Iyasere, MD, MBA
Senior Director, Dana-Farber Accelerator
Named Senior Director of the Accelerator in the summer of 2022, Christiana Iyasere, MD, MBA, brings over 15 years of experience developing early-stage technologies from academic medical institutions.
Christiana is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her residency at Mass General in Internal Medicine in 2005. Following her tenure as a medical resident at Mass General, Christiana undertook an administrative fellowship under the guidance of Dr. Peter Slavin, with an emphasis on technology evaluation, adoption, and promotion. She subsequently went to Harvard Business School for continued management training and completed her degree in 2008.
Christiana previously dedicated her time to administrative and clinical duties and worked as both an Inpatient Clinician Educator and as the Associate Director of the Innovation Support Center at Mass General. Christiana is currently an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and attendant on the solid tumor inpatient oncology service.
Janet Ralbovsky, PhD
Director, Licensing
Janet Ralbovsky, PhD, joined BODFI in 2013 and is currently the Director of Licensing. She oversees the licensing teams responsible for managing investigators' IP, negotiating and reviewing IP-related agreements. Before joining Dana-Farber, she was a Licensing Associate at the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF), where she was responsible for the commercialization of a portfolio of intellectual property developed at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Prior to joining UTRF, Janet worked in drug discovery as a medicinal chemist and project leader at Johnson & Johnson and Cara Therapeutics, Inc. Janet holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University, a MS from the University of Rochester, and a BA from Smith College. She is a registered patent agent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Nancy Rooney, MBA
Executive Assistant
Nancy Rooney, MBA, joined Dana-Farber in 2022 and supports the Chief Innovations Officer, Mary Tolikas, with her daily operations. Prior to joining the Innovations office, Nancy spent four years as the General Manager of a Keller Williams real estate office. In this role, she supported the leadership team and oversaw daily operations, facilities, and compliance. Nancy has previously held roles in the financial management industry in an analytic capacity. Nancy obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Economics from Fordham University and her Master of Business Administration from Boston College.
Licensing Team
Micah Belew, PhD
Licensing Manager
Micah Belew, PhD, is a member of the licensing team that is responsible for evaluating, managing, and commercializing inventions arising from Dana-Farber. He also manages business development efforts, deal structuring/license drafting/negotiations, and post-transactional alliances. Micah received his PhD from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, studying the genetics of axon regeneration, aging, and host-microbial metabolism; he received his MS from the University of California-Davis, studying the molecular physiology of exercise and nutritional adaptation, specializing in skeletal muscle fat metabolism.
Christopher Davies, JD
Licensing Associate
Christopher Davies, JD, joined the Dana-Farber Innovations team in 2020. Christopher supports Dana-Farber researchers in all efforts related to intellectual property strategy and commercialization, as well as negotiation and management of agreements that facilitate non-clinical research. He brings nearly a decade of experience in grant management and legal support. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, he held various positions at Harvard Medical School and Nixon Peabody LLP.
Christopher received his Juris Doctor in 2015 from New England School of Law, with a specific concentration in Intellectual Property Law, after completing his undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He is a registered patent agent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and is registered to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Jill Edgar, PhD
Senior Licensing Manager
Jill Edgar, PhD, joined BODFI in 2020. She has over 10 years of substantial scientific, technology transfer, and patent experience. Prior to joining BODFI, Jill served as a Senior Licensing Associate at Boston College, and prior to that as a Licensing Associate at Tufts University. She also worked as a Patent Agent in the biotechnology area of the law offices at Nixon Peabody LLP and the Morse law firm. Jill received her undergraduate degree in Biology and PhD in Biomedical Science from Brown University, then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Matrix Biology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Jodi Hecht, PhD
Senior Licensing Manager
Jodi Hecht, PhD, joined Dana-Farber Innovations in 2017. She negotiates industry non-clinical research agreements and evaluates and commercializes intellectual property arising from Dana-Farber research. She serves as the primary alliance manager for Dana-Farber and Novartis Drug Discovery and Translational Research Program.
Prior to joining Dana-Farber Innovations, Jodi worked as a Licensing Associate in the Technology Ventures office at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Jodi received a PhD in Molecular Biology from Boston University, and an MSc in Biology and Vision Science and a BSc in Biochemistry, both from the University of Waterloo.
Aida Herrera, PhD
Assistant Director, Licensing
Aida Herrera, PhD, joined BODFI in 2019, and is responsible for managing and commercializing inventions arising from chemistry-related Dana-Farber technologies. Prior to joining the Dana-Farber team, Aida worked for both Boston Children’s Hospital and The Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear, where she spent nine years supporting investigators across various departments, including Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Cardiac Surgery, Gastroenterology, and Endocrinology, and was responsible for the commercialization of a broad range of technologies.
Earlier in her career, Aida worked as a technology specialist focused on patent prosecution in the biotechnological, chemical, and mechanical arts. She holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Chicago, a PhD in Chemistry from Tufts University, and completed post-doctoral research work in both the Biological Engineering Division at MIT and the Chemistry Department at Northeastern University.
Amrita Kaimal, PhD
Licensing Associate
Amrita Kaimal, PhD, joined Dana-Farber Innovations in 2022. She supports activities related to evaluating and commercializing technologies arising from Dana-Farber inventions. Prior to joining BODFI, Amrita completed an internship at Innovation Gateway, the technology transfer office at the University of Georgia (UGA). She received her PhD in Neuroscience from UGA in 2022.
Emily Kaufman, PhD
Licensing Associate
Emily Kaufman, PhD, joined BODFI in 2023, where she supports activities related to the management and commercialization of chemistry-related Dana-Farber technologies. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, Emily completed an internship at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the technology transfer office at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Emily holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA in Biochemistry and Physics from Augustana University.
Vlad Leopard
Licensing Manager
Vlad Leopard joined Innovation in 2020, and his focus is on the commercialization of AI/machine learning, open source software, and computer vision technologies. Prior to joining BODFI, Vlad worked for MIT's Technology Licensing Office as a Technology Licensing Associate. He holds a BS in Geology from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and he is currently working on his JD at New England Law in Boston, with a concentration in Intellectual Property.
Lisa Lin, PhD, CLP
Senior Licensing Manager
Lisa Lin, PhD, CLP, joined the Innovation office in February, 2020. She is responsible for Sponsored Research Agreements (SRAs) and license negotiations, and manages intellectual property for Dana-Farber investigators. She also serves as an alliance manager for an ongoing master collaboration with a large pharma, and advises junior colleagues on the team. She initiated her technology transfer career as an intern at Emory University's Technology Transfer Office, and later served for four years as the licensing manager for the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona. Lisa holds a PhD in Immunology from Duke University, and conducted her post-doctoral research at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Zachary Rothman, JD
Technology Transactions Manager
Zachary Rothman, JD, joined BODFI as a Research Contracts Associate in 2018. He is responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of research agreements with corporate sponsors and collaborating institutions.
Prior to joining BODFI, Zack worked in the Clinical Trials Business Office at Boston Children's Hospital, preparing written agreements with both for-profit and non-profit organizations for the purposes of conducting and furthering clinical research. Zack earned a JD with a concentration in Health Law from the Boston University School of Law, and a BS from Florida State University.
Renatus Sinkeldam, PhD
Senior Licensing Manager
Renatus Sinkeldam, PhD, joined Dana-Farber in 2018 as a Licensing Associate. In his current role, he assists Dana-Farber investigators with all facets of technology commercialization. Prior to joining BODFI, he held various positions at the Office for Technology Management at Washington University in St. Louis, managing a diverse technology portfolio, and as a consultant at the Biotechnology and Life Science Advising Group (BALSA), working on short projects in small, diverse teams.
As a postdoctoral fellow and later a project scientist at the University of California-San Diego, Renatus designed and synthesized non-perturbing fluorescent nucleosides for the study of nucleic acid structure, stability, lesions, and interactions with small molecules. He obtained his PhD from Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, completing his doctoral thesis in the areas of macro- and supra-molecular chemistry. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tracey Wolfsdorf, PhD, MS
Licensing Associate
Tracey Wolfsdorf, PhD, MS, joined Dana-Farber in March 2021. She supports investigators in intellectual property, business development, licensing, and academic/industry collaboration agreements. Early in her career, she led R&D and manufacturing initiatives at DEC, Intel, and Kopin Corporation, also negotiating joint development and capital equipment deals. Tracey subsequently founded a consultancy firm directed to communication, negotiation, and conflict transformation, while launching an executive education workshop with the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
More recently, Tracey practiced as a technology specialist for Boston-area business and IP law firms, and as a consultant in the start-up space. Tracey holds PhD and MS degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University, BSE (Materials Science) and BA (Physics) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, is certified in mediation by the Harvard Mediation Program, and has held faculty teaching positions at the University of California-Santa Barbara and the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Industrial Collaborations
Paul Carey, MBA
Senior Alliance Manager
Paul Carey, MBA, joined BODFI in May, 2021. Paul leads proactive business development outreach to biopharma companies, and manages the resulting research partnerships towards creating long-term alliances. Among Paul's many responsibilities, he serves as alliance manager for the drug development collaboration with the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, is primary point of contact for new corporate alliances, and collaborates with BODFI Licensing teams to increase industry-sponsored research with current partners.
Previously, Paul led technology transfer and economic development efforts at three academic institutions, most recently at Cornell University. He also held roles in product development, alliance management, and business development at Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Shire. Paul holds an MBA from Cornell University, a Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia, a BS in Chemical Engineering from Lafayette College, and is certified in alliance management as a member of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals.
Justin Evans, JD, MS, MBA
Alliance Manager
Justin Evans, JD, MS, MBA, joined BODFI in November 2023. Justin works closely with Dana-Farber investigators who are part of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) at Dana-Farber; he plays a lead role managing the commercial and IP strategy under the PICI-Dana-Farber relationship. PICI is a research institute that coordinates and funds cancer research efforts in immuno-oncology, with an aim of fast-tracking fundamental research discoveries from scientists and clinicians into real-world patient solutions through partnership with industry and venture capital.
Previously, Justin was a Senior Contract Coordinator for AbbVie’s Technology Licensing and Collaboration team, where he was responsible for facilitating collaborative agreements that enable the scientists at AbbVie to discover, develop and market breakthrough drugs that improve patient health. Justin has practiced patent litigation at Goldberg Segalla and conducted research as a fellow in the National Institutes of Health’s Pediatric Oncology Branch. Justin’s research has included validating therapeutics in a rhabdomyosarcoma preclinical model, developing nanoparticles for delivery to glioblastomas, neurogenesis of the subventricular zone, and immunosuppression of hematopoietic stem cells.
Justin holds an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Fayetteville State University, a Master of Science in Cancer Biology from Vanderbilt University, a Juris Doctorate in Law from Michigan State, and a Master of Business Administration from the Kelley Business School at Indiana University.
Irena Ivanovska, PhD
Senior Collaboration Director
Irena Ivanovska, PhD, joined Innovation as the Scientific Collaboration Director in May, 2022. She works closely with investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to identify and lead projects for Riverway Discoveries, a Translator opportunity to advance academic discoveries into the clinic. She also collaborates with Innovation team members on Dana-Farber's IP portfolio and BD efforts.
Prior to coming to Innovation, Irena was a Senior Scientific Director at the Mark Foundation, where she led grant programs that funded basic and translational cancer research. She has extensive experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. At Celdara Medical, she worked with academics to secure funding and lead pre-clinical drug discovery programs toward the clinic, and at Merck and Co., she led pre-clinical small molecule and RNA drug discovery programs in oncology and inflammation. Irena holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute. She is passionate about mentoring young scientists and budding entrepreneurs, both informally and as part of several Massachusetts-based mentoring programs.
Research Contracts
Suna Garcia Guzman, JD
Research Contracts Specialist
Suna S. Garcia Guzman, JD, joined BODFI as a Research Contracts Specialist in December 2023. She is responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of research agreements between Dana-Farber and industry sponsors, universities, and other collaborating institutions. Before joining BODFI, Suna worked as an associate at a law firm in downtown Boston. Prior to that, while an evening student in a part-time JD program, she was a Grants & Contracts Specialist at Tufts Medical Center.
Suna received her Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Boston University. Suna is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Quintin Schwab, MLS
Research Contracts Associate
Quintin Schwab, MLS, joined BODFI in June, 2020. He is responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of academic and corporate research agreements between Dana-Farber and industry, universities, and other collaborating institutions.
Prior to joining BODFI, Quintin served for over five years as the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) Coordinator at the Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University, where he was responsible for processing and negotiating several hundred outbound MTAs annually for Cornell campuses across the world. He also worked on Inter-Institutional Agreements (IIAs), bailment licenses, and a variety of compliance and due diligence projects.
Quintin graduated with a BA in Psychology from Cornell, where he studied Mandarin Chinese and worked as an assistant editor of the Cornell Daily Sun newspaper. He also received his Master's degree in legal studies from Cornell.
Hussain Tariq, JD
Research Contracts Associate
Hussain Tariq, JD, joined BODFI in November 2020. He is responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of academic and corporate research agreements between Dana-Farber and industry, universities, and other collaborating institutions.
Prior to joining BODFI, Hussain held various legal internships, including in Dana-Farber’s Office of General Counsel and in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office Healthcare Division. Hussain obtained his BA in Political Science from Xavier University, and his JD from Northeastern University School of Law, where he had a concentration in Health Law.
Dianne Volpe
Senior Research Contracts Associate
Dianne Volpe joined Dana-Farber in October, 2021. She is responsible for drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a variety of agreements with industry sponsors, universities, and other collaborating institutions. Prior to that, Dianne served as a Licensing Associate at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School for 23 years. In that capacity, she was solely responsible for managing and negotiating Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), Data Use Agreements (DUAs), collaboration agreements, and Inter-Institutional Agreements (IIAs). Dianne graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with a BA in English.
Finance and Operations
Kathleen Copson
Senior Finance and Operations Manager
Kathy Copson joined BODFI in 2015. She has extensive experience as a revenue manager in the facilities services, software, and media licensing industries, with a focus on financial business process improvement and enhanced systems utilization. Her roles have included being a core member of an Enterprise Resource Planning system upgrade team and as a trainer for ERP Financials. Kathy has a BA from Boston University.
Cydney Hill
Technology Transfer Accountant
Cydney Hill joined BODFI in August, 2020. Her primary responsibilities include general accounting functions involving preparation, reconciliation, and maintenance of financial information in the BODFI database. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, Cydney worked at The Envoy Hotel as an accounting clerk. Cydney received her BA degree from the University of Connecticut.
Peter Hodges, PhD
Senior Agreement Associate
Peter Hodges, PhD, joined BODFI in 2012 and currently manages license compliance and oversees sponsor-reporting compliance.
After teaching at several Boston-area colleges, Peter joined Proteome, Inc., a start-up bioinformatics company. Following the acquisition of Proteome by Incyte Corporation, Peter moved to business development, and was involved in patent out-licensing at Incyte. He transitioned in 2004 to technology transfer at Boston Children's Hospital, where he handled patent management and licensing for a wide range of technologies.
Peter received his PhD in Human Genetics from Yale University School of Medicine. He did post-doctoral work in RNA biology at the Clinical Research Centre, Harrow, UK, and at the University of Edinburgh.
Todd Jennings
Technology Transfer Compliance Specialist
Todd Jennings joined the Innovations office in June, 2022. Todd processes new Intellectual Property Disclosure Forms in Dana-Farber's IP database and the federal government's iEdison database, while ensuring that Dana-Farber maintains compliance with the Bayh-Dole Act via iEdison throughout the patenting process. Prior to joining Innovation, Todd worked at the UMass Donahue Institute, where he managed accounts payable, accounts receivable, and grant account transfers, while updating the organization's archive system. Todd received his BA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Luna Latif, MS
Senior Technology Transfer Compliance Specialist
Luna Latif, MS, joined BODFI as a Compliance Specialist in May, 2021. Luna is responsible for intellectual property reporting to foundations and federal research sponsors. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, Luna worked at the Technology Licensing Office at MIT as a Senior Federal Compliance Assistant, where she was responsible for managing the reporting requirements for all federally funded cases. Luna received a BA in Psychology from Fairfield University and an MS in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Sacred Heart University.
Ashley Lezama
Administrative Support Specialist II
Ashley Lezama joined Dana-Farber and the Innovations office in January, 2020, as the Program Administrator. In her role, she works directly with the Vice President of Innovation in providing calendar management and other administrative support. Additionally, Ashley assists in a variety of office management tasks, as well as providing day-to-day general office support for the team. Prior to joining BODFI, she worked at Boston Children's Hospital as an Administrative Assistant to the Director of Nursing Diversity Initiatives, providing parallel administrative support. Ashley earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Northeastern University.
Ali Mbaye, MS
Senior Technology Transfer Accountant
Ali Mbaye, MS, joined Dana-Farber in 2018. He is responsible for the review and approval of all Sponsored Research Agreement (SRA) budgets, maintenance of records in BODFI's financial database, and submittal of the awards to Dana-Farber Research Accounting. He works closely with the Institute's departmental grant managers and licensing staff to monitor SRA financial obligations.
Prior to joining BODFI, Ali worked at Youthbuild USA as a Financial Grants Manager, providing monthly financial reports and forecasting, reviewing, and approving budgets, preparing and completing drawdowns, and closing both federal and private awards. Ali earned an MS degree in Economics from Suffolk University and an MS in Industrial Organization from Cheith Anta Diop University in Senegal.
Yomara Ramirez
Business Analyst II
Yomara Ramirez joined Dana-Farber in November, 2021 as a Business Analyst II and oversees BODFI's agreement, finance, and IP database. She also supports other Dana-Farber stakeholders that use, input, and access data from this database, including the Office of General Counsel. She has over 15 years of experience working in the Business Administration industry, and has worked in areas such as Healthcare Administration, Human Resources, Banking, and Investments.
Prior to joining the team, Yomara worked for three years at United Healthcare as the Manager of Clinical Administration and managed their Community Care and Authorization Platform while overseeing a team of 25 Clinical Administrative Coordinators.
Anthony Sutton
Senior Technology Transfer Compliance Specialist
Before joining Dana-Farber, Anthony Sutton was the Manager of Inventions/IP and Federal Compliance at Mass General Brigham. Prior to that, he had an extensive 28 years of service as a paralegal, including 23 years as an IP Paralegal and Litigation Paralegal at WilmerHale (formerly Hale and Dorr). He has also previously worked at local corporate law firms, including Fish & Richardson. Anthony holds a Paralegal Certificate from Boston University.
Business Development and Innovation Strategy
Luke Dannenberg, PhD
Director, Business Development, Diagnostics
Luke Dannenberg, PhD, joined Dana-Farber in June, 2023, as Business Development Director for Diagnostics in the Dana-Farber Accelerator. He is responsible for establishing an oncology diagnostics portfolio for pursuit of commercial opportunities for technologies being invented at Dana-Farber. Luke has more than 15 years of global industry experience in life sciences and diagnostics and was most recently the Lifecycle Leader for the Tissue CDx portfolio at Foundation Medicine, Inc., from 2021 to 2022. He was also the Lifecycle Leader and International Business Leader for the NGS Sample Prep Reagents portfolio at Roche Sequencing Solutions, Inc., from 2016 to 2021.
Luke has also worked abroad with Roche Diagnostics Middle East as Head of Marketing, Gulf-Levant Region in Jordan and as Product Manager, Applied Science in UAE from 2012 to 2016. He started his industry career in 2006 at NimbleGen Systems, Inc., just prior to its acquisition in 2007 by Roche, where he held roles in product management, business development, and project management. Luke holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the Indiana University School of Medicine and a BSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Harry Rogoff, PhD
Director, Business Development, Therapeutics
Harry Rogoff, PhD, joined the Belfer Office for Dana-Farber Innovations as Business Director, Therapeutics in 2022. Harry has been leading oncology drug discovery in industry for close to 20 years at ArQule, as a founding member of Boston Biomedical, and at Sumitomo Pharma Oncology (SMP Oncology), where he contributed to multiple compounds that entered clinical development. Prior to joining BODFI, Harry performed alliance management and scientific diligence as part of the external innovation group at SDP Oncology and worked directly with academic investigators at The Wistar Institute to help advance their early discovery stage assets. Harry received his PhD in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Graduate School of Biological Sciences in 2004, and his Bachelor of Arts from Bates College.
Javier Vinals, PhD
Business Analyst, Business Development
Javier Vinals, PhD, joined BODFI in 2022. He previously joined Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in 2020 as a member of Dr. Michael Eck's lab, where he completed his post-doctoral research studying the structure of kinases for drug design. Javier received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford in the lab of Dr. Anthony Watts, where he studied the structure and biophysical properties of archaerhodopsin-3 (AR3) in native and artificial membranes. Previously, he obtained a MS in Molecular Cell Biology at Imperial College, London after earning his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at American University.
Linda van Weele, PhD, MSc
Business Development Specialist
Linda van Weele, PhD, MSc, joined BODFI in 2023. She obtained her PhD in Cancer, Stem Cells, and Developmental Biology while conducting her graduate research in Dr. Michael Clarke’s lab at Stanford University. Her research identified mechanisms by which breast cancer cells develop resistance to treatment. While at Stanford, Linda volunteered as a business development consultant for pharmaceutical and biotech companies as part of Biotech Connection – Bay Area. She recently completed VC University’s course on Venture Finance. She holds a MSc in Cancer, Genomics, and Developmental Biology and a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and Governance from Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
Innovations Marketing and Communications Team
Alice McCarthy, MBA
Editorial Content Manager
Alice McCarthy, MBA, joined BODFI in 2022. She works closely with researchers at Dana-Farber, the Dana-Farber Communications office, and the Licensing and Alliance teams to communicate the impact of scientific translation efforts at Dana-Farber to diverse audiences.
Prior to joining BODFI, Alice was a senior communications professional at Boston Children's Hospital and at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She holds an MBA from Babson College and a BS in Biology from Boston College.
Liz Robinson
Accelerator Pipeline Marketing Manager
Liz Robinson joined the BODFI team in March, 2023. Her focus is mainly on building branding and communications for the entire BODFI office. She also works closely with the Accelerator team to coordinate the logistics of the bi-annual RFPs.
Prior to joining Dana-Farber, Liz worked in Marketing and Communications at a contract research and drug manufacturing organization. She received her BA degree in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
